Brina Seng: How A Dirt Track Meteorologist Turned Haters Into Fans

SPEAKER_02 0:42

Listening and celebrating women and children for one story at a time.

Meet Brina And Racing Roots

Melinda Russell 0:49

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SPEAKER_00 2:26

So my name is Brina. I am from Ground Forks, North Dakota, which is home to River City Speedway. I am a second-year student at North Dakota State University. I'm going to school for criminal justice and social work, which I really have no idea what I want to do yet. Come from a racing family. My dad promotes the track in Grand Forks. He's also a late model racer along with my brother. And my mom just gets to be the fan in the stands the whole time. We are in Grand Forks, and I go to school in Fargo, which is like the rivalry school to Grand Forks. So I make a lot of my Grand Forks people a little disappointed. But yeah, right now we are in 20-degree weather, and we hope to open in the next three weeks here. So fingers crossed.

Melinda Russell 3:22

Why is it have to be so cold and it's April?

SPEAKER_00 3:26

Yeah, no, we had a blizzard last weekend where interstates were closing, and they thought we were gonna have anywhere from 12 to 18 inches, but we got about only half of that, which was good.

Melinda Russell 3:39

Yeah. Well, I live in Kalamazoo, Michigan, so I get a lot of snow in the winter too, but it's about 60 today, low to mid-60s. Tomorrow it's gonna be in the 70s. I can't wait. It's gonna be here too, because you know, this winter it was so cold and we had a lot of snow. And so I'm looking forward to opening my windows tomorrow and getting some fresh air in the house, getting all those germs out of here, you know.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

Yeah, you're lucky.

Melinda Russell 4:12

Yeah, yeah, I'm excited about it. So, yeah, you have to wear sweatshirts the first few weeks that you race, probably.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

Yeah, so I'm actually an announcer at the track too, and I know for sure I'll be in a long sleeve and probably a vest or jacket those first few opening weekends.

Melinda Russell 4:29

Oh, for sure. So, Brina, how did you get involved in motorsports?

SPEAKER_00 4:35

So I was born into it, like uh everyone else says, since the day I was born, I've been at the track. My mom's never dabbled into racing, she's just been the racing wife forever. And at the time, my brother wasn't racing, it was just my dad. And growing up, my dad didn't have ownership of the track yet. So me and my mom would just go to the track and watch him, and then when I hit the pit age, I could start traveling with him to other tracks and stuff. So yeah, it all started. My dad raced before he met my mom. So then my mom married dad, so she was in it, and then the day I was born, I've been at the tracks. So when I was about I'd say 16 or 17, I took over the social media here, got all the old guys out of it, added some color to the track and the websites and stuff. And from there I've been helping my dad promote in the little ways like the sponsorships, the marketing, and stuff like that. And from there now I'm a full-time announcer, not just for River Cities, but I also travel to some other tracks and do some announcing there. And then yeah, I run the social media full-time along with some outlaw drivers like Ethan Dotson. He's on the outlaw late model tour and a lot of our more local guys. And yeah, I kind of do a lot of the marketing and a lot of the fun stuff, not all the serious stuff like him.

Melinda Russell 6:03

That sounds like so much fun, and you're still young enough to really like know what you're doing, excuse me, and and enjoy it. It's not probably as much of a job as it would be for somebody older. It just comes natural, doesn't it, when you're young?

SPEAKER_00 6:20

Yeah, like I was able to connect with a lot of the guys, like I like to do fun videos, TikToks, and stuff. And a lot of the guys I do videos with or do like fun little trends, like those are guys that I call like father figures to me. So it's like never been uncomfortable to me. It's always been something I can take on super easily, and like the promoting side, I've been able to stand side by side with my dad growing up and watch how all the operations and all everything else happens out there. So it came super natural, and it's become really fun because of the welcoming environment of being around it for so long.

Melinda Russell 6:57

Yeah, everybody knew you, so it wasn't like you stepped in and they're like, Who's this girl? And why does she think she knows anything? And they were all just like, it's a natural progression for you as you got older.

SPEAKER_00 7:09

Yeah, it's super fun. And like, like I said, like the guys make it so fun. We have a lot of good girls out there too. Like Donnie Schatz is just 70 miles down the highway from us, and he is one of the house names of spring car racing, practically outlaws in general, and his nieces, Amelia and Layla, are good friends of mine, and they're they're chasing their dreams right now, too. And it's just also fun to see the girls do it and connect with girls. I'm super big on like women in motorsports like you, and I have like a Facebook group on Facebook that I post stuff in cute outfits, clothes, post your brands, stuff like that. So it's very welcoming on the guy's side because I've grown up with them, but it's also so cool to see where the girls are going with it too.

Melinda Russell 7:56

Absolutely. So now tell me what the Facebook page is where you post that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 8:01

So River City Speedway Cities is C I T I E S, not C I T Y. That is our Facebook page for the track, and then my dad is also the president of our Northern Late Model Racing Association, which is just a late model tour, which I run that one too. I don't do a lot of content on there, but I do a lot of stuff on there. But what I feel like made my name sprout the most on the Facebook page, if you were to go on there, is the beginning of last year. We had a our opener actually, we had like 60 mile an hour winds on Friday predicted, rain, and we canceled it on like a Wednesday, just looking at the forecast. We didn't want people to travel, and everyone said we called the race too early. And I'm thinking to myself, no, we didn't. And Friday comes in, we're in like tornado, severe weather, downpouring. So I just decided to go stand out in the rain and video and do like a weather report aimed at everyone, and that's where it's stuck, and it's kind of shot at all the haters, and I was a little bit of a smart alec in it, and ever since then it's stuck. So, usually weekly throughout the race season, you'll see me standing right outside our facility doing a weather report, rain or shine, or canceling or not. I'm standing out there and giving a weather report. So that's a lot of the content you would see from our river cities page.

Melinda Russell 9:31

I I love that. I think every track promoter or social media person should be doing that because it's so it's so easy to sit back and say, Oh, you canceled too early, or oh, you should have canceled. Yeah. It's so easy to judge unless you're the one making the decision. And I get I get so irritated, you know, with our local people too. Kalamazoo Speedway, Galesburg Speedway, there's other tracks. I have a lot of tracks around my area, and no matter what you do, somebody's gonna complain. Oh, yeah. Yeah, and and it's not their dollar that's being lost if they try to run and and then you know the weather doesn't cooperate. So I love I love that, Brina. I think that that's something every track promoter needs to do because that'll shut some of those people up, won't it?

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Yeah, and it was funny because after I posted that video, you had a few of the people coming back on the post when they commented on the last one saying we canceled it too early. They're like, I was so wrong, like I am sorry, and like the stuff like that makes it so fun. Like, I feel like I'm known for shutting down the keyboard warriors, and I kind of do it in a very smart alec way, and I I I personally love it, I love shutting them down. Like, I will do anything to make them not comment. I don't block them because any interaction is good interaction, but it comes to the point where you have other people commenting on what this page says, and they're commenting, helping me out, and then soon the keyboard warrior becomes a fan, and it's just stuff like that. And people don't understand what goes into a Friday night and what goes into canceling and stuff. So I always tell them we have job applications ready to go if you want to come see what it's like on a Friday night and stuff like that. But yeah, it's super fun.

Learning The Mic The Hard Way

Melinda Russell 11:32

I love that. I I just I I think that's just amazing, and I'm going to I'm gonna start really following you closer now so that I can watch and and get some tips and tricks from you about what what to do or not do because I think that's amazing, yeah, for sure. So so you're now you're an announcer. When did that start? And how did how did you get started doing that?

SPEAKER_00 11:59

Yeah, so I was a 50-50 girl out there for years. Like I I did the social media, but all I did was 50-50. I never wanted to really get in a role. I like just kind of watching my dad and my brother and sitting in the stands, and then our longtime announcer, Chad Hoff, he had to move, and we have some of the best announcers in the area. I'll say that straight up. And I knew going into it, I had big shoes to fill, and that is the first time I've ever public spoke in my life, and I couldn't even hold the microphone up straight, and they just said, okay, go try it. Like, you know a lot about racing, you're knowledgeable, go try it. And so I tried it on a Friday night, and the guy that won is actually the family I nanny for, so like I knew him very well, so it made things a lot better. But he had to hold the microphone in my hand because my hand was shaking so bad, and it was it was fine. I don't remember what I said, I like blanked out fully, like I was probably saying like all the time, stuttering, probably said the wrong car number, but that first night I got it under my shoes, and then the second night the outlaws came to town, and then I was in a crowd of over 2,000, 3,000 people, and not good, not good, embarrassed myself pretty good, I think. And yeah, ever since this first year, probably two weekends in is when it started, and I've only been announcer last year. Well, I would say part-time, every other show until towards the end of the year. I fully took it over, and this year I'll be doing it full-time all year.

Melinda Russell 13:47

But the nice thing, Briny, is that you know the people, so the names are familiar. You you're not gonna murder the names, no, and and anybody that dare say anything, you know, it'd be like, Hey, I uh you'd be the guest announcer this week and see how fast they shut up, right? Yeah, and you know, it takes time. I don't care what job you're in, whether you're the social media, you're the announcer, you're making the hot dogs, it takes time to get into a rhythm with that role. And so, you know, there's no place better to start than today. And so you you started last year and you jumped in with both feet, and now this year you're gonna be an old pro. So, you know, that's great. Do you play any kind of music or what do you do as an announcer to get the crowd involved?

SPEAKER_00 14:38

So I am on the staging and in the infield, and then John Roberts is our other announcer, and he's in the booth. So I I don't think he does music. I think we have a person designated for doing our playlist, but I just get the crowd riled up. Like, you gotta get on the mic, you gotta make them start clapping, you gotta get them loud. We do a lot of little drawing shirts, little like trading cards. But I think we have a really good rip rhythm. Me and John Roberts, our announcer, are getting like the chemistry together with stuff like that. And honestly, like our racing is almost a show, too. Like, we run street stocks, B mods, sprint cars, and late models. So, I mean, you get a sprint car rolling three, four times. I mean, that's a show in itself. I mean, it's it's really fun to watch.

Women In Key Roles At River Cities

Melinda Russell 15:31

Oh, yeah, it for sure is. So it's a dirt track, yeah, yeah. And so, yeah, and how big is the track? Do you know? I think three-fourths. Okay, all right. Might be botching that one, but I think it's that's okay. It's all right. I just I was just curious, and so you've got girls that race there too. Is there any other women that are in kind of prominent roles like you?

SPEAKER_00 15:58

Yeah, so Amanda Joanright, she is our spring car director, so they have their own series and she directs it, and she has one of the most important roles out there because our sprint cars are probably our most premier class. So she makes sure the lineups are done, staging, points, everything like that. She's a big role. We have female photographers, which that's a role in itself. Like photography is as big as everything else out there. We have females in the concession stands, we have females in the box upstairs, we have females at the pick gate, we have females at the front gate. I mean, we we have females everywhere, and it's so nice to see because it's not just in the track, it's all over, and that's that's what we need. And I think I am one of the only female announcers in Wesoda in our area, which is like the tri-states around uh South Dakota, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana. I don't think there's many. I know there's a few, but also just having a female voice is new in the area, too.

Melinda Russell 17:12

I only know of one other gal that yeah, she was an announcer. I haven't talked to her for a couple of years, so I don't know if she's still doing it, and she was out east, and at the time she was the only one I knew of, and so yeah, very rare to have girls. Now there's a young gal named Maddie Schultz. Do you know who that is? I've heard of the name, yeah. Chatty, she goes by Tatty Maddie. Oh, yes, yes, yes, and so you the two of you would get along wonderfully because she's she's like you, she just says what it is, and and she does, I think it's IRA sprints or something like that the sprint cars, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:53

I look up to her, she was one of the first females I have watched do it in her ways, and she's just well, she is what her name, she's just chatty, and she knows what she's doing, and then Ashton Smith, the World of Outlaw late models. She does all the interviews and walkthroughs and stuff, and like seeing these females in these prominent roles in the racing is it's huge, and it's what we need for the sport to keep growing both ways.

Melinda Russell 18:21

Yeah, it really is, and it just brings a different perspective to like the track action and what's going on and and everything, and so yeah, I I love that you're the announcer. That sounds like it'd be so much fun. A co-announcer, I guess we could say you're the co-announcer, but yeah, so do you ever like tell funny little stories about any of the drivers or or things that happen that are funny, like you know, oh he ran out of gas on the way to the track, which the announcer at Kalamazoo actually did that one night, ran out of gas on the way to the racetrack. So, do you try to find little stories or tell things about the drivers?

SPEAKER_00 19:03

Yeah, so we do that, and we also under red flags, I'll go stick the microphone in the driver's faces, hoping to get some drama out of it. Other guy messed them up, this or that. We have a special at the end of the year called the John Sites Memorial, which was my dad's best friend that we made a race out of, and it's$9,200 to win. We run four classes and it's 92 laps. So we do a fuel stop in the middle of the race, I think about 40 laps in, and I walk through, and all the guys are lined up at a fuel stop, and I go door to door with all the drivers. And one of my most funnest experiences was being able to interview my dad during that, and he didn't do much that race, and I said that out loud. I was like, Well, we can go interview my dad, even though he hasn't done much, and like hearing the crowd got really loud, and that's like I've never heard like you never know you're that funny until you say things you don't think of, and the crowd cracks up, and yeah, stuff like that is like the moments where you think you've made it, like you did it as a person, and even having the opportunity to talk to my dad and down there, and having the opportunity to do that is huge because he's poured his heart and soul into it, and now I get to do it side by side with him, and it's just awesome, those experiences, and then also like the fun, funny stuff that happens during announcing, too.

Melinda Russell 20:39

Yeah, yeah, there has to be there has to be like funny stuff that goes on, especially if you're in the pit area, you're gonna see more of that, you know, than than maybe the guy up in the tower. So that's that's pretty fun. What does your mom think about you being the announcer? Is she like, oh no, or is she like, yeah, you tell him.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

She she loves it, and I don't think she loves the fact that she has to watch her husband and son race because there's more of a risk to that than announcing, and I think she'd rather maybe sit in the stands with her, but she knows that I love what I do now, and she gets to just sit and watch everyone do their thing, and I'm sure it's just her watching all three of her loves do what they love, so I'm sure it's just awesome for her. And she gets to sit with her dad, which he's getting older. Hopefully, he'll be able to make it out this year. And they've sat in the same spot for over 50 years, like the same exact spot. So racing in our family on both sides has always been so tied together, and I think she she loves it, she loves it, even though she probably says it gives her nerves and everything like that.

Melinda Russell 21:54

Well, I'm sure it does, you know, gives her a little butterfly in her tummy when they pull out on the track. My son raced, used to race, and I and I knew he was gonna be fine, and yet you just never know what's gonna happen. And you know, you're nervous about whether they're gonna win or they're gonna wreck or whatever. And so, you know, that's probably normal for your mom to feel that way. How old is your brother?

SPEAKER_00 22:21

Twenty-eight, I think.

A Scary Wreck That Changed Everything

Melinda Russell 22:24

Okay, so he's he's a little older, he's older than you, so you know, he's but he's an adult, he's not 16, so you know, he's an adult, and and he can decide what's the right thing to do on the track, and hopefully he makes good decisions, so that's good.

SPEAKER_00 22:40

Yeah, yeah, there was a time in 2018, it was just me and my dad, and we went up to Alexandria, Minnesota, and he had went off the track and went 100 miles an hour into a cement barrier, and it was just me and him. I was probably 14 at the time, and it was just me, him, and his pick eye. My mom, my brother, my grandmas and grandpas didn't decide to come, and they ended up having to cut him out of the car and put him in the ambulance that told me he might be paralyzed. And little old me, I didn't know what to do, so I rode in the ambulance with him to the track or to the hospital. Everything turned out to be okay, but like I think it was moments like that that made me never want to miss a race again. Yeah, and that's probably what made the passion for it more because I was around it more and I took it more seriously knowing the risks that came along with it, yeah. And stuff like that just shapes your perspective of life, and I mean it hurts you, but it also makes it you love it 10 times more knowing that stuff like that happened and you still go back, yeah.

Melinda Russell 23:55

And and knowing that everything turned out okay, um, you know, but that also, like you said, it makes you never want to miss a race because you want to make sure you're always there if somebody needs you, right? Yeah. So does your dad travel still to other tracks or do yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:13

So we run, he probably runs anywhere from I would say five to ten other tracks a year. We follow a series which goes to a lot of local tracks in our area for the late models, both him and my brother, and he's the president of that or co-president. And I would say that's about five to seven different tracks, and then towards the end of the year, during we call it special season down here where you got all like the special races, memorial races, depending on where he's at in the year. We might go to a few other tracks during like August, September, October. But he used to follow like the national points and run for national championships, which he has won. He's been very successful in his racing career, but now with the promoter side of it, he just doesn't have time to do all that.

Melinda Russell 25:06

Yeah. So he's the promoter at your local track there, River Cities, and then he travels with that series, so he goes all over the place, yeah. So you race on Friday night at your local track, and then Saturday, whenever the specials are, you travel.

SPEAKER_00 25:23

Yep, and then there's some Thursday shows before our Friday nights, and then us personally, we run some Thursday night specials, just if like there's college graduation on a Friday, and we know majority are gonna be gone, or like over the 4th of July, we'll run a Tuesday night show just because I think 4th of July falls on like a Thursday or a Friday this year, just to give people time to get out to the lake wherever they want to go, since we're in Minnesota. I mean, that's where the whole state's gonna be, is at the lake and stuff. So we're a Friday night track, but there's a few exceptions to some other days.

Melinda Russell 26:00

Yeah. So what's what's the thing about going to the racetrack and you've been there forever? But what is it about that that makes you want to go back? Because you know, you can get burnt out on things, and like you say, you maybe it's like it's hot. I just would rather go to the lake, but you probably don't feel that way. You want to be at the racetrack. Why is that?

SPEAKER_00 26:24

I think it's the environment. Like everyone can go out in the parking lot and do donuts. Like everyone, it's it's not people don't enjoy watching cars drive in circles. Let's be real. Like, you can go do that for free in a parking lot. I mean, you might get a ticket, but you can do it for free. And I think it's the interaction with the fans in the actual show itself. My dad's always said it needs to be a fair. You need to make it like a circus, you need to make it like an amusement park. Like it needs to be more than just cars racing in circles. And we do theme nights, we do school bus nights, we have the fair that comes over the racetrack. I mean, you got to keep the fans engaged, and that's what's made me always come back. Is there's always something going on if it's the food, if it's the spring cars flipping 10 times off the track, and it's just things like that that makes you want to go back the next weekend. And it's hard right now with all the prices in the world, but we're gonna try our damnedest to make it easier on people and the best we can, and hopefully we can still have the same outcome this year. But yeah, I think we do really good with having people drawn back with the fan interaction stuff.

Melinda Russell 27:34

Yeah, people want to be entertained, and so sure, racing is entertainment, but if that's all it was, it's not enough. People people want more, they're so spoiled with internet and scrolling and all the things that coming and sitting and just watching, I want to say just watching a race, but really that's true. They don't want to watch people race, they want other entertainment to go along with it. And that's true, even you know, I'm a huge race fan, but I also like when they do other things like Night of Destruction, and and they, you know, they have the little kids do things, and it's always fun to see what else they can do or come up with to entertain people. So it sounds like you guys do a really good job of that.

SPEAKER_00 28:24

Well, yeah, and it's even like where my part comes into it, like I need to keep the fans engaged myself. And one of our most like I would say populated nights is our school bus races because we fill three school buses worth of kids and then we let them go around the track. And it's like I like we have teachers coming, teachers get in, I'm pretty sure, free or a discount. Anyone 13 under gets in free, so it's like those school buses and the kids watching them go around the track, it's awesome for them. And that one night might draw them in the next Friday, and it's just like you need to keep doing stuff like that to keep them coming back, yeah.

Melinda Russell 29:00

And and you just have to kind of think, you know, they say think outside the box. Well, you know, you really have to be creative in your thinking of ways to you know draw crowds in that maybe wouldn't normally come to the track, like you said, like the teachers.

Theme Nights And Community Connection

SPEAKER_00 29:18

Yeah, stuff like we have an agriculture night, we have school bus night, first responders night. So it's like drawing everyone in from the community. This year is a really important year. We're having a never alone night, and that's a suicide prevention night where we have three, it's a Hornet class, and it's a sponsored night by people that do the never alone. It's like an it's a nonprofit, but they sponsor racers to come race cars, work on cars, stuff like that. And it's like now you're bringing in a community of people that possibly are going through mental health crises. Well, they're getting invited to a community that wants them. They can come to the track and they can watch and they're invited and they're welcome and they're loved and stuff like that. And you just gotta draw on everyone good and bad, farmers, teachers, everything, everyone's involved, everyone's welcomed, and it's just you got to keep them coming in.

Melinda Russell 30:13

Yeah. And what I know is if you can get them to the track one time, just one time, all it takes. Yeah, and then they'll be back, and they'll be telling their friends about it or the people that they work with, and so you know, the trick is getting those people there the first time. It's not hard really to get them to come back once they've been there, but getting them there the first time is the trick, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 30:38

Yeah, and like we have bars that do buses from downtown to the track, and we have a very close relationship to the community, the sheriff's department, our university, and stuff like that, because our track has been there forever and stuff, and that also helps having the tight knit relationship with our community, being able to work with them and they work with us and having those ties, and it just it keeps everyone, every age, every job opportunity, everything, everyone's coming in, so it's just really nice.

Melinda Russell 31:12

Yeah, that is really nice. I I love that it sounds like a fun place to be on a Friday night.

SPEAKER_00 31:19

Oh, I love it. You you really can't even ask for anything else. Like, I have no reason to be out there at two, three o'clock on a Friday when I don't work till 6.50, and I'm just walking through the pits, I'm talking to people, I'm figuring out what I should say in Victory Lane if they win, if this guy's taking over, the guy that's been leading wins for the last 30 years and stuff, and we have a lot of new babies in the pits this year, and like going down and just seeing all the babies, seeing all the little ones and stuff like that. It's such a good environment in the pits, too, along with the environment in the stands, watching from a fan standpoint, too.

Melinda Russell 32:00

Yeah, and are dogs allowed in the pits?

SPEAKER_00 32:05

We don't obviously on a leash, but we we don't care.

Melinda Russell 32:10

We don't, yeah, because I I talked to a lady this morning and she takes her dogs and they're big dogs, but she said they get so excited because they realize when they are close to the track, and she said those two dogs get so excited they love going to the racetrack, and everybody at the track knows them, and so they get lots of pets and probably lots of treats. That's probably why they like going there, but yeah, so I think that's I think that's great that they welcome the pets as well, because you know, you if if you're a dog mom, you don't want to leave your dog at home if you're going to the races.

SPEAKER_00 32:50

No, absolutely not. Yeah, we always have dogs up on leashes, and you best bet I'm making my rounds down the pet or down the pits petting them all. I love it.

Melinda Russell 32:59

Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, you'll have to start taking some treats in your pocket.

SPEAKER_00 33:04

That's hard. I've never thought of that. I should.

Melinda Russell 33:07

Yeah, you should take the some of those little milk bones or whatever. Those are those are fun. When I go through, I have a little shih tzu, he weighs probably 15 pounds, and he loves chicken nuggets. So if we go through McDonald's or Wendy's, he's right at the window because he smells it, you know, and he knows what that is. And then they offer him a uh like a milk bone dog biscuit. Oh, he just turns his nose up at that. He wants nuggets, he doesn't want that old dry milk bone dog biscuit.

SPEAKER_00 33:41

He wants to tasty nuggets, yeah.

Advice For Women Ready To Try

Melinda Russell 33:44

He's right, yeah, he's so funny, so so funny. Yeah, loving to pieces. So what what tell me what have I not asked you about, about what you do and all that that you want to share? Because Brina, most of the time I interviewed drivers or you know, crew members, because there aren't very many women announcers. So, what do you want to share or tell the listeners about you or your or what you do or anything that we haven't talked about?

SPEAKER_00 34:18

Well, I just think it's if you're listening to this and you've ever wanted to do it, not even announcing racing, working at a track, anything, just do it. Like I was I wasn't out super outgoing, but you would have never told me I would have been on a microphone talking in front of thousands of people at night. I was a girl that sat at my dad's trailer and watched him, or sat in the stands with my mom, or sold 50-50. Like I never went out of my comfort zone to do it, and it took one race for me announcing to get the fear out. I was awful. I couldn't even hold the mic in my hands, but after that I was hooked. I was absolutely hooked. And right now it's turning into a job for me, and it doesn't even feel like a job because I love it. So if there's even a thought in your mind to race, to work, to announce, to do anything involved in motorsports when you're too scared because you're a girl, don't be because half the girls at our track run the track. We've had girls beat guys, we've had girls beat national champs. Like it's awesome to see, and we need more of it. And it is going up right now. Like numbers of women in motorsports is going up, but that is because people try and they're uncomfortable, but they try.

Melinda Russell 35:34

Well, and it's because people like you, you set an example. So one of my favorite things to say is if she can see her, she can be her. That is so true. If some young girl sees what you're doing, and then she she's like, Well, if she can do it, I can do it, or if she can do that, I can do this. And I love that that you're an encouragement, probably to other young girls that you don't even know you are.

SPEAKER_00 36:05

No, and it's nice because I actually have merchandise for the meteorologist weather report stuff, and it it's no, it's so it's so stupid, but it's so it's like I love it, and and it's just so nice to see people wearing it around. Like, you don't have to be a race car driver to have merchandise now. Like, look at me. I'm selling more merch than my dad and my brother combined. Like, you you do not even need a race to have merchandise anymore. Like, there's a possibility I'm on a trading card this year. We have trading cards in the area and stuff like that. It's like dream big, like reach for the stars because the opportunity is there and there's no reason why you can't take it.

Melinda Russell 36:50

I love it. I wish I lived closer. I'd be at the track to watch because I just think that's so fun. Yeah, I can tell you love it. It comes through, it's you should it shows on your face and it comes through your voice. I can hear how much you love it. Yeah, for sure. Well, I don't I mean, I don't have any other questions for you, but I'm happy for you to share more if you have anything else. Oh I think we went through a lot of stuff. We did, we did go through a lot of stuff, and I would never have believed that you were shy and would not have been outgoing and able to do all those things. And so you you should, you know, if you have not talked to Maddie, Chatty Maddie, you need to reach out to her and and tell her you're gonna be on the podcast. And when I send you the link for it, share it with her because I know she'd love it. She was one of the first ones I ever had on, really, she's like an inspiration of mine.

SPEAKER_00 37:54

Like, she, when I was told I was gonna start announcing, I was looking through her videos because people are like, Oh, you'll be the next chatty maddie, like you can be outgoing, you can be goofy and stuff like that. And I was like, No way, like no, I can't be like her, I can't be like her. And I watched her videos, and that's who like that's who I inspired to be because she is taken seriously, she's uh straightforward person, but she's also hilarious. And again, like she set a role for me, and hopefully I can set a role for someone else, and then it just keeps going generation by generation, time after time, and just keeps going.

Melinda Russell 38:36

I love that, I absolutely love that. You've brought joy to me today.

SPEAKER_03 38:41

I just want you to know that yeah, yeah.

Season Opener Plans And Closing

Melinda Russell 38:44

So we're recording this on a Saturday, so racing start. Has it started or it'll start soon? May 8th is our season opener. Okay, May 8th. So we got a couple three weeks yet before it starts. So plenty of time to get yourself ready, get that merch out there, get people buying it, and and I'm gonna share it so that maybe somebody that's not even at your track will be wearing the weather girl. So that'll be so fun.

SPEAKER_00 39:12

I appreciate that so much.

Melinda Russell 39:15

Well, Brittany, thank you so much for being on the show. And if you hang on here just for a second, after the recording, we'll close out with some things.

SPEAKER_00 39:24

Okay, sounds good.

SPEAKER_03 39:28

Start your end. This is the women's motor for Netflix.