Lindsay Brewer knew she belonged behind the wheel when she was 11 years old.
From the moment she slid into the seat of a go-kart at a childhood birthday party, Brewer knew she had discovered her passion — one that’s “only amplified” as her career has continued to blossom in the racing and influencing spaces.
“I’m from Colorado and I’ve always grown up snowmobiling, four-wheeling, driving anything I could get my hands on,” Brewer, who currently races internationally in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series, said in an interview with The Post. “I’ve always loved driving, and I really didn’t know you could do it as a sport.”
Born into a family with “no racing background,” Brewer’s father decided to purchase his daughter a go-kart following that fateful day at the track, paving the way to competitions at the regional and national levels.
“I loved competing with the other drivers on the track, beating all of them, and it immediately sparked my passion,” she said. “… It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do since I was a kid.”
It’s a goal Brewer, now 27, has never wavered from, even when she took a four-year break to study at San Diego State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
Despite a lengthy absence from the sport — “It was tough not being in the [racing] world, not really having any connections” — Brewer’s future was always top of mind as she looked to build a social media following in hopes of attracting sponsors to help ease the financial burden racing often carries.
“It’s always going to be an obstacle for drivers to get enough seat time and practice,” Brewer said. “It’s one of those sports where you can’t just pick up a basketball and play outside, it costs $25,000 a day to test the car.”
Upon racing in Skip Barber, the legendary racing academy that counts IndyCar stars Colton Herta and Josef Newgarden as alumni, Brewer experienced “some bumps along the way” as she transitioned back into the seat and competed in the TC America Series in 2021.
“After being out of the seat for so many years, it’s tough cause everyone who I was competing against that’s my age had all been racing the past four years,” Brewer said.
Beyond the pressure of measuring up to her standards as she progressed professionally — Brewer’s “Road to Indy” has featured stops on the Indy Pro 2000 Series in 2022, followed by Indy NXT two years later — she has also combatted the noise of detractors who have “looked down upon” her, not just as a female in the sport, but as a rising online star.
“I feel like if I don’t do well, then it’s like, ‘Oh, she’s too worried on content creation, she needs to be worrying about other things to get better,’ but little do they realize it doesn’t really correlate that much, there’s always going to be pressure for sure, I would say I try not to let it get to me,” Brewer said.
“When I first got back into the sport, it really bothered me and the comments would bother me, and I was like, ‘Ugh, I’m not just an influencer, I’m also a race car driver. I’ve been racing since I was 11.’ I grew a big chunk of my following when I wasn’t racing, so once I started to race again, they were like, ‘This influencer’s pretending to be a race car driver,’ and I’m like, ‘No!’
“But then I realized everyone is going to have their opinion whether it’s right or wrong, and you can’t control how other people perceive you, they’re going to have their opinion no matter what, so I’ve really tried to get past it.”
By locking in on the lane in front of her, Brewer has kept the naysayers in the rearview.
“It’s helped a lot to shift that mindset and I feel a lot more comfortable now,” she said.
Brewer has also gotten more comfortable balancing life as a driver and growing her online presence.
In addition to Instagram, where she has a whopping 2.8 million followers, Brewer has pages on YouTube, TikTok and Passes, a content creator-friendly platform that boasts the likes of fellow athlete influencers such as Livvy Dunne and Paige Spiranac.
“I’ve worked with the same photographer/videographer for the past four years, so he really knows my style and when it’s time for me to work and be driving, going in engineering debriefs, he doesn’t mess with me. I feel like I switch gears from social media, now it’s creation, now it’s time to lock in and be a driver,” she said.
“… I try to get the content creation done in the morning and then he takes all the videos when I’m driving, it definitely takes some balancing, for sure.”
While YouTube serves as a video diary of sorts with vlogs dedicated to “days in the life,” Q&As and memorable moments throughout her career, Passes grants subscribers access to a more intimate look at Brewer’s life beyond the Instagram grid.
“I think it’s important for a lot of content creators to be able to monetize off the content they’re making. And sometimes certain brands don’t value who they are. For me, I feel like I wanted to show a closer look into my life when I pivoted back to racing,” said Brewer, who offers memberships at different price points on Passes ranging from $9.99 per month to $499.99 without a monthly fee.
“I post mostly racing content, which is great, but I feel like I want to give my fans a closer look into my life. ‘Oh, going to the beach today in Laguna, come along with me,’ or ‘doing a workout haul, come work out with me.’”
Having a team that supports her social media endeavors has put Brewer at ease, especially as she embarks on an “absolutely incredible” next chapter with Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America.
“It takes a good team to understand that that’s a big part of my life because some teams I’ve had, they’re like, ‘Why is she taking pictures, she’s not taking this seriously,’ and it’s like, ‘This is the reason I’m able to even drive the car, doing social media to pay for this.’ So, I work with a team now that really understands that and they love doing social media and content creation as well,” Brewer said.
Her debut season with Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America is off to an impressive start.
Last month, she secured a podium finish with British driver Jem Hepworth on the RAFA Racing Team at Sebring International Raceway in Florida.
“This is my first year doing sports cars, I didn’t really have super crazy expectations. I just wanted to try — for me, my strength has always been a challenge in open wheel [vehicles] cause there’s no power steering, so I felt my results didn’t reflect who I was as a driver. I’m like, ‘I know I’m a good driver, but I can barely turn the wheel, and it’s really affecting me,’” Brewer said.
“I was really excited to be switching over to sports cars cause there’s power steering and it’s like a normal car. I thought that would translate really well. A lot of open-wheel drivers, when they jump into other types of cars, they excel just because open-wheel is so difficult.”
Brewer will be back in the driver’s seat next month when she competes at Laguna Seca in California from May 9-11.
