How A 15-Year-Old Built A Sprint Car Dream And A Support Network

At just 15 years old, Brielle Stern is already carving out her place in the competitive world of 600 micro sprint racing. From selling cookies to fund her first race car to traveling across the country chasing dirt tracks, Brielle’s journey is fueled by grit, family support, and big dreams.

In this episode, Brielle shares how a trip to the racetrack changed her life at eight years old, how she balances high school and technical machining classes with racing, and why she believes motorsports teaches girls independence and resilience.

She also opens up about overcoming adversity — including knee surgery, social media criticism, and learning how to communicate car setup with her team — all while chasing her first feature win.

Transcript

Meet Brielle

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to the Women's Motorsports Network Podcast, the show that puts the spotlight on the incredible women who fuel the world of motorsports. From drivers to crew members, engineers to fans, and everyone in between, we're here to celebrate the trailvisers, dreamers, and doers shaping the sport we love. Each episode, we share inspiring stories of females of all ages from every corner of the motorsports universe, past, present, and future. It's a journey through the seasons of life filled with heartfelt moments, laughter, and a whole lot of horsepower. So whether you're a lifelong fan, a racer yourself, or simply curious about the extraordinary women behind the wheel, settle in, relax, and enjoy a fun and uplifting ride with us. This is the Women's Motorsports Network podcast, connecting and celebrating women in motorsports one story at a time. Let's hit the track. I met Brielle a couple years ago, maybe longer, at PRI, and I've kind of followed her career and what she's been up to. And so today we're gonna have a conversation, just her and I, and then we're gonna share it with you because we want to know more about her and what she's up to. So, Brielle, why don't you start first by just telling us a little bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_01 1:32

My name is Riel Stern. I'm from Hanover, Pennsylvania. I'm a freshman in high school. I go to a technical school for machining and engineering, trying to figure out what I want to do in the racing career for my future. I'm 15 years old and I race 600 micros.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Okay. And are you an only child? Do you have siblings?

SPEAKER_01 1:59

I have three step siblings and two half siblings.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Okay, all right. So when you all get together, there's a lot of you, huh?

SPEAKER_01 2:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Yeah, for sure. And do you play any other sports at school or do you concentrate on racing?

SPEAKER_01 2:14

I don't really have time.

unknown 2:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

I shoot guns all the time and I fish.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

Okay, all right. That's that's a fun thing to do, too. So you you run a sprint car. How did you get started in motorsports? Who's the one that that took you to the track, or or how old were you, and how did you get started?

SPEAKER_01 2:38

It started off with when I was three years old going to the motocross tracks and the hill climbs with my dad and my grandpa. And my grandpa got me a dirt bike when I was three. I had a PW50. And from there on I rode dirt bikes till I was like 10. And I was cheering at the time. And my friend took me to the racetrack. And I came home and I told my dad that I didn't want to cheer anymore. I wanted to race race cars. Okay, and what did he say? I met Ashley Capetta who helped me get into it.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

All right. And what did your dad say when you said, I don't want to cheer anymore, I want to drive, you know, I want to race?

SPEAKER_01 3:35

He was like, buy your own car. I was making cookies for like people to buy to go towards my racing funds.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

Okay. All right. And then did you go, did you understand at the time, because you would have been young, about going to sponsors, getting people to help pay, or or did anybody help you with that?

SPEAKER_01 4:02

My dad helped me with it a lot, but we also found some other close family friends that would help us. Okay. And then I went to an arrive and drive at Hagerstown Speedway.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

Okay. And and you were hooked from there, weren't you? Yeah. Like, no more cheering, no basketball, no softball. This is what I want to do. And how old were you then? How old were you, do you think, when when you went to the ride and ride and try try and ride? And then you're like, I'm I'm all in. Eight or nine. Eight or nine years old, yeah. So then did your dad kind of come around and be like, okay, you really are serious. I'm gonna help you. And then away you went racing.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

Yeah.

Early Support And Funding

SPEAKER_00 4:56

Yeah. Because you gotta have an adult help, especially at eight or nine years old, obviously. And so most of the time the parents come around after the kid shows they're interested and that they're serious about it. So so Riel, where do you where do you race now? What's your like home track?

SPEAKER_01 5:16

My home track is McGroovids. That's local by me. Okay. But I raced the whole way from here, my home track the whole way to Obama.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

Okay, yeah. I knew you traveled a lot, so what's what's your favorite track that you've been to? Millbridge Speedway in North. Oh yeah. For sure. Millbridge is great. And is there a track you'd like to go to that you haven't been to yet that you'd like to race on?

SPEAKER_01 5:49

I really want to race on the Tulsa shootout and Port City.

SPEAKER_00 5:54

Yeah, that would be a lot of fun for sure to do that. So, what do your friends think about you racing? Because are there other kids at your school that race, or are you kind of the only one?

SPEAKER_01 6:07

There's a couple of kids that race there, mainly drive cars though.

SPEAKER_00 6:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

The only sprint car driver.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Okay. All right. So you race dirt, right? Yeah. Yeah. And and so not a clean, not a necessarily clean sport when you race dirt, but what do you love most about racing?

SPEAKER_01 6:34

Just how everybody's like a big family and help out each other. Yeah. I also enjoy like being with the fans at big events and going taking my car to those events and getting people more involved.

Tracks, Travel, And Goals

SPEAKER_00 6:52

Yeah. Because a little little kids especially want to sit in your car and look at the car and check out the helmet. Yeah. Are you kind of one of the few girls? Like when you go to an event or you go to a race, are you one of the few girls or are there more girls getting involved?

SPEAKER_01 7:10

It's getting bigger. Ever since I started talking to Mallory Kutz, it the women in motorsports has gotten way bigger.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

Yeah, that's good. She's actually going to be, I've had her on my podcast, and she's actually going to be on again here coming up soon. So I like Mallory. So what's the one thing that was the hardest for you to learn as far as racing or driving?

SPEAKER_01 7:38

Probably trying to tell my dad what's going on with the car and helping my team try to figure out what to do with the car.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

Okay. Yeah. Especially when you're younger, you don't always know like it's doing this, but I don't know why. I have a hard I'd have a hard time doing that anytime because I don't know. I love cars, I love racing, obviously, but I don't know that much about how they work. And so that's part of growing up and learning is learning how does the car work, and that makes it easier than for you to tell your dad or whoever, hey, it's doing this, and and you can get it fixed and ready to go. So what's what's your biggest? What's been your biggest accomplishment? It's okay, don't worry about the dog. So what's been your biggest accomplishment?

SPEAKER_01 8:39

I placed eighth in points this past season with three downs because of my knee surgery at the beginning of the season.

SPEAKER_00 8:47

Okay. All right. And so what happened to your knee? Did you get hurt during racing, or was it just something that was you had to have fixed?

SPEAKER_01 8:58

We're not quite sure yet well what it was, but I got into a flip at Greenwood Valley and it started hurting after that. So it may have been from that. We don't know.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Okay. I had a knee replacement about a year ago, year and a half ago. So I the knee surgery deal is not always as fun, not very fun. And now I'm recovering from back surgery. So I have to sit nice and straight up against a pillow, and yeah, it's it's it's been quite a journey. I'm only four weeks in, so I've got another at least eight or more weeks of no lifting, bending, or twisting. So that's that's been hard for somebody who's busy and active all the time. So if you had one thing that you could improve on, if you could just snap your fingers and say, I'm I'm gonna be better at this, what would it be?

SPEAKER_01 9:59

There's two things public speaking and being more aggressive on the track.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Okay. I don't think you you don't have any trouble talking to me, so that's that's probably different when it's just you and I for sure. So when you're racing, would you rather be at the front of the race when it starts? In the middle or at the back?

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Top five, maybe, like okay. Unless it's passing points. If it's passing points, I'd like to be towards the back.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Okay, all right.

SPEAKER_00 10:35

And so where you race and when you race across the country, do you race in a series or when you travel, is it just you kind of pick and choose what races you want to go to?

SPEAKER_01 10:46

We pick and choose which races because we don't want to interfere with anybody's point standings.

SPEAKER_00 10:53

Okay, okay, all right. So every day at the racetrack is not always a good day. If you have a bad day, how do you deal with that? You know, like if you come off the track and somebody wrecked you or something broke on your car or whatever it might be, how do you handle that at 15 years old?

SPEAKER_01 11:15

I go in the trailer and I just sit down and only talk to my team. I don't interact with anybody else.

SPEAKER_00 11:25

Okay. All right.

Learning The Car And Setups

SPEAKER_01 11:27

I get out and just let that person go.

SPEAKER_00 11:31

Okay. Yeah. Because sometimes it's gonna be your fault and sometimes it's not, and so you know, you have to learn about adversity, and that's one thing I think that is so good about motorsports is that it teaches you at a younger age how to deal with things when they go wrong. So, what are some other things maybe that you can think of that you've learned by being in motor sports as compared to not being? What are some things you've learned?

SPEAKER_01 12:01

I learned to not let people bother you if they're talking bad about you.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

Yeah, that's that's a big one, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, especially as a girl, you know, and not to pick on the boys, but it's normally boys that start talking trash or whatever when a girl does well or happens to beat them on the track or whatever it might be, and so that's one of the things we have to learn to just turn our ear so that we don't hear them or have to deal with them because you know it's it's hard for boys to get beat by girls, let's just put it that way. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. So, do you have any goals for this year for your racing?

SPEAKER_01 12:55

I want to win my first race this year.

SPEAKER_00 12:59

Yeah, I think you're gonna do it. How many years have you been racing? Like five or six, yeah. So yeah, I think you're gonna do it. So when you work on your car or your dad works on your car, do you help with that? Are you learning things about the car, the setup, and all the things?

Injury, Recovery, And Resilience

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Yeah, because dad always says I'm not gonna be around forever. So I need to learn everything, everything, and as much as I can. Yeah, especially when he's down because he gets a lot, he has a lot of health issues and has had a lot of surgeries. So when he's down, I'm out there working on the car.

SPEAKER_00 13:43

Okay. Well, that's a good thing for you to learn anyway, down for down the road. So as a girl in motorsports, have you ever had any like issues with other race car drivers, like guys or whatever, or parents, or are they pretty much accepting of you?

SPEAKER_01 14:02

Yes, we had no names. A big one this past year at the beginning of the season, being blamed for things I wasn't even near. But it's all on social media, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:21

And you know, what you gotta remember too is it's easy to sit at a keyboard and say whatever you want to say, you know, there's nobody there holding you accountable or whatever, or holding people accountable, and so some of that social media stuff you just gotta unfriend or unfollow and uh keep yourself away from it because it'll drag you down, and so yeah, if if that's what what how people want to talk and act, it comes back on them in the in the long run. People know, yeah, yeah, people know, so for sure. So, why do you think motor sports is a good sport for girls to get involved in?

SPEAKER_01 15:06

Because it teaches girls to just forget what the boys say, because even if you're not in motorsports, a lot of boys trap are mean to girls, and I it you can learn so much in motorsports.

SPEAKER_00 15:25

Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 15:26

It teaches you that you don't have to be dependent on a man because you'll be working on your own stuff.

SPEAKER_00 15:34

Good for you. I like that. I like that for sure. Yeah. So do you have a favorite race car driver?

SPEAKER_01 15:42

Trevor Gatch.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

Okay, and where does he race?

SPEAKER_01 15:47

All over the place. Okay, he runs more than I do.

SPEAKER_00 15:51

Okay, and is he a sprint car driver?

SPEAKER_01 15:54

Now he is, yes, in a 305.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

Okay, all right. And does he is he from like your area or you met him through racing?

SPEAKER_01 16:04

He's from Chambersburg, PA, but he bought one of my quartermid motors, and that is how we actually met him.

SPEAKER_00 16:14

All right.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

So my dad and his dad are best friends.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

Oh, okay. All right, that always helps. So, where do you see yourself in five years? You'll be out of high school, you might be going to college. Are you still gonna be racing? Where you know, what do you want to see happen with your race career?

Race Craft And Mindset

SPEAKER_01 16:34

I want to be in a a 305 at least, maybe a four ten by then, but my goal is to get to the high limit series.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

Oh, yeah, for sure. My friend and her husband worked the high limit series. She's the she is the like chaplain for the series, and her husband's one of the medical people. So they went to Australia and all kinds of places, um with that team. So that's that just sounds so fun for sure. So do you ever have any little girls, maybe even little boys that come up to you that you know they'll say, I want to be just like you, or whatever. What do you say to them?

SPEAKER_01 17:20

Yeah, we mainly get messages on Facebook of people reaching out to try and get me to get their kids more into motorsports because their kids want to race, but I try to help out the little kids as much as I can.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

Yeah, that's the fun part, isn't it? To do that. Yeah. So sounds like you're active on social media. How could somebody find you or follow you on social media?

SPEAKER_01 17:51

It's Briel Stern Racing on every platform, but we have Instagram, TikTok, Facebook. Okay. All of them.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

All right. Which is the best if they want to reach out to you? Facebook. Facebook. Okay, all right. Sounds good. Is there anything we haven't talked about about you or your racing career that we should have talked about? Anything we haven't covered?

SPEAKER_01 18:22

I want to talk about my sponsors a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Sure, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 18:27

Let everybody know who they are.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

5'8, he does my wraps and my shirts. Switch training systems. He helps with my strength and conditioning every week, every Monday after school. J JWE groofing and remodeling. Verdance capital advisors. Verdu's ball day spa. Um, dirt track girls, they're from Australia, and they really enforce the women in motorsport, and I am their USA driver.

SPEAKER_00 19:13

Okay.

Dealing With Criticism And Social Media

SPEAKER_01 19:14

Decked out donuts. We went there a couple weeks ago, and I wanted to message them about a sponsorship, and they picked up. Burma, we picked up at PRI when I met you.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

34 Motor Sports, Deja Bru, where we get our coffee every weekend.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:39

And Mikhail Customs that paints my helmets.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

You've got some good sponsors there, Brielle. People that are supportive and want to help you, and people that help provide things. That's that's really, really good. I love the donut story. So I love donuts, and so you know that's that's pretty cool, and and good for you that you were not afraid to ask. That's the thing. You have to ask because if you don't, the answer is no. So you always want to ask.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

The donuts place actually has a long, outrageous line before they even open the doors.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

Really? They're that good.

SPEAKER_01 20:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

Sounds delicious. You're making me hungry. Anything else that we haven't talked about?

SPEAKER_01 20:34

I have two open spots for anybody that would be interested in a sponsorship. I have the front nose wing and the inner side of my top wing.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

Okay, all right. And then how soon are you gonna be starting to race?

SPEAKER_01 20:55

It within the next month, so March.

Ambitions And Role Models

SPEAKER_00 20:58

Okay, all right, and hopefully the snow will be gone and the weather will warm up a little bit because I wouldn't I I talked to a lady who races snowmobiles, which is the weather's been great for that, obviously, but the cold, and then you're on a snowmobile going 50 or 60 miles an hour. I can't even imagine. So, lucky for us, we mostly race when the weather is warm, right? Yeah. Okay, I don't really have any other questions for you unless there's something that you'd like to share.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

No, not I think we covered everything.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

I think we covered a lot for sure. Well, Brielle, I'm I'm so glad we were able to connect today, and I want to wish you really the best of luck this year in your racing. And if you tag Women's Motorsports Network when you post on your Facebook pages or wherever you post, then that comes up. In my feed, and it's easier for me to follow you. So remember to to tag me and your posts. And and I hope you have a great rest of the winter, which is still here, and that we get to racing real soon.

SPEAKER_01 22:15

Yep, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

Yeah, thank you. Just hold on. That's it for this episode of the Women's Motorsports Network podcast. We hope you've been inspired by the stories I shared today and feel more connected to the amazing community of women in motorsport. Remember, whether you're behind the wheel, in the pits, or cheering from the stands, your story matters. And together we're driving change and celebrating every milestone. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with someone who loves motorsports as much as you do. And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates, behind the scenes content, and more incredible stories. So until next time, stay inspired, stay connected, and keep racing through life. This is the Women's Motorsports Network podcast, where every woman's story is worth celebrating.