Brooklyn Holland started sixth and drove a flawless race to win the IMCA Western RaceSaver Sprint Series feature at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, California. Holland embraces her nickname “Pretty,” which her father dubbed her as a kid. Her sprint cars feature pink accents and her moniker, “Pretty,” adorns the rides. When Holland heads to the races, she often travels with her “good luck” cat, Glitter.
“Being a successful sprint car driver is tough if you are a woman,” said Holland, 18, of Fresno, California. “The guys think they can walk all over you. You have to show them that you are strong. For a woman that means conditioning — both physically and mentally.”
Holland said she doesn’t know if the guys who she races against have a workout regimen as rigorous as hers. She feels she must work out daily in order to level the playing field.
“I do lots of cardio, which is most important since I drive both in the 305 and 360 sprint car divisions,” Holland said. “I also add weight training. I want to be strong and compete with the men out there.”
Prior to steering 305 and 360 sprint cars, Holland raced 600cc micro sprints during her years in grade school through high school. She first drove a winged 360 sprint car at 14 years old. These days, Holland races throughout central California. In total, she has five 305 sprint car wins to her credit. In addition to her busy schedule behind the wheel of sprint cars, she studies nursing at Madera College.
“I want to be a nurse, first and foremost, because I want to help people,” said Holland.
But, when Brooklyn Holland isn’t applying her fierce focus on nursing, you can find her behind the wheel of a sprint car, with one particular mission in mind.
“I’ll do my best to beat the boys in every race,” Holland said.
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
