Chatting to Big Rigs from Hidden Valley Raceway recently, ahead of Darwin’s Supercars race weekend (held from June 20-22), Casuarina Smith – or CJ as she’s more widely known – couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.
“I’m still pinching myself. It all feels a little bit surreal,” she admitted.
She was tasked with steering the Team 18 transporter to the Perth and Darwin Supercars events.
A flashy silver Kenworth T909, the transporter is used to move all the equipment for Team 18, including the two race cars driven by team drivers, David Reynolds and Anton De Pasquale.
The truck’s usual driver Scotty had been unwell, so CJ was asked if she’d be willing to take the wheel while he recovers.
CJ didn’t need much convincing. “I said yes instantly!”
With only five days’ notice, CJ hopped on a plane and made her way down to Melbourne, where she picked up the truck on May 30.
She drove to Perth, arriving on June 3 – in time for round five of the 2025 Repco Supercars Championship, held at Wanneroo Raceway from June 6-8.
With round six of the Championship only two weeks later, she then set off for Darwin on June 11.
“Usually all of the trucks would go back to their home base and then hit the road separately. But this time it was a little different because they were back-to-back rounds,” explained CJ, adding that it meant trucks from nine different teams were able to travel together.
“This journey has been very unique. It’s very rare to have all the teams in convoy like we did.”
“You might get two or three but never as many as this.
“It was so good – because on race weekends, everyone are rivals, but as soon as the race has finished, all these truck drivers are really good mates. Not a lot of people get a chance to be part of this,” CJ said.
“It’s been an absolute privilege to be involved. Most of the Supercars truck drivers have been doing this for decades. Once they get in, they don’t leave, because it’s such a great role.”
The route from Perth to Darwin saw the teams travel up the coast to Port Hedland, then onto Broome, before a stop at the Roebuck Plains Roadhouse. “It’s possibly the best roadhouse I’ve been to in Australia,” CJ said.
“It’s a real credit to the owners for the effort they go to look after the truck drivers.”
The leg between the two race events gave CJ the chance to tick another item off her bucket list.
“Not many people get to travel this part of the country,” she said.
“We went north to Roebuck, which is 30 kilometres from Broome. I’ve never done that region or anything north of Port Hedland and Marble Bar. Then we went through to Katherine and cut across Adelaide River to Darwin. I’ve never done the coast road either. Whenever I’ve travelled to Port Hedland, I’ve always taken the inland route.
“So that was all new for me as well. When I did a poll online recently asking for people’s favourite roads in Australia, a lot of people said it was that stretch from Kununurra to Katherine – and I have to agree. It’s all red rock country up that way. It was so amazing and so remote.”
With so many trucks all travelling the same outback roads to the same location, CJ said they departed in groups, allowing half an hour to an hour between setting off, so as not to block any traffic.
Then they’d meet up all together at each stop to enjoy some old school camaraderie.
“It was very unique to all park up together at night at a roadhouse and have a hearty meal,” said CJ.
“When parked up, we’d boil the kettle and have a good actual break. We had the luxury of being able to soak up where we were. And because of the trucks, people would recognise us. A lot of the drivers would give out hats and I even had some kids come and check out my truck.”
Interestingly for CJ, it was time spent living and working in Darwin that encouraged her to make a career change into trucking.
During her 18-month stint there, she had been working as an insurance broker but wasn’t sold on being chained to a desk.
So CJ took truck driving lessons after work and then secured her licence. And she’s never looked back.
“It was so nice to come up to Darwin and catch up with a few friends and go to some of my old stomping grounds,” CJ said.
During the race weekend, CJ also volunteered at the Girls on Track initiative, aiming to showcase what careers are available in the motorsport industry.
As for the truck, CJ says it was beautiful to drive. “It’s a brand new truck and just clicked over 20,000 kilometres as we got into Darwin.”
The T909 pulls a B-double set of trailers. “There are two race cars in the B trailer at the top, then under that there’s everything from the walling of the pits, all the spare engine parts, spare panelling, fridges, tyres, wheel racks. So they have everything to rebuild the cars if they need to,” said CJ.
“It’s a very well-oiled machine. From the time the teams get the go-ahead, they can have the trailers all packed up within two hours and be back on the road.
“Most of the Supercars transporters are cab-overs, so because of the bonnet on the Team 18 truck, these trailers are a bit shorter than some of the other teams. That’s why it has a 36-inch bunk too. If it had a 50-inch bunk it would be over length.
“It’s actually not that heavy either. The combination is around 60 tonnes, so that’s something I needed to get used to with the Roadranger. It’s very different to the road trains I’ve driven in the past. You have to use your brakes more rather than relying solely on the gear changes.”
For CJ, the experience has been one she won’t forget any time soon. “It was so nice to be able to get behind the scenes to get an understanding of how this all works on a bigger scale – and then be able to share that with everyone,” she said.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the best thing has been how kind and accommodating all the other drivers are. Some of them have been doing this for 30 years or more.
“They’ve been doing it for such a long time, so new people don’t often get to be involved. It’s amazing to be given this opportunity.
“I wish Scotty all the best with his recovery and hope to see him back steering this rig soon. In the meantime, I’m happy to help out.”
that is so nice to see women like cj driving trucks , i just read the story on cj driving the t909 what a good story good on you cj keep up the good work
keep up the good work cj