Brehanna Daniels scripted history when she became the first African-American woman to become a NASCAR pit crew member. Recently, she made an appearance on former NFL star Cam Newton’s light-hearted series, ‘Funky Friday’, where the duo dove into her inspiring journey in the racing industry.
Advertisement
During the discussion, Brehanna went on to discuss the time she took part in the challenge-based “inspiring” show, ‘The Titans‘, hosted by wrestling legend and actor Dwayne the Rock Johnson. It certainly caught Cam Newton off guard when Brehanna dubbed the reality sports competition as “rigged”.
She recounted her time on the show, where she took part in a series of obstacle courses, including punching walls, climbing structures, and dragging heavy cement balls.
As she was warming up alongside another female contestant, Brehanna discovered a significant disparity on her side — an additional weight that her competitor didn’t have to contend with. This unforeseen hurdle made the challenge significantly more challenging for the NASCAR tire changer, which is why she went on to raise questions about the fairness of the competition at Cam’s show.
After Brehanna spilled the tea, Newton asked her about the prize pool, which was a whopping $100000. She felt pretty bummed out after the incident and added that the show was probably trying to get rid of her and send her back to NASCAR.
The star tire changer has made quite a name for herself over the years. She has currently amassed more than 119k followers on Instagram after becoming part of a sport that she had no interest in.
Brehanna Daniels’ NASCAR Journey Started in an Unexpected Way
Brehanna Daniels has achieved something very few people of color have managed in the world of NASCAR. However, her journey into this world wasn’t something she had envisioned for herself. Prior to her entry into the sport, she had never watched a race and had a vague understanding of it.
It was her friend from the Norfolk State College athletic department, who urged Brehanna to take part in a pit crew trial that was supposed to be held at her college. It was part of the ‘Drive for Diversity’ program and Brehanna was quite hesitant about taking part in it as she was rather interested in basketball.
Nevertheless, she trusted her gut and showed up to the trial, only to discover she was the lone African American attendee there. Her athletic background must have been a great help as she made the top 10 and was soon selected as a tire changer, according to Face to Face Africa.
View this post on Instagram
Since then, she has carved out a place for herself in the predominantly white-dominated sport, given the scarcity of black drivers. However, this 7-year journey hasn’t been easy, and there were many times she encountered sexist comments. She also revealed in the interview that she was often benched despite outscoring her counterparts.
View this post on Instagram
It takes a resilient spirit to endure such challenges. In 2019, Daniels etched her name history once more by becoming the first woman to pit at the Daytona 500 and also the first African-American female to handle tire change at a national series. She has now gained the ability to change two tires in under 15 seconds.
A lot has changed since Brehanna joined a league that she didn’t have any interest in. Despite a few hurdles here and there, the tire changer has revealed that NASCAR has been “very accepting of their black employees,” which could move mountains in the coming years. She continues to inspire people of color to push boundaries and not settle for less.
