BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): It definitely is a pressure being a Black woman in, you know, the sport of NASCAR and having to be that voice.

I have to work that much harder, 10 times harder than everybody else.

[gentle music] CURTIS WALLS (VOICEOVER): A race is won by tenths of a second.

[gentle music] The pit crew can make or break any race at any time.

The ability for everybody to be able to be a little bit faster, a little bit more cleaner is truly the difference between a race.

PHIL HORTON (VOICEOVER): That pressure really takes hold during a pit stop.

All 40 cars come down pit road.

They're like 45 miles an hour at the same time.

Because you got one shot at it, nine seconds.

It's about all you have.

Anything slower than that, and you're losing positions.

BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): It's a rush.

She's definitely an adrenaline rush.

We are wearing our headsets.

We hear our crew chief make a call.

They're like, all right, now the car's on pit road.

Get ready.

We're 10 pit stalls away.

You know, 3, 2, 1, jumping over that wall.

[tools whirring] - Good morning.

PHIL HORTON: Hey, what's up?

What's up?

How many Daytona 500s have you done?

- I think-- was it two so far, probably?

PHIL HORTON: Yeah.

Two.

- Yeah.

Two.

PHIL HORTON: Two.

Yeah, I thought it was three, though.

- With me and Bri and then-- - You're female pit crew, and she's a female driver.

That's pretty big.

So if you go up there and do a good job and all that comes together, that's going to be a pretty good story.

And of course, it'll be for Daytona.

It don't get no bigger than that.

You just have to make sure that you concentrate, do your fundamentals, and be better, you know, so that we can make it back to where you were before you got injured.

Like, get out of the camera.

We gonna sit down.

- Let's go.

- Quad pull.

Quad pull.

Quad pull.

- This is my-- - Quad pull.

- --nemesis.

- All right, listen up.

The bottom line is what?

We're getting ready for Daytona, right?

- Yes, sir.

- All right.

It is what it is.

We got what?

- We got three weeks.

PHIL HORTON: Yeah, we got three weeks.

- Time flying by.

PHIL HORTON: And then we got to make it happen.

On three, focus 1, 2, 3, focus.

[cars roaring] So back in 1998, when I first started, the pit crew men were mechanics.

One of my jobs was to come in and help them learn how to be athletes.

We got them to where they could do fast pit stops, but they couldn't do them in a timely fashion when the pressure was on during a race.

CURTIS WALLS (VOICEOVER): One thing that all the coaches have realized is that in order to win races, we got to start recruiting these athletes.

Each position is very similar to that of football.

When you look at the carriers, you're talking about more stockier person, stronger.

They can move very well.

So you're talking about a running back.

You're talking about a linebacker.

Then when you talk about the jack man, the jack man is somebody who's a little bit bigger.

They're very explosive.

But they also have great leadership qualities.

You're talking about a quarterback.

PHIL HORTON: Hey, it's going to feel weird because you ain't been doing it.

It's going to feel weird.

Because you ain't been doing it.

CURTIS WALLS (VOICEOVER): When you talk about a changer, you're talking about a wide receiver, a corner, somebody who's quick, somebody who's agile, somebody with good hand-eye coordination.

BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): I grew up not watching NASCAR at all.

PHIL HORTON: Finish it.

Finish it.

BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): Now, why would I want to join a sport where's there's not nobody there that looks like me.

ANNOUNCER: Spartans will take a time out.

BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): I've always been an athlete.

I think I started playing basketball when I was, like, four years old.

ANNOUNCER: Brehanna Daniels.

BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): I played point guard and shooting guard in college.

And especially being a point guard, most of us are, like, smaller.

You to have that quick hand speed, short and low to the ground.

You have to be poised, patient.

The same thing ties in to being a tire changer.

The only thing that was different that I didn't know how to do was change tires.

- Exaggerate the pull, Bre.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

PHIL HORTON: Come on, jump back in.

Let's go.

Slow down, slow down, slow down.

Give it a nice rhythm.

Get a nice rhythm.

An accurate five is better than a super fast 10, right?

Come on.

BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): I have to work that much harder, 10 times harder than everybody else, you know, to even be considered.

PHIL HORTON: See how good?

They burning?

- I'm telling you.

PHIL HORTON: They burning?

All right, so right here?

Let's go 50 straight.

50 straight and then we'd be good.

There you go.

There you go.

[tools banging] I like it.

I like it.

I like it.

I like it.

There is is.

Shake your arms out.

Change it.

Shake your arms out.

Make sure your air good.

We're going to swap over to the right side.

Do exchanges.

Go swap to the right side.

Do exchanges.

BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): I'm a Black woman in NASCAR.

PHIL HORTON: Yeah.

Yeah.

- In a white, male-dominated field.

- Now, to a woman who is literally speeding past barriers, Brehanna Daniels is the first Black woman tire changer in NASCAR's history.

REPORTER: It wasn't until 2012 NASCAR signed its first female pit crew member.

Since then, only three have been women of color.

- You started out by going through the combine, and now-- BREHANNA DANIELS: I'm going over the wall now.

REPORTER: Brehanna made history to be on a pit crew in a NASCAR national series.

- Do you feel like you have to prove yourself?

- Each and every day.

BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): Us going to the track is based off, like, our practice performance.

But there are people that I was better than in practice.

They would still get sent to the track over me.

I'm not working with those people anymore.

I go to these teams when I'm new, and I introduce myself.

I'm like, hey, my name is Brehanna.

I'll be your rear changer for the day.

And just even like with certain looks, you know, and just guys just thinking, I can't do so because I'm a woman.

[somber music] It definitely is a pressure being a Black woman in, you know, the sport of NASCAR and having to be that voice.

On the hardest days or the lowest days of my life, I just look at it as being, like, another thing that I have to overcome.

I just think, like, what would my mom do in this situation?

[somber music] The strength of my mother was so unreal.

She had breast cancer for most of our life.

She got diagnosed at 27, passed away at 38, almost around the age that I'm at now.

I mean, I'm 28 now.

And just me thinking of her alone just gives me the strength to keep going, whatever it is.

[somber music] ♪ ♪ I got injured back in May of last year, and then that completely took me out for the rest of my NASCAR season.

It was, like, throbbing, like, just very, very painful.

Whatever it was, I knew it wasn't good.

♪ ♪ My knee started swelling up.

And then as soon as I, like, hopped to the front of the gym, I sat down.

The pain, like, it was there.

I was hoping it was a meniscus tear, but it was an ACL tear, full tear.

- To make sure that it doesn't get stiff, let's do a little leg compression.

We're going to have to push it, you know, for Daytona.

You know, we can't baby it.

We're going to have to just go full throttle just to make sure that, you know, nothing's going to come up.

Go hard in practice, and just like it was regular.

BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): Instead of trying to work out and doing things on my own at home, I went to Curtis and had him get me right.

CURTIS WALLS (VOICEOVER): When we talk about getting Bri ready for Daytona, she doesn't have to conquer the world in one pit stop.

Being level-headed, not allowing her emotions to overcome her, you know, that's the ability for any athlete to shine.

I definitely have a fear that she can re-injure herself.

It's just because of the nature of the sport.

It's just the simple reality of being an athlete in a sport that's heavy on impact.

BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): For months, I couldn't get down in my tire-changing position.

I couldn't even get down, like, on the ground and just put that pressure on my leg without crying.

CURTIS WALLS (VOICEOVER): For a tire-changer, our ability to hop off a wall, to sometimes jump, to avoid another car, to then sprint, land onto our knees, and then get up off our knees, run around, and do the exact same thing over and over again, not just at the track, but in practice, you know, that can be very demanding.

So to have an ACL tear, it is not a joke.

It's something you have to take very serious.

[upbeat music] I think during this time where she's rehabbing and she was coming back to be ready to perform for Daytona, times like this either make or break you.

- Here we go.

So look, we'll go right, right beside single leg.

- Both legs and gun move at the same time.

Yeah.

Move at the same time.

Right?

- Yeah.

PHIL HORTON: Keep that-- keep that foot down.

Kind of pivot off that foot.

Don't-- don't-- don't raise it as much.

BREHANNA DANIELS: Oh, like that.

PHIL HORTON: Yeah.

- That felt a lot better just now.

- Yeah.

All right?

- Yeah.

PHIL HORTON: But we'll go over that separately.

- OK. PHIL HORTON: OK?

Let me just see a couple of moves now.

Yeah.

She has to demonstrate that she can move as fast as she used to.

She has to show that she can hit the lug nuts as fast as she used to hit them.

We're not sure whether she can do it.

CURTIS WALLS: Get out there.

Jump.

[gentle music] ♪ ♪ [tools whirring] ♪ ♪ BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): The thought ran through my mind, like, you know, if I can't return to NASCAR, what's next?

CURTIS WALLS (VOICEOVER): This is a critical moment for Brehanna in the fact that she is starting from scratch.

All that she has done previously, you know, is really erased in the fact that she sat out almost a season.

And she has to come back, prove herself.

[frantic music, tools whirring] - Do you see how he's standing now, Coach?

You see how, like, his-- should he be closer to the car because he's at an angle where I'm about to run into him?

You see?

- No.

If you'd rotated that gun out, you went right around him.

- Said my body is moving a little bit?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

Just be under control.

Under control.

Then it's going to be smooth.

You try to go too fast, it's going to look sloppy, all right?

And you can't coach speed.

So either you're fast or you're not.

You know what I'm saying?

- Think about it.

Think about it.

When you push off, you're close.

You're too close, right?

That's why you made the little hop step right there, right?

- Yeah.

BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): Just got to be strong.

You can't mess up.

You can't afford to mess up.

I got to get the lug nuts tight because there's going to be tires flying down pit road if I don't.

[tense music] - We are on our way to Daytona Beach.

Super excited.

It's my first race back since May of 2022.

I'm ready to do this.

Coach, you see my pictures going viral on Twitter?

- Yeah.

- It's at, like, almost 30,000.

- You got 30,000?

That ain't new.

- What?

[laughs] BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): People always ask me, like, are you, like, nervous before every stop?

- How are you doing?

- Welcome back, girl.

- Thank you.

BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): It's not a bad nervous.

So it's, like, good nerves.

- Hardcores are ready for Brehanna, Joshua, and Jaquan.

It's a snapping turtle.

[crash] Oh, hell no.

[tense music] - Want radios?

- Thank you.

Yes.

- OK. - So lug nuts-- how many sets are we going to have?

WOMAN: Two.

- Two sets?

WOMAN: Yeah.

BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): Having, you know, a whole bunch of fans watching, just people all over the world, it's a whole bunch of-- it's a lot of people out there.

- Very nice.

- See ya.

- Oh, my god.

Thank you.

I love it.

- You want a picture?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, of course.

- Let's just do it up real quick.

[tense music] BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): A race can have anywhere between, like, five or seven pit stops.

And I have to perform in just seconds.

So I got to be ready.

I got to be fast.

That's the goal, to do my job and then get back over the wall as fast as I can.

- Dear Lord, thank you for allowing us all to see another day and giving us another chance and opportunity to be able to pit a race car.

I pray that you allow each and every single one of us to do our jobs correctly and to focus on each task at hand.

[cars roaring] BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): You gonna pray for her.

- I'm ready.

I mean, you know.

- We got to go.

You ready?

- Yeah.

- Get ready.

[gentle music] ♪ ♪ BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): If I can't return to NASCAR, what's next?

PHIL HORTON (VOICEOVER): We're not sure whether she can do it.

You're close.

You're too close.

BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): I have to work that much harder.

I'm a voice of the sport.

[gentle music] ♪ ♪ - What were the lug nut hits?

- Five.

- Both sides?

- Yes.

- Doing pretty good.

- Thank you.

- All right.

Get ready if we do another one.

- OK. - Good job.

BREHANNA DANIELS (VOICEOVER): A lot of people didn't think that I would bounce back or even think that I was going to come back.

[tense music] But I feel powerful.

And I feel strong.

What does winning mean to me?

Winning means giving the very best that I know I could give and just doing the best that I know I could do.

3, 2, 1.

Jumping over that wall.

[upbeat music] ♪ ♪ [ambient music]