“With speedway the highs are incredibly high and the lows are incredibly low,” she said.

“It’s not often there is middle ground.”

The Warrnambool driver is hoping to find that rare middle ground at the Australian late model championships at Premier Speedway on Friday and Saturday nights.

Verhoeven, 44, is in her second season in the class, having switched after a two-decade long modified production career.

She is still adapting to late model driving and is hoping to qualify for the B-Main.

Anything better will be a bonus.

“I never like to say I’m aiming for this or that because any race meeting, let alone an Australian title, you need a lot of luck,” Verhoeven said.

“Essentially modified productions were  too expensive and with late models you can purchase chassis and complete cars and because it’s big in the States, there’s a high turnover.

“There’s a huge difference. We thought we’d simply step into a class with more horsepower and in theory it would be easier to race but it’s been a steep learning curve.

“It’s a hard thing to get a driver to adapt and let go of old habits.

“I’ve learned a lot about the car the last couple of weeks.

“I’ve changed how I drive the car and am starting to get a couple of results.”

Verhoeven works in tandem with her husband Adam, himself a racing enthusiast.

“Thank god for Adam – he does everything but race it. He likes tinkering and studying set ups,” she said.

“He tells me he is happy crewing for me.”

Her late brother Neville Pike introduced her to the sport.

“He started racing when I was teeny tiny so I’d hang around the speedway,” Verhoeven said.

“I married a racecar driver, so I can’t escape it. It’s in your blood, it’s something you can’t let go of.”

Verhoeven is one of three females in the Australian title field, with Western Australian Veronica McCann and New Zealander Kristin Vermeulen travelling to Allansford for a tilt at the crown.

“It’s pretty wide open. In sprintcars you can pick three or four consistently but there are a lot of guys who could take out the Australian title this weekend,” Verhoeven said.

The Neville Pike Cup for junior sedans will be run on Saturday night and super rods and street stocks also feature across the two-night program.