BREHANNA DANIELS
DIVERSITY IN THE PIT CREW
By Alex Apple
In February of 2016, Brehanna Daniels was as far from a racetrack as
one could be, playing basketball for Norfolk State University.
n the 29th the Spartans played Howard, and Daniels played a critical
role, scoring a careerhigh 17 points in 27 minutes of action. That
moment did not foreshadow the groundbreaking work that lie
shortly ahead.
The next year, Daniels made history becoming the rst African
American woman to work on the pit crew in one of NASCARs top three
levels, and in 2019, Daniels became one of the rst women in NASCAR
history to work in the Daytona 500 pits. Her work in a national Series
sets her alone as the only such AfricanAmerican woman to do so.
Im doing something thats not just for myself but its much bigger
than me, she said to ABC News after the 2019 season. Id like to see
NASCAR as multiple faces and not just one.
That accomplishment made plenty of noise around the motorsports
world, yet Daniels might manage to top herself again. She already lists
a wide swath of accomplishments, including being on the NBC show,
The Titan Games, produced by Dwayne The Rock ohnson.
2019 represented another big step for a mommas girl fullling
her dreams.
Lets retreat.
Near the end of her basketball career at Norfolk State, a member of the
schools administration approached Daniels about a Drive for Diversity
tryout at the school to which Daniels responded, ho said I liked
NASCAR
That statement gets funnier in hindsight considering Daniels went to
the pit crew test, showed off her athleticism and later landed a spot with
Concords Rev Racing. There she received expert training on the ins
and outs of pit crew work.
Daniels task became one built around dexterity, speed and
concentration. After all, using an impact wrench to hit ve lug nuts in 1.5
seconds is no easy task. Unsurprisingly to folks that know Brehanna,
she was hitting those lug nuts in around one second just months into
her training. Her ascension to pit crew stardom was underway.
Daniels looks back and thinks about how much her mother would smile
at the things shes accomplished. Daniels mother passed away when
she was just 14 years old. She never missed a basketball game, and
Daniels told The Undefeated, she is uite certain she would not have
missed a race either.
I didnt always see her face, but I always heard her voice, Daniels said.
Its that connection she continues to foster through her daily journaling
which can offer a moment of peace after the chaos of a race or practice.
ver the course of her ascension in the NASCAR world, Daniels has
embraced the diversity she brings to a sport that yearns for more
16 THE OFFICIAL NASCAR 2020 PREVIEW & PRESS GUIDE
faces. The Drive for Diversity program has brought young talent into
the sport that might not have otherwise seen the opportunity. Daniels
joined Breanna Leary as the rst women to pit a car in the season
opening Daytona 500.
Daniels changed the tires on Cody ares Chevrolet and Leary
handed the rear. They already formed a synergy working together
the previous year at Daytona, but working the biggest race under the
brightest lights took their accomplishment to another level.
No one is harder on Daniels than herself and her coach, Phil Horton.
The media coverage and acclaim has been an honor for Daniels, but
she and Horton are often skeptical of declaring that she has made it.
Her preparation and dedication to improvement is impressive as she
works out several times daily in order to get in both cardio and strength
training. She didnt get on The Rocks NBC show without some
serious physical chops.
In two years, the Virginia Beach native went from uncaring about
NASCAR and knowing nothing about changing tires to being a leading
force in the sport.
Bill Venturini used a largely female crew for his Championshipwinning
ARCA season in 1987. Daniels looks at her work in NASCAR as
larger than herself, realiing that her success like the success of
Venturinis crew will pave the way for more women to join and excel in
motorsports.
I was like, let me just try something new, see where it takes me, she
told The Undefeated before the 2019 season. It wasnt what I expected
because when I saw a video of a pit stop, I saw a car. But I didnt see
a car in the gym. So, Im like, somebodys got some explaining to do.
Theres a lot of euipment laid out everywhere, whats going on
hats going on A dream is coming alive.
Its all a dream come true, Daniels told ESPN after the Daytona 500.
Having God in my corner, every step of the way, anything is possible
with Him, and none of this would be possible without Him.
Photo courtesy of
www.nsuspartans.com
Norfolk State
University Spartans.
/www.nsuspartans.com