Brehanna Daniels is NASCAR’s first Black woman in its pit crew as a tire changer, reports Afro-Tech.
The HBCU grad says the opportunity to audition for the pit crew came out of nowhere.
“I was sitting in the cafeteria, mid-bite of my Chick-fil-A sandwich, when my friend from the school’s athletic department, Tiffany, tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Hey, NASCAR is holding tryouts for their pit crews on Wednesday, you should go,’ shared Daniels. “I looked at her like, ‘Girl, I don’t even watch NASCAR.’”
As a point guard for Norfolk State University’s women’s basketball team, Daniels went for the opportunity and was eventually invited to join as a NASCAR pit crew member upon her graduation in 2016.
The 27-year-old is quite the barrier breaker, not only as a woman in the sport, but a Black woman at that.
In 2017, Daniels made history as the first Black woman to work for the pit crew for a NASCAR race. A woman of firsts, she’s also became the first Black woman to work the pit crew for the Daytona 500 race in 2019.
“God couldn’t have picked anybody else better to do the job,” Daniels said. “It takes a strong person to be able to make that change…knowing the history of NASCAR and the faces people are used to seeing on the track. Even though I was a little nervous at first because I didn’t know how I would be judged or looked at, I’m like, ‘You know what? Somebody has to do this, and I guess I’m going to be the one to do this.’”
