The 19-year-old, who will race in Saturday night’s Victorian open sprintcar title at Allansford’s Premier Speedway, is the third generation Walsh to participate into the popular motorsport. 

Walsh’s father Freddie and her two grandfathers were drivers and the desire to hit the clay hasn’t been lost on the teenager, who was “born into the sport”.

The car she races in is owned by her family and the Bulla Icecream worker also has members of her family close by in the pits, which acts as a calming influence pre-race.

“My pit crew is my dad, my mum Tania, my brother Blake, my boyfriend Chris (Ansell), my cousin Nick (Rigby) and his fiancé Elira (DeGrandi),” Walsh said.

“It’s a very family-based crew and we all get along and there is not much fighting and makes race day really good. 

“There is always a positive vibe and it helps me out if we are all having fun and getting along and allows me to stay focused.”

Walsh, who has featured at just six race meetings in a sprintcar since her debut in 2017, has been putting in the hard work off the track as she aims to continue her steep learning curve in the sport’s top class.

“I try to get to the gym at least three or four times a week and if I can’t due to work I’ll go at least two times a week,” she said. “I do a lot of weight training to get my strength up and with that training it makes you a lot fitter breathing-wise.”

The former wingless sprintcar racer is keeping her goals simple for the upcoming summer meetings. 

“All I’m hoping for this season is that I finish every race without a crashed car,” she said.

“So far this season I haven’t had too much damage, so that’s pretty good.

“My form hasn’t been too bad and I am still learning and I haven’t had too many great results yet but we are getting there and getting up to speed.”

Walsh, who closely studies the way her competitors’ driving as a way of learning her trade, said she enjoyed having a hands-on approach to her preparation. 

“I feel like if I work on the car I know what’s going into it and what it is going to do when I race it,” she said.

“It helps a little bit. So If I help dad set it up I know what it is going to do out on the race track.”

Walsh is one of 14 south-west drivers featuring in the 45-strong field who have nominated for Saturday night’s Victorian title, which also acts as the second round of the Premier Speedway’s track premiership.