Lindsay Brewer Is One of the Only Women in IndyCar — but She 'Can Do Anything These Guys Can Do'
Brewer is one of the few American women that could make the Indianapolis 500 in the next few years — and she's relishing the opportunity.
Lindsay Brewer. PHOTO: TIMES 10
Lindsay Brewer knows that as a woman in the physically demanding sport of IndyCar racing, the odds are stacked against her. But the 25-year-old has "never" doubted her desire to push through the field and achieve her dreams.
Brewer "always wanted to go fast," she says. As a kid growing up in the outdoor playland of Arvada, Colo., a suburb just outside Denver, her family was always snowmobiling, four-wheeling and jet skiing.
"At 4 years old, I would sit in my mom's lap on the jet ski and I would press her thumb to make the throttle go faster," Brewer says.
As a "type A," highly competitive kid, she played golf and tennis, even winning a state championship in the racket sport at age 9. But it was at age 11 when she found her true calling in racing.
"I went to a birthday party at this go-kart track, and I ended up being quicker than all the adults and the boys," Brewer says. Another kid let her try out his Mini Max go-kart, and Brewer smoked him on the track. "The track owner told my dad, 'You really need to get her her own cart. She actually has a natural talent at this.' "
With her parents on board, Brewer started practicing every weekend and won a regional championship in her first year. That's when the family went "all in" on Brewer's racing career. She went from racing the Mini Max cars, which top out at 60 miles per hour to speedy, 90-mph shifter cars.
Brewer, who also models, took a break from racing to go to college at San Diego State — a requirement from her parents — but was able to jump back into the scene and score her first sponsorship, the lifeblood of racing, after she graduated in 2019.
"There were a lot of sacrifices — I had to miss prom, I was homeschooled my senior year and I had to travel almost every weekend," she says. "But I'm happy it paid off."
Brewer is now on the second of four levels on the Road to Indy series, and racing heavy road cars that can get up to 180 mph. That alone was a major hurdle that left her "really struggling," she says, and at a disadvantage due to her small stature.
Lindsay Brewer. PHOTO: TIMES 10
"The cars have so much horsepower and there's no power steering. They're super physical."
But rather than get frustrated, Brewer went straight to the weight room. "If I have to go to the gym twice a day, I will," she says. "I will do everything in my power to get stronger."
She also knows it's possible, because she has Danica Patrick to look up to for inspiration.
"We're around the same body build, and if Danica could do it, why can't I?" she says.
Part of her drive to succeed, Brewer says, comes from how she feels behind the wheel.
"I'm a different person," she says. "I'm super nice off the track, and then as soon as I put my helmet on I'm much more aggressive and different than what people would assume."
Lindsay Brewer. PHOTO: NIKOLAS MCKNIGHT
And Brewer is making herself known this year. After finding a new sponsor in C4 Energy, she finished in the top 10 during her first-ever street race in July, and pulled off a 13th-place finish at her first oval race in St. Louis.
"It's been cool to push myself," Brewer says.
Her "dream" is to continue moving through the ranks and make it to the pinnacle of the sport, the Indianapolis 500. Only 11 women have ever qualified, but Brewer is determined.
"I know I can do anything that these guys can do," she says. "I know I'm quicker. I know I can do it."
Source: People.com, Author: Julie Mazziotta, November 2, 2022