Trucking with CJ and Team 18 are proud to release a special three-part video series, Full Throttle Trucking, showcasing Casuarina “CJ” Smith’s remarkable journey driving the team’s Kenworth T909 transporter to back-to-back Supercars events in Perth and Darwin.
CJ’s Big Adventure: Behind the Wheel with Team 18
With just five days’ notice, CJ travelled to Melbourne to step in to take the wheel of Team 18’s striking silver T909 while regular driver Scott Bernau recovered from illness. The transporter carries the full kit required for a Supercars race weekend, including the #18 DEWALT Racing Chevrolet Camaro driven by Anton De Pasquale and the #20 TRADIE Energy Racing Chevrolet Camaro driven by David Reynolds, as well as pit equipment, spare engines, body panels, wheels, tools and everything needed to rebuild the cars trackside if required.
CJ collected the truck from Team 18’s Melbourne base on and completed the 3,500km haul west to Wanneroo Raceway in time for Round 5 of the Repco Supercars Championship, the Perth Super440 held from June 6-8. Less than a week later, she set off again, this time with nine other Supercars teams for a rare transporter convoy up the West Australian coast through Port Hedland and Broome before cutting inland to Katherine and Adelaide River, arriving in Darwin for Round 6, the betr Darwin Triple Crown, on June 20-22.
From experiencing outback roadhouses and red rock country for the first time, to sharing camaraderie with the Supercars truckie fraternity, CJ documented the highs and challenges of life on the road.