MORE than 20 female speedway drivers will go head-to-head with a crown at stake at Redline Raceway at Buninyong on Saturday night.
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They will face the starter for the fourth edition of the Queen of the Mountain.
Hometown entrant Brooke Ferguson is chasing a third crown after winning the title in its maiden year and last year.
"It gets harder each year, with the ladies gaining more track time and developing their skills," Ferguson said.
"There are a lot of big name drivers in the field, so it's not going to be a walk in the park."
Although Ferguson owns her own street stock and regularly mixes it with the best in the class, she will steer the FG Falcon of partner Jayden Blomeley.
"There's no secret to taking the win," she said.
"I've always been lucky enough to have a great car behind me.
"I try and keep a clear head and not think too much about who is around me, just take each heat as it comes and hopefully be there for the final."
Ferguson will compete against her mother Karen, who will drive a VF Commodore belonging to Darren Giacometti.
The likes of Belinda McCoubrie, Casey Newlan, Felicity Roycroft, Jacque Whatmore, Jo Storer, Kayla Knox, Kelly McDermott, Megan Cheeseman and Melissa Crutchley have all shown great speed this season.
"One of my picks to watch is Sara Benson," Ferguson said.
Tamieka McClure, one of the event organisers, said without the support of their daughters, mothers or partners some males would find it harder to race week-in, week-out.
"It is such a great event to give back to those that help behind the scenes during the season," McClure said.
"A lot of first time drivers find it intimidating jumping straight in with the men so I feel that it is important to give back to those that help during the season with the Queen of the Mountain race."
Redline Raceway president Mick Purdie said the concept of Queen of the Mountain began after he was approached by a couple of regular drivers and asked if the venue would do something similar to King of the Mountain for women.
"As we had regular ladies competing against the men, the club thought why not and Queen of the Mountain was programmed for last meeting of the year.
Purdie said the cub had regularly had more than 20 entries since the feature's conception with drivers travelling from as far as Western Australia.
Racing starts at 4pm.
