By Jennifer Enright

As a family the Duncansons seem fairly ordinary. At their home on a quiet residential street in Acton, you'll find antique furniture, family photos, and a pet cat in the kitchen.

But it's hard not to notice the 24-foot-long black trailer parked outside with the words That Girl Racing printed on the side and the names of sponsors including local businesses, Yourway Auto Repair and Dover Flour Mills. If you venture into the garage, you'll find a workshop where they repair snowmobiles.
Most weekends you'll find Tiina Duncanson and her daughter Kiersten, 18, zooming along a snowmobile track engaging in their sport of choice, snowmobile racing. These days the two, (both of them drivers for their team That Girl Racing ) are focusing on asphalt snowmobile drag racing, where they race Pro Stock snowmobiles as opposed to grass drag racing in the warmer months. They've also competed successfully in ice drag racing in the winter.

Mother and daughter, both licensed as professional racers with the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) and the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), spend a lot of time away from home in pursuit of their sport. Tiina's husband, Peter, who acts as crew chief, estimates that they travel 60,000 to 70,000 kilometres a year, mostly to competitions in the United States. It's nothing for them to drive to New Hampshire, Minnesota, or Maryland just for the weekend. “Wherever we go, we'll drive all night there and all night back. Like we don't stop,” says Tiina laughing. “If it's a 24 hour or a 30 hour drive, we just keep going.”

Tiina, known unofficially as the “Queen of Snowmobile Drag Racing,” holds the world record in snowmobile racing's top class, 1000 heavy modified on ice, and she's attained wins at every major race in North America. Her daughter has also made a name for herself in the sport. Last season Kiersten achieved numerous wins driving the team's Pro Stock snowmobile. The two are among a select few. There are only three women, including Tiina and Kiersten, that compete at their level.

The sport takes a lot of dedication, time and commitment – and money. Peter notes that they may win money at events, but that goes right back into supporting their hobby of snowmobile racing. He can itemize some of the costs for you: money for hotels; money to provide meals for the crew; money for diesel to run their big truck. “Let's say we win $10,000. Well, we probably spent $15,000. You're racing for a purse, but there's no money to be made.”

The Duncansons aren't alone in their interest, although women racers aren't as common as racing is still very much a male preserve. Their involvement as a family isn't unusual either. Along with the assistance they get from Peter as crew chief, there's the support they receive from Tiina and Peter's other daughter Kyla, 21.

Family involvement is also a big thing for Elaine Willis and Carol Lane of Georgetown. Both women, (along with Elaine's dad George and Carol's dad Steve) race at events sanctioned by the Canadian Automobile Sports Club (CASC). Every weekend from the third week in January to the beginning of March, they compete in ice racing. Most races are held at a track in Minden, Ontario, although occasionally they race elsewhere.

Carol's husband, Graham, a mechanic by profession, assists her at the racetrack. Sometimes she's also joined by her 16-year-old niece, Andrea. For the Willises, the sport is something they do as a family. Elaine's husband, Keith, is involved in motor sports through his business, Aim Autosport of Woodbridge, which owns and runs several racing teams. When he's not working, he attends ice racing events with Elaine, their twin sons, Palmer and Craig, and his father-in-law.

Elaine's interest and involvement in racing began early because of her dad. When she was growing up she remembers he would disappear on weekends to work as a marshall at Mosport near Oshawa. Her sister Mary, and their mother Doris, wanted to take part too. Elaine was twelve at the time and her sister eleven. “We decided we would do this as a family sport,” says Elaine. “My sister and I went to the track and we did timing. So that's how we got into motor sports.”

Back in the 1980s, she began piloting Austin Minis around the track and then a number of different cars including Formula 1600 and 2000 vehicles and the Honda CRX. Today she focuses primarily on ice racing as opposed to summer racing, but she doesn't 't rule out getting back into summer racing. Right now costs are one consideration for her. “Ice racing is quite a bit more economical than summer racing,” explains Elaine, who has won over twenty trophies in her racing career and last season placed first in the second class in ice racing in Minden. “I can do six weekends of ice racing for what it would cost for one weekend of summer racing.”

Going to Minden each year is something that Elaine looks forward to. Winning doesn't 't matter as much as the enjoyment she gets from racing, not to mention the fun she has meeting and socializing with her fellow racers. Shawna Aron, another Halton Hills resident, agrees that there 's no point in racing if it's not for pleasure. Shawna, who turns forty-five in October, retired in September from racing Yamaha motorcycles after six successful years of competitive racing.

In June of 2000, when Shawna obtained her motorcycle racing license, she had no expectations of doing anything but having fun. It started with a dare; someone suggested she try racing after she bought a sport bike.

In 2000, she was the lone female entered in her first race and finished 17th out of 35. Later she would go on to greater achievements, consistently being among the top ten in events where there were mostly male racers, and among the top three at all-women events. As an amateur, Shawna competed in three series: the Pro Honda Women's Cup Challenge in which she won the Expert Championships two years in a row, the Parts Canada Superbike Championship (a national series in which she competed with men), and the R.A.C.E. Superseries, a regional series based in Shannonville, Ontario, that includes amateur 600 class and superbikes with men, and open and 600 classes with women.

Shawna owns Gecko Forwarding Corporation, an international freight forwarding company based in Halton Hills. She figures that she's accomplished more than she ever expected to in racing, but that won't be the end of her involvement in the sport. She'll continue to coach for a sponsor in the United States, Team Pro-Motion USA, and to play other roles in motorcycle racing.

Shawna agrees that motorcycle racing is a very attractive sport, even with the dangers involved at her level of racing. There's the unmistakable thrill she's of racing on the track; a feeling shared by her fellow racers. The adrenalin rush combined with the speeds involved makes for an intoxicating mix.
Like Shawna, Tiina Duncanson finds that racing can be easily addictive. She has no thoughts of quitting or retiring; she wants to achieve firsts in her newest sport of asphalt racing.

Tiina notes that Peter didn't fancy the idea of her taking part in snowmobile racing. He thought she'd be embarrassed and give it up, but that didn't happen. After two races, she turned pro. He's helped support her in her desire to compete for twelve years now. “We've been married for over twenty years and I don't think I could find anybody else to put up with me.”