This Female Racecar Driver Is Teaching Young Women How To Push Past Racing’s Barriers To Entry And Get Behind The Wheel
If you were lucky enough to attend a NASCAR event growing up, the race day scene is probably ingrained in your memory. Engines were whirring, crowds were hollering, and the smell of burning rubber filled the air– along with the aromas of comfort concession foods, of course.
Arguably the most exciting part about watching a race unfold, though, is imagining you are the driver behind the wheel.
I mean, doesn’t flooring the gas on straightaways, drifting around bends, and competing to cross the finish line first sound like an adrenaline rush and a half?
But unfortunately, unlike more mainstream sports such as soccer, softball, or lacrosse, it can be very difficult to get started in motorsports.
After all, most towns in the United States have access to at least a few fields, but where are all of the racetracks?
Plus, becoming a racer has countless other roadblocks– such as the financial cost of equipment, training, and race entry, as well as other societal stigmas that have prevented many women from trying out the sport in the past.
Still, one female racecar driver named Lindsay Brewer doesn’t think that those who really want to pursue racing should ever give up on their dream.
And recently, she even divulged exactly how she began her journey in motorsports in hopes of encouraging other women to get behind the wheel, too.
TikTok; pictured above is Lindsay in one of her videos
Lindsay detailed how her first introduction to racing was actually sort of by accident. When she was just eleven years old, she simply attended a birthday party that was at a go-kart track and fell in love with the thrill.
“My family had never been in racing before, but yeah, we went to this birthday party, and I ended up being quicker than all the boys, all the adults, as an eleven-year-old girl,” Lindsay recalled.
So, everyone from the birthday party attendees to the actual race track owner was shocked. Then, the owner even encouraged Lindsay to hop into a faster kart that was privately owned by an older male racer. And yet again, she actually ended up beating that male racer’s track time after driving his own kart.
At that point, Lindsay felt exhilarated, and her father saw immense potential. So, her dad ended up buying Lindsay her very own kart, and she began racing.
Lindsay went on to win the regional championship during her first year on the track– an impressive accomplishment.
“Then, from Minimax, I moved up to Rotax Junior– which is for older kids– and then I went to Shifter Karts,” she explained.
“Shifter Karts are a lot of fun. They are really crazy, really fast, super fun.”
And after falling head over heels for the rush of racing Shifter Karts, she competed nationally for a few years before studying at some car racing schools.
“I did some Skip Barber Racing Schools– like Formula Schools– which is generally the progression you take from karting.”
Then, following her training, Lindsay began to race in the “big leagues.” During her freshman year of college, she raced Legends cars and even won the championship.
But, like many racers, Lindsay also had to grapple with the financial investment her passion required. And after winning that championship, her parents were no longer able to financially support her racing– so Lindsay was forced to take a few years off while she finished college.
“Which I don’t regret at all. I went to San Diego State, and it was awesome. But yeah, I had to take a few years off, which sucked,” Lindsay said.
She did not begin racing again until 2019, when she competed in a sportscar series known as the Saleen Cup. Still, though, Lindsay’s time away from the track did not seem to impact her performance at all– because she ended up placing second that year.
Nevertheless, she was forced to take another short break due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. But, ever since 2021, Lindsay has been back behind the wheel and has big plans for this year.
“This year, I am doing Road to IndyCar, which is an open-wheel series, and it’s equivalent to like a Formula 3 car– so a lot of fun. It’s about 275 horsepower, but it’s very light and feels very quick,” she detailed.
As for Lindsay’s ultimate goal, she is working toward racing in the IndyCar Series– which is “the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States.”
And for anyone who is just looking to start their racing journey, your first step might be similar to Lindsay’s– finding a local go-kart track.
“But that can even be super expensive as well, so I think the most cost-effective way to get into racing would be to get a simulator. You can do iRacing [an eSports game] and get really good at that,” she revealed.
“Then, if you are able to win some of those competitions, you can hopefully get sponsored to get into actual cars.”
Lindsay currently has a Sparco racing simulator which costs about two thousand dollars. But, there are cheaper simulators on the market, such as this Dell simulator which costs about two hundred and thirty dollars.
So, if you would like to make the plunge into racing but don’t want to commit a couple of grand upfront, it might be best to start out with a cheaper simulator to get a feel for the motorsport. Then, if you fall in love as Lindsay did, you can invest more into your racing goals.
“Obviously, racing is a super expensive sport, so it takes a lot of dedication and sponsorship. But it is definitely possible for anyone of all ages and genders,” Lindsay finished.
Lindsay currently wows the social media community on the daily with her drive for racing. She has 1.8 million followers on Instagram and over six hundred and thirty thousand followers on TikTok.
To stay updated on Lindsay’s journey as a female racecar driver, you can check out her socials. Or, to view her original TikTok on becoming a racecar driver, you can visit the link here.
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