Renee Gracie: Fireproof, Stan review – driving the narrative from OnlyFans to Supercars

‘Ever since I was thirteen, all I’ve wanted to do is be a race-car driver.’ That’s not a line you expect to hear from someone who’s made millions of dollars from her OnlyFans account. But there’s not a lot that’s typical about Renee Gracie’s journey from teen go-cart racer to Supercar driver to online porn star – especially the part where she takes her adult entertainment wealth and uses it to bankroll her return to professional racing.

Once you get past the bikini footage, that’s the big hook for this documentary: will she be able to successfully return to the track and prove the haters wrong? And as the haters seem to be pretty much the entire racing establishment, it’s hard not to cheer her on – even if she’s already won on a ‘living well is the best revenge’ level.

A textbook definition of a toxic workplace

During her entire professional racing career, Renee Gracie made a grand total of $0. All the sponsorship money went back into the car. On OnlyFans, where she rapidly went from photos to videos to anything goes (as she puts it, ‘armpit licking, toe sucking – you name it, it’s been done’), she’s made a seven figure income. So while her return to racing is clearly something she wants, it’s hard not to think that getting out was the best decision she made.

In large part that’s because the world of Supercars, as shown here, seems like a textbook definition of a toxic workplace. No sooner has she moved up to the elite (for Australia) level of racing, than she’s surrounded by men looking to either exploit her or sabotage her. The media doesn’t come off much better: having one journalist say that elite sportspeople aren’t affected by outside pressures so what she went through shouldn’t have been an issue seems like the tip of a deeply rotten iceberg.

Gracie fell in love with racing aged 12, when a visit to a go-cart track on Hamilton Island during a family vacation sparked a lifelong obsession with racing. When her father tried to buy her a go-cart on their return, the seller cancelled the sale and told him, ‘I’m not going to waste it on a girl’. Racing revealed a sport dominated by pushy dads and sons who didn’t want a girl around. As one commentator notes, the diversity of motorsport is almost zero – at every level.

Renee Gracie – the face of ‘diversity’?

What followed was a familiar story, as the Supercar establishment promoted Renee Gracie as the face of diversity while the fans seethed, and rival drivers made wisecracks. The media spotlight shone bright. When the results on the track were spotty, things rapidly turned sour. While the reasons why are up for debate (she says she was pushed too hard too soon to maximise her PR value; critics point to the success of the male driver who replaced her), professional sport is hardly a supportive environment at the best of times.

Read: Top Gear Australia, Paramount+ review: high-end hooning

Directors Frances Elliott and Samantha Marlowe are clearly on Gracie’s side throughout Renee Gracie: Fireproof. While Gracie herself isn’t presented as being quite as flawless as her make-up, there’s little doubt that she’s in full control of this version of the narrative. What saves this Stan Original documentary from just being a promotional video for Gracie’s reborn racing career and her OnlyFans account, is the insight into the tightly controlled world of Supercar racing.

As the story catches up with her return to the track, the heavy hand of Supercar management is increasingly felt in what they will (and mostly won’t) allow to be shown. It’s possible they don’t want their family-friendly (well, fathers-and-sons-friendly) sport associated with a porn star. But there’s enough examples here of men happy to hang themselves on camera to make Gracie’s side of the story more than plausible.

Archival footage of her agent joking about her weight is uncomfortable viewing; a fellow driver pointing out that his penalty fine for a (tasteless) joke about Gracie was far more punishment than he faced for physically assaulting a fellow driver, underlines the importance of image to a sport where grid girls are still a central part of marketing.

Supercar racing couldn’t be less welcoming for women if they hung up a sign saying ‘No Girls Allowed’. At least Gracie’s bemused but clearly loving father is a sweetie.

Renee Gracie: Fireproof is available to watch on Stan.