Lorraine ‘Nan’ Tuckett learned the art of doing burnouts at the age of 78

When most great-grandmothers talk about burnout they are not usually referring to flooring the accelerator and smoking up the back tyres of a ute.

But Lorraine “Nan” Tuckett is not your usual 86-year-old.

When her husband died eight years ago the Leeton local started looking for a new love and ended up on the burnout circuit.

“I was hooked straight away,” she said.

“I just love thrashing the ute until the tyres blow and that sounds really good with the rubber and the smoke.

“Gives me a real buzz.”

Supported by her grandson Guy, the rest of her family and the Leeton community, she has has been taking to the track in her cherished ute Nan’s Dream.

She is now the star of a burnout competition held at Leeton’s Brobenah Speedway in June each year, known as Nan’s Birthday Bash.

Friends and family from around the country travel down to celebrate her day with burnouts, fireworks and a bonfire.

But Nan takes competition seriously.

“When you start off in the competition, you’ve got to get the tyres heated up,” she said.

“The more smoke, the more numbers you get to win.

“I beat Guy [her grandson] twice anyway, so I’m very proud of that.”

Her Holden VY S pack ute is not far off what the name implies.

“I just love the smoke, the sound, the noise,” Ms Tuckett said.

“That’s why I’m a bit deaf now, but it doesn’t matter — it was worth it.”

Since her 80th birthday, Nan has been going to burnout competitions across the country and making plenty of new friends along the way.

‘I know I’m the very, very oldest,” she said.

“[There are] some 60 or 70-year-olds, but the majority are younger blokes, but they’re all accepting me into their mob.

“They’re just all love me being there, even me just being there to watch them too; they just love it.”

Nan’s grandson, Guy Tuckett, is also part of the competitive burnout scene.

He hit upon the idea of getting his grandmother involved after walking in on her knitting not long after her husband’s death.

“I said, no, Nan, you can’t be doing that — we need to go do some burnouts,” Mr Tuckett said.

“She needs to be out and about because she’s an ex-rice farmer, she’d drive an old Bedford truck for 35 years — the knitting just didn’t suit her character.”

Looking at her progress since, he knows he made the right choice.

“It’s incredible. I reckon she’s gained 10 years of her life,” Mr Tuckett said.

“[At] the start, it was like she was a bit shy, but now it’s just been pedal to the floor and nothing but.

“That’s how good she is now; she would be confident just to get in the car and go by herself — and her coordination is incredible as well.”

Nan said she was not planning on slowing down anytime soon.

“It’s just a passion,” she said.

“I don’t know how long it will go for, I just hope a bit longer — I just love it.”