Ormond Beach's Shea Holbrook races Daytona, this time as a business owner and mother

The circumstances actually made Shea Holbrook nervous.

She was set to compete in the World Racing League event at Daytona International Speedway earlier this month, and she knew what to expect. The 32-year-old started racing professionally more than a decade ago.

But Holbrook’s life has changed a lot in the last two years, and the WRL race was her first time in the car in 15 months.

“People say this sport and driving is really wonderful because it’s the only time you can really check out from whatever else is going on in your life,” Holbrook said. “I used to say that, and I hear kids say that now, and I’m like, ‘You don’t even really know what you’re talking about.’

“Until you own a business or have a really intensive job and you have a family and all these real-life responsibilities, you don’t really understand what that means.”

NASCAR returns Sunday: NASCAR Nashville Odds: Sleepers, best bets, value plays and picks for the Ally 400

Ross Chastain putting on shows: Dale Earnhardt Jr. was Ross Chastain's landlord. He hopes his ex-tenant 'doesn't change'

Holbrook’s background and local ties

Holbrook grew up in Jacksonville before moving to Central Florida when she was 10. There, in her late teens, she caught the motorsports bug.

She turned pro in 2010 and spent much of the next decade competing in what was then known as the Pirelli World Challenge, racking up seven wins. She’s also raced in the inaugural W Series in Europe and served as the pace driver when Denise Mueller-Korenek broke the world record for paced cycling in 2018.

In 2020, Holbrook and her husband, Nick Chorley, had their first kid, a daughter.

The couple moved to Ormond Beach and bought BSI Racing, located five miles from the Speedway, several months later.

BSI Racing has been around since 1987 as a turnkey motorsport business — buying the cars, building them, maintaining them, racing them and everything in between. Right now, BSI has approximately 40 cars.

“We took over the reins and, since then, have really grown it exponentially,” Holbrook said before laughing. “I have about five employees. I could really use more.”

In 2021, Holbrook planned to race the full World Racing League schedule for Round 3 Racing. She knew the owners of Round 3, Brad and Buz McCall, from her days in the Pirelli World Challenge.

But then Holbrook got pregnant again. She publicly announced her pregnancy at last summer’s WRL event at Daytona and gave birth to a son in December.

She hadn’t raced since.

Two weeks before the race, Holbrook didn’t know if she was going to participate. Her dad was in the hospital after a serious motorcycle accident on Memorial Day weekend. But after he was released from the intensive care unit and as he got better, Holbrook felt more and more comfortable getting out on the track.

She worried about her stamina, though. The WRL race is 14 hours straight, starting around 8 a.m. and ending after 10 p.m. She hadn’t been able to practice as much as she did in the past due to her kids, business and dad’s health.

Once race day arrived, Holbrook and her two co-drivers, Mo Dadkhah and Zack Ping, spent much of the day out front.

“We were definitely the strongest car and strongest team in the field for our class,” Holbrook said.

But while Holbrook was in the car, a control arm on her Porsche Cayman broke. She knew something was wrong and pitted immediately, but the team fell three laps down.

“If you’re a lap down, it’s really hard to get a lap back up,” Holbrook said.

It also rained, and the race was stopped twice for lighting.

Holbrook did two stints in the car, totaling 3½ hours. She previously had driven at Daytona about 10 times in her career, but this event allowed her to race under the lights for the first time.

Holbrook’s team finished fourth overall, one spot shy of the podium.

“To some extent, it’s like riding a bike,” she said of her return to racing. “I’ve been an athlete pretty much my whole life, so I’ve been trained and conditioned to switch that (mental) switch on and off when you need to.”

After the race was over, Holbrook had a thought.

“It’s a drug,” she said. “While I was a little hesitant to get in the car, I’m just now wondering when I’m going to be in a racecar again. I miss it.

“The core of what I do in this industry, first and foremost, is I’m a driver. That’s why I got into it. I love it. While I’m not in the driver seat as frequently as I’d like anymore because of the business and kids and stuff, when I am in the car, it’s even that much more special. Now, I’m just wondering when I’m going to be in the car again.”

Odds are, she probably won’t have to wait another 15 months.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Shea Holbrook competes in World Racing League event at Daytona