NASCAR Great Ryan Newman Says Daughter Brooklyn 'Has It in Her Genes'

• NASCAR great Ryan Newman taught his first-born, Brooklyn, to drive his truck in his driveway at age 4 while she sat on his lap.

• About two years later, she drove her dad’s old quarter-midget around the parking area at her grandparents’ house in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

• Brooklyn, now 12 years old, currently races on three North Carolina dirt tracks.

Less than two years after Brooklyn Newman nearly lost her father Ryan Newman in a vicious crash on the final lap of the 2020 Daytona 500, the young girl started racing, a move that surprised no one in the Newman family.

After all, Ryan taught his first-born to drive his truck in his driveway at age 4 while she sat on his lap. About two years later, she drove her dad’s old quarter-midget around the parking area at her grandparents’ house in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. So, when she told her dad she wanted to race, he wasn’t surprised.

“I can see what she likes and what she wants to do,” says Ryan, who’s racing modifieds, in selected NASCAR Cup events and the SRX Series. “She’s always enjoyed being at the race track.”

Brooklyn, now 12 years old, currently races on three North Carolina dirt tracks—Millbridge Speedway in Salisbury, Woodleaf Raceway Park in Woodleaf, and Mountain Creek Speedway in Catawba. Millbridge and Woodleaf are each an eighth mile in length while Mountain Creek is a sixth-mile track.

Brooklyn is a regular in the Box Stock class at the three tracks. This month she made her debut in the Junior Wing category at Millbridge. She started her eight-lap Junior Wing Heat race on the pole and led from start to finish. That gave her the pole for the 20-lap A Feature.

About halfway through that race, while in a three-way battle for position, she slammed the wall in front of her father who was standing on the other side. Brooklyn never missed a beat. She immediately took her place at the end of the field and when the green flag waved, she charged past her competitors, recording a seventh-place finish in the 18-car field.

“I can’t teach her car control,” Ryan says. “She’s got it in her butt, in her genes, in her blood and in her mind. I’ve had many people come up and tell me ‘She’s got it.’”

Brooklyn’s younger sister Ashlyn initially showed an interest in racing, but decided it wasn’t something she wanted to do. Instead, Ashlyn helps prepare Brooklyn’s cars and sometimes pushes her sister to the staging area.

“She would be great at it,” Ryan said about Ashlyn. “She loves going fast.”

Going fast was always something Ryan did well during his NASCAR Cup career, earning the name “Rocket Man” for his domination of qualifying, recording 51 poles in 14 years, including 11 in 2003. His 18 victories came on a dozen different tracks, including Daytona and Indianapolis.

However, Ryan’s career also included spectacular crashes at Daytona and Talladega prior to the one in February 2020. His first airborne crash came in the 2003 Daytona 500. Then he experienced vicious crashes at Talladega in 2003 and 2009. He says crashes are a part of racing.

When Ryan and Brooklyn discuss his 2020 Daytona 500 crash it’s in simple terminology. She looks at her father and says, “With some people, when they’re going to the checker (flag) they are too slow.”