Veronica McCann
Australian Wild West Sprintcar Series Driver
 
Veronica (Roni) McCann, at
sixteen years of age, is an eight year veteran of
the Australian Speedway scene.
She began her driving career
at age nine in Sydney, racing Honda Odysseys,
which are best described as scaled down midgets
(called Speedcars in Australia) powered by 250cc
air cooled engines. In her rookie season she
placed third in the Australian Sub Junior
Championship.
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plenty of podium
finishes...
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In 1994, Roni moved with her
family to Perth on Australia's West coast and
continued her speedway racing in the Junior Sedan
division. Running five racing seasons at tracks all
over the state, she gained plenty of podium
finishes.
The highlights of her Junior
Sedan racing career include back-to-back
championship wins in the premier series for
Juniors, the Smarter Than Smoking Series
(1998/1999, 1999/2000). In season 1998/1999 Roni
became the first female to win a major series
title within the speedway history of Western
Australia.
Roni capped her Junior
campaign by winning the West Australian State
Championship at Albany on January 2nd 2000. She
won all three of her heats which qualified her
for the off-pole position for the twenty lap
final, which featured the States top twenty
drivers. By winning that race, Roni became the
first female to win a Junior Speedway State
Championship within Australia.
In July, Roni was approached to
join West Australia's strongest 360 Sprintcar
outfit. She will join the ANR team and Allan Nash in
a two-car assault on the 360 Sprintcar Championship
this coming Summer.
A female in Sprintcars is a
rarity on Australia's clay tracks, but a sixteen
year old female is a first!
Roni's mission is to place
well this Summer and build some experience. The
next step is an open engine (372ci) car and then
to drive in the USA competing in the World of
Outlaws. After that the goal of her racing career
is the IRL or NASCAR.
Veronica has these words of
advice for herself and for other women in racing:
"There will always be people telling you that you
shouldnt be participating in this sport because
it is a 'male' dominated sport, all you have to
do is answer those people out on the track and
let them see what you can do out there."
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