Alcorn State University graduate Breanna O’Leary never quite expected her experience playing college softball would lead her to changing tires for NASCAR.
O’Leary spent her days at Alcorn State playing softball and learning closely from her coaches while earning a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies. Once her undergraduate years were over, she took on a graduate assistant role as the team’s strength and conditioning coach with hopes of coaching full-time in the future.
That was, until she heard about NASCAR’s developmental program.
“They were recruiting former college athletes to come move and train to become pit crew members,” O’Leary said on Good Things with Rebecca Turner. “Obviously, I think the ideal pit crew member they had in mind was football players – the big, strong guys. But I decided to give the tryout a chance, and the rest is history.”
O’Leary didn’t let the fact that she was competing for spots against former college football players intimidate her. In fact, she said her own experience on the softball field was an advantage for her during the early days of the MBM Motorsport Garage 66 crew.
“In softball, you might get three at-bats in a game or only a few balls hit to you, and you’re expected to perform in that split second,” O’Leary explained. “That directly translates to pit stops. In pit stops, you’re expected to do your job in less than 12 seconds and expected to do it well.”
Not only does her softball experience play a major factor in her NASCAR career but her education also does.
“With the NASCAR development program growing, they realized the need to have a specific strength and conditioning coach, and there I was,” O’Leary said. “I said, ‘Let’s do it,’ and, for the past four years, I’ve been working with young, up-and-coming drivers, and I train them Monday through Friday.”
O’Leary’s master’s degree in athletic administration and coaching – which she earned when working as a graduate assistant at her alma mater – has come full circle. The skills and knowledge she gained in the classroom now help her train and prepare new drivers, allowing her to apply her education directly to a career in NASCAR.
In 2019, O’Leary became one of the first women to serve on a pit crew at the Daytona 500, a race she described as the “Super Bowl of NASCAR.” The milestone was a remarkable achievement for the former Alcorn State outfielder and remains one of the coolest experiences of her career as a NASCAR tire changer, she said.
O’Leary is currently working as an independent contractor and serves as both the strength and conditioning coach and one of the crew members for up-and-coming driver Dystany Spurlock in the NASCAR Truck Series.
