Winning NASCAR's biggest race brought veteran fueler Brian Dheel face-to-face with a profound wave of grief. Working for 23XI Racing on the No. 45 Toyota, Dheel remembers Daytona International Speedway's massive frontstretch grandstand dwarfing him as he sprinted across the tri-oval grass to catch Tyler Reddick as he dove from his winning car into the arms of his pit-road teammates. Dheel had come agonisingly close to this glory before as a member of Furniture Row Racing's No. 78 team in 2016, when Martin Truex Jr. finished 0.010 seconds behind Denny Hamlin in the closest-ever finish for the Great American Race. Ten years later, Dheel made sure to capture the long-awaited moment with his camera.
In Victory Lane, the celebrations featured a double-beer smash and pour that would make wrestling icon “Stone Cold” Steve Austin proud, alongside high-fives with NBA great and 23XI co-owner Michael Jordan. For an Ohio native who grew up watching Jordan's Chicago Bulls break the heart of his beloved Cleveland Cavaliers, hearing that larger-than-life Jumpman voice up close felt surreal. But the most gripping moment arrived away from the cameras, as Dheel walked back across Daytona's ballfield lawn toward the epicenter of the celebration. Throughout so many previous triumphs—including Furniture Row victories and the 2017 Cup Series championship—his first instinct was always to call his wife, Mandy. Remembering in an instant that he couldn't, Dheel choked up and fought back tears, terrified of letting others see him break down over a victory he couldn't share with her over the phone.
That Daytona win arrived nearly nine months after Mandy passed away following a valiant eight-year battle with advanced breast cancer. She left behind their son Gage, now 18, and daughter Quinn, 14, while shielding her family from the true extent of her suffering. Through the darkest days, work became Brian's release, though his personal hardship made the challenges of a grueling professional schedule exponentially heavier. He has been remarkably open about the cycle of anger, tears, and numbness that followed, admitting that the future felt empty. Yet, just six weeks after the year turned, he found himself standing at the absolute pinnacle of his profession.
There was no rest after Daytona either, as the wins immediately began to flow with victories at Atlanta the next week and Circuit of The Americas the week after, contributing to a record-setting five wins through the first nine races. Balancing those jubilant professional highs with his personal grief remains an ongoing struggle. His biggest fear is losing the constant presence of those memories as time marches forward, admitting he never wants to stop thinking about Mandy even while trying to avoid sinking back into depression. Managing that delicate work-life balance as a father to two teenagers, an elite athlete, and a leader for the next generation of pit crew members has made him a true inspiration within the NASCAR Cup Series.
Dheel's journey to the top of pit road is as unconventional as it is resilient. Growing up without a family background in racing, his initial athletic aspirations centered entirely around soccer, eventually turning down a Division III collegiate opportunity in the United States to play for a semi-pro club in Germany. After returning to coach soccer stateside, a connection with a racing-crazed family led him to cross paths with Greg Miller—now a pit crew coach with Chip Ganassi Racing's IndyCar operation—who was launching a pit crew program from scratch for Red Bull's fledgling two-car team. Despite nearly wrecking his career on his very first week by popping his wrist during a game of frisbee football, Dheel survived the cut and took on catch-can duties.
Following Red Bull's departure and a subsequent two-year stint at Michael Waltrip Racing alongside a year coaching soccer at Pfeiffer University, Dheel found his definitive home with Furniture Row Racing. Operating out of Denver while Dheel and his teammates were based in the Charlotte area, that scrappy, underdog squad forged an unbreakable bond that went far beyond winning 17 races in a four-year span and capturing the 2017 championship. Teammates like Lee Cunningham recall Dheel's meticulous attention to detail, his frantic math calculations, and the shaky hands from adrenaline rushes that produced barely legible notes on dry-erase boards before tablets took over. Today, as he inches toward his 50th birthday and continues to compete at the absolute highest level, Dheel carries Mandy's memory with him—including a colorful tattoo covering his right forearm featuring a sunset, ocean rocks with the initials M, G, and Q, crashing waves, a pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness, and a sun-and-moon image that Mandy also carried on her skin.
