Behind The Wheel - #3 - Brittany Glanzer

There is a first for everything, right? The first woman in drag racing, the first woman to win a championship in Pro Stock Motorcycles, the first woman to win four-wide nationals, and for everyone that races, there is the first pass down a track. Meet Brittany Glanzer, mother of 2 and wife to her high school sweetheart, David Glanzer. Brittany is an HR business partner and lives in “the middle of no-where, South Dakota”. When Brittany is not spending her weekends on her newfound hobby, she is spending her time with her husband, children Tate and Kinsley, and her 2 new puppies while being very active in her community. Brittany got involved in the automotive industry because of her husband, who owns the shop “Glanzer Performance”. Her husband started racing 10-11 years ago and Brittany considered herself the supportive wife who “would never race”. Brittany never really had the passion she has now for cars “Until about 6 years ago. Our friends bought a CTS-V coupe and I fell in love with it. I told my husband I was going to start saving and buy myself my dream car”. Seeing that CTS-V ignited a passion that Brittany didn’t know she had, that drove her in a different direction. Last year her husband came home with a RZR side-by-side and Brittany thought that her dreams of a CTS-V were no longer in reach. Little did she know that behind-the-scenes things were happening. “My husband flew out our friends Lexx and Jordan Steen to check out a 2011 CTS-V, they drove it here in March 2020 and I was surprised with it”, she said.

Brittany made her first pass down the track in July 2021 at the Streetcar Takeover event in Indianapolis, Indiana. I asked alone from her dream car, what else made her make the decision to get involved in drag racing? She said, “I saw Lexx (Steen) and Emily (Forgey) racing and decided I wanted to try it. I knew the Women & Wheels class would be a perfect place to try it out”. Even though this was her first day down a track, Brittany still won first round, which is a very accomplishing feeling for someone new. “It’s powerful and accomplishing. Its just a great feeling”, she said. Aside from competing in the Indy Women & Wheels class, Brittany also competed in the Tulsa class and you will see her face at the last Women & Wheels class of the season in OKC. Although she lost first round in Tulsa by breaking out of her index of 12.61, she still had an accomplishment to be proud of, which was getting a new personal best of 12.54. “I think the problem is everyone looks at the negative of breaking out and not the positive. I got a PB!” Brittany was drawn to the women’s class solely due to seeing women that support women. “There’s no judgement. Everyone’s there trying to help and support. They’ll remind you about turning off your A/C or traction control. They’ll explain the tree to you, all of the little things they help and support you with” she says. Her favorite memory from the events so far was at Indy, “When those of us that moved on to round 2 and even those that didn’t came together in a circle to talk about life. We didn’t care about just racing, it was about women with kids, or life in general and I think Sophie should be proud of that. I don’t think many guys come around in a circle to meet and talk about family and stuff”. Brittany was super excited to see this environment at her first race to help take the edge off being one of the rookies. “Not saying that I can’t compete against guys, but when you start somewhere you want to feel welcome and think that people are there to support you. We all have a day one, a race one, everyone’s here to answer questions” Brittany says about the women’s class.

Although Brittany just got her CTS-V she has big goals for it, but mostly herself. Her husband might be her role model and number one supporter, but don’t let that fool you because Brittany told me, “I always told my husband if I were to race him, I’d beat him. So I have high standards for my car”. Brittany’s future with her car involves more than just making it faster, it also involves herself becoming more knowledgeable and being the sole person involved in modifying her car. “My goal will be 10’s, I don’t know if it will happen next year or not. But my husband isn’t allowed to work on my car, I want it to be just me. He can help me and teach me, but I want it to be mine!” It is incredible to see a woman that went from being the supportive wife of her husband drag racing to becoming involved, racing herself, and wanting to learn more every single day.

To end our conversation, I asked Brittany what she thinks Women & Wheels has done for her or any other ladies in this industry. “I would say it has broken the perception that women can’t do what men can do, proven that we can be as fast as men, but has mostly created a foundation where women support women”, she says. Brittany loves the aspect of “It doesn’t matter if it’s your first time down the track or 60th , its about women supporting one another. Even if you’ve never met, its like meeting people you already knew and its encouraging. Its brought women that are there to just support you”. Brittany’s biggest piece of advice would be, “I think if anyone has any type of passion or desire or wants to try it, just do it and don’t talk yourself out of it. Reach out to me if need be! Don’t set your bar so high, my goal was to just make it down the track in one piece and not hit the wall. I didn’t care about how perfect my burnout was, what my ET was, my goal was to make a solid pass”. Brittany brings a lot to the table to show girls how much fun you can have whether you are a beginner or not, “Take your time! If you want to make a pass at 20MPH one time to get the nerves out, do it! I was nervous, I didn’t know how the tree worked, you’re constantly learning and critiquing yourself. But just because the person next to you
has the fastest car doesn’t mean they’ll get off the line, their car will run close to their dial-in, or they’ll have a great reaction time. Get out there and before you know it, it might be your new favorite hobby”.

You can find Brittany on IG @glanzerb.