“I have all these younger kids, little girls, come up to me and say, ‘I want to be like you one day. I want to drive a race car’.”
In the case of Ellie Dunseith, being ‘like you’, would translate into being one of the top streetstock drivers at Penticton Speedway.
“When I’m stopped at a light,” she continued, reverting back to street driving, “And I’m the first person at a light, and there’s somebody beside me, I always want to beat him off the light.”
Heading into the Gordie Mannes Memorial weekend event, Ellie sits with 196 points, second only to leader Billie Coles, who has 235 points.
Oh, and, a total of 25 drivers have points.
Dunseith vividly remembers the day she officially became a race car driver.
“I used to come here to watch the late models race all the time. This one day my grandpa had just finished with all the race car stuff and I walked up to him, and I was about 15, and I said, I think I want to try a race car now’,” recalls Ellie of that day five years ago. ”He said, ‘All right, we’ll find you a car to drive’,”
Ellie hasn’t slowed down since that day.
“I had race cars all my life. It was getting to be a lot of work, so I sold all my stuff and was enjoying fishing. Ellie came to me one day and said, ‘She’d like to try that’,” recalls Andy Dunseith. “So here we are again. I love every minute of it. We have a lot of fun. We’ve had some arguments, but we’ve had a lot of fun.”
The Dunseith name is synonymous with Penticton Speedway.
Ellie’s grandfather Andy owned it for many years before turning it over to current owner Johnny Aantjes.
Ellie has been racing the past five years, with Andy right by her side.
“Mark Berriau used to race late models here quite often and my grandpa helped him out. He was like my idol growing up. It was always so much fun coming to the track,” recalled Ellie prior to the July 18 races. “My grandpa and I do it together. I have a pretty good person beside me.”
But saying you’re a race car driver is nothing like being a race car driver.
Once a driver is in the car, it’s all business.
“It’s awesome going out there. There’s the adrenaline rush. It’s just so much fun,” said Ellie. “People think it’s just going around in circles, but really, it takes a lot of focus and concentration - how are you going to take this corner, and what’s happening in front of me. It’s frustrating sometimes, definitely, but you always want to come back. It’s like an addiction.”
Ellie, who grew up in Penticton, and at the Speedway, now lives in Victoria. She had been working at a shop as a mechanic’s assistant, but recently ended that so she could race through the summer months.
Ellie insists she’s more a driver than a mechanic.
“My grandpa knows all that stuff. I try to help him as much as I can,” said Ellie, fully understanding the more she knows about how the car operates, the better the race car driver she can become. “If you hear a weird noise driving around the track and you’re full throttle and you feel something a little off, running it at full throttle for too long could be too much.
“My car always handles really well. My grandpa does a really good job of that.”
And what goes through grandpa’s mind?
“A lot of pride, that’s for sure. I feel good about myself in a lot of ways, because she knew nothing about it when she started,” said Andy with modesty. “When she wins, you think it’s a reflection of yourself on what you’ve taught her.”
During the race, Ellie concentrates on getting past one car at a time.
“What’s going through my mind is, I want to get closer to this guy ahead of me and get by him. You’ve got to have your eyes open all the time in case there’s a wreck in front of you. If the caution’s not out right away, you can definitely get in the middle of one of those, which would be a crappy way to end your night.”
And when things are going smooth during a race…
“The best part is I feel like I could take it anywhere. It feels like you can catch anybody. You’re gaining on people and it’s just such a nice feeling,” offered Dunseith, who faces a male-dominated field on the track. “It’s kind of just like, different. Some people kind of underestimate you. Being a female, it’s difficult. Some days, this is like, really awesome. Some days it's different. It’s fun - but actually quite empowering.”
The key is, Ellie appears to have earned the respect of her fellow drivers because she has a life-long understanding of what it’s like being part of the group.
“Andy and his family have got a real special place in our hearts because they kept racing alive in the Okanagan through a lot of lean years, from 1982-94. It’s all about racing,” said current Speedway owner and streetstock competitor Johnny Aantjes. “Andy’s raced, he’s owned the track. His son has raced. And now he’s got a granddaughter that’s racing, that’s special all in itself.
“Having young female drivers is important. Ellie is doing a phenomenal job. Young drivers are our future.”
Ellie Dunseith in many ways does represent the future of oval racing in Penticton.
“I definitely want to have a race car in my life,” responded Ellie when asked about her long-term plans. “Don’t want to lose that. I always just want to have fun. I love coming up here. It’s like a family.”
And that family will get together Friday through Sunday for the Gordie Manner Memorial weekend.
Unfortunately, no more than 50 spectators will be allowed in the stands for each race night.
For more information, click here.
