24 year old Brehanna Daniels is in history as the first African-American woman to pit a car in one of NASCAR’s top three series. The tire changer for Stephen Leicht’s No. 55 Toyota in the Xfinity Series by jumping over a wall and onto pit road, sliding to the opposite side of the car and getting to work on a tire—all while other race cars are racing past.
After graduating from Norfolk State University in 2016 as a basketballer, she wanted to be an actress, little did she know that she’d become an over-the-wall tire-changer on a NASCAR team — a dangerous and physically demanding job that men had been doing almost exclusively for 70 years.
She is among only a half-dozen women to service a Monster Energy Cup Series car on pit road, the only African-American female to change tires under fire.
Brehanna seeks to use her position in NASCAR as one that might open doors, inspiring others to take on challenges they thought might not be possible.
