$50M-worth Kelley Earnhardt inspires ‘girlpower in sport’ with powerful message to female tire changer amid Daytona 500 

NASCAR team owner Kelley Earnhardt Miller showed her support for Brehanna Daniels, NASCAR’s first Black female pit crew member.

Kelley is the CEO of JR Motorsports, a NASCAR Xfinity Series team she co-owns with her brother, Dale Earnhardt Jr. She has helped the team win multiple Xfinity Series championships over the last two decades. This Sunday, JRM will make its Cup Series debut at the 2025 Daytona 500 with defending Xfinity champion Justin Allgaier.

In an Instagram stories post, $50M-worth Kelley (according to Celebrity Net Worth) shared a picture with Daniels at the Daytona International Speedway and wrote:

"Always here to support the girlpower in our sport."

Kelley Earnhardt's story on February 15. Source: @kelleyearnhardtmiller on Instagram

Brehanna Daniels, who is a former college basketball player, became the first Black woman to work on a NASCAR pit crew in 2017. She joined the sport through NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program along with Breanna O’Leary and Dalanda Ouendeno.

Currently, the list of female pit crew members in the sport is small. 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace is also the only African American driver in the Cup Series.

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"I sit there and yell and talk the whole race" - Kelley Earnhardt on JRM's entry to Daytona 500

Justin Allgaier was in a tight battle with Martin Truex Jr. and JJ Yeley during the final lap of the first Daytona 500 Duel race. The No. 40 Traveller Whiskey Chevy ultimatly finished ninth and secured JRM's first-ever spot in a NASCAR Cup Series race.

During a press conference after the race, Kelley Earnhardt mentioned her yelling during the race on Thursday night.

"I mean, we were right beside the 44 (JJ Yeley) the entire time, so it's like we needed to get away from it. And then, that last caution—I looked over at L.W. and I was like, 'Is Greg (Ives, crew chief) going to bring us back to pit again?' Because every time we made up some ground, Greg brought us back into pit. So I was like, 'Please don't bring us back into pit again. I don't want to have to go through this,'" Kelley Earnhardt said (28:45 onwards).

"But yeah, I sit there and yell and talk the whole race, trying to figure out why they're not doing what they're doing. But they're better at it, especially Dale, obviously. I haven’t driven a race car at Daytona, so the top and the bottom, where to go and how to go, all that. I’m just sitting there yelling at them."

Allgaier will race from the 18th starting position at the Daytona 500, which is scheduled to begin at 1:30 pm on Sunday, February 16.