'Worth it': Renee Gracie goes global after X-rated career switch
Renee Gracie’s move from Supercars to adult entertainment isn’t just making waves in Australia, creating headlines all over the world.
Gracie stunned the motorsport world last week when she revealed she’d turned her back on the sport for a career in adult films.
‘NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS’: Unexpected twist in Schumacher saga
POWERFUL': NASCAR star to drive Black Lives Matter car
The first woman to compete full-time in the sport, Gracie now has her own website where she sells pictures and movies for a monthly subscription fee.
After claiming she made nothing from seven years as a race car driver, Gracie says she can now pull in up to $25,000 a week.
Understandably the story went bonkers in Australia - but it’s also going global.
News sites in America, the UK and India (just to name a few) have all featured Gracie’s story in recent days.
Total Pro Sports in America ran Gracie’s story on Friday, with Darrelle Lincoln writing: “She claims that her monthly income has shot up from $64,750 to an astonishing $90,650. It’s not hard to see why.”
India Times writer Aishwarya Dharni said: “It takes a lot of courage to go after what you want in life, and Gracie has proved if it’s something that makes you happy then it’s worth it.”
While William Pugh of The Sun in England wrote: “The Australian was the first ever full-time female Supercars racer but has no regrets about leaving her motorsport career to sell X-rated content online.”
Gracie was also featured on the Times of India, Sporting News, CarScoops and SheThePeople - among many others.
Supercars distance themselves from Renee Gracie
In a statement that would appear to rule out any potential return for Gracie to Supercars, the organisation distanced themselves from the history-making driver.
“Supercars is aware of the article regarding former Super2 driver Renee Gracie,’’ a spokesperson said.
“As Ms Gracie is no longer competing in Super2, Supercars will not be commenting further.”
But the 25-year-old said she understood going public with her career switch would close the door to any future return to Supercars.
“I didn’t go into this blind,” Gracie said.
“I mean I had no idea it would be where it is today but I did a lot of research before I did it. I understood what was involved. I knew things would be leaked, I knew it would be controversial, I knew all of that.
“I did all the research and made the decision to do it. In my first six days I made 24,000 US and that is when I realised I could really do something with this.”
Gracie’s Supercars dream vanished
Gracie shot to prominence when she partnered Swiss driver Simona de Silvestro at Bathurst in 2015 but struggled to get a real foothold in the sport.
The 25-year-old’s best result in her debut Supercars season was a 12th placed finish where she ended up 18th in the championship standings.
Her partnership with de Silvestro saw the wildcard entrants finish 21st at Bathurst in 2015, following a minor crash at Forrest's Elbow.
The pair teamed up again for Bathurst the following year, where they managed to avoid some late-race chaos for a 14th-place finish.
She then went on to compete in the Super2 Series but decided to walk away from motorsport after only recording one top-10 finish in 17 races.
“I wasn't getting the results and couldn't get the funding. I tried to do my best but it got to a point where my dream vanished,” she said.
with AAP
