Sophia Brandt

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Sophia Brandt
SophiaBrandt.png
Age 24
Nationality USA.png American
STARS Lowe's Premier Series
Car # 20
Years Competed 2025-
Debut Season 2026
Current Team ATK Motorsports
Championships 0
Pole Positions 11
Wins 6
Top 5 Finishes 46
Top 10 Finishes 69
First Start 2025 Texas Roadhouse 150 (Texas)
First Win 2027 Autozone 150 (Nashville)
Last Win 2030 Petra's Petting Zoos 100 (Milwaukee)
Last Start 2030 Spotify Wrapped Championship 200 (Kansas)
Best Result 3rd (2028)
STARS Lowe's Truck Series
Car # 1
Years Competed 2025, 2029
Debut Season 2025
Current Team ATK Motorsports
Former Team(s) Satou Medical
Championships 0
Pole Positions 1
Wins 2
Top 5 Finishes 7
Top 10 Finishes 12
First Attempt 2025 Spotify 100 (Albany)
First Start 2025 Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs 100 (Watkins Glen)
First Win 2025 Rogers Communications Duel #1 (Edmonton)
Last Win 2025 Roselia 100 (Denver)
Last Start 2029 Kosaka Vineyards 70 (Sonoma)
Best Result 6th (2025)
AAS Nationwide Series career
Car # 4
Years Competed 2025
Debut Season 2025
Former Team(s) Phantom Trigger Racing
Championships 0
Pole Positions 2
Wins 0
Top 5 Finishes 4
Top 10 Finishes 11
Best Finish 2nd
First Start 2025 Empire State 50 (Albany)
Last Start 2025 Championship Weekend 80 (Kansas)
Best Result 6th (2025)
Miscellaneous
Twitter SophiaAspen
Created By Ben
STARS Driver


Sophia Aspen Brandt (born June 7th 2006) is a STARS Lowe's Premier Series driver from Madison, Wisconsin.

Early Career

Brandt was born to former STARS Lowe's Premier Series driver David Brandt and model Lauren Peterson-Brandt as their youngest child of four and only daughter. When Brandt was still young, her father had aspirations of her following in her mothers footsteps and becoming a model, while one of their sons followed in his footsteps and went into racing. As a result, Brandt did not get an early start in racing, while her brothers Joshua and Lucas did. Brandt was entered into child beauty pageants and had success, becoming "Little Miss Wisconsin" at the age of 9. However, when not at pageants, Brandt was often helping her father work on his racecars and often visited the race shops of the teams her father drove for. During her fathers brief stint with ATK Motorsports in 2015, Brandt, along with her siblings, visited the race shop with their parents, only for Brandt to be the only one of the four interested. With this, along with her brothers' taking a lesser interest in Motorsports, her father elected to give Brandt a chance in a race car.

At the age of 11, Brandt drove in Bandoleros at Madison International Speedway and Jefferson Speedway with varying success. Brandt took home a few victories over the course of 2018 and 2019, but was vastly inconsistent. Brandt, during this time, was still participating in beauty pageants and was offered contracts to model for various companies. Brandt was given a choice what to take up full time, choosing modelling over racing at the age of 13.

The next year, in 2021, Brandt's modelling contract was cut short after the company she was with went bankrupt. Brandt's father asked if she wanted to give her racing career another try, despite having taken a year off. Brandt accepted the offer and went into Legend Car racing at Madison International Speedway. Brandt ended up winning the track championship in the under 16's age group, and entered a Legend Car race towards the end of the year with drivers of more experience, where she finished third. Brandt balanced Legend Car racing and also entered some Late Model races the next year, winning the Legend Car championship and winning two Late Model races. Brandt made the big leap to the All-American Late Model Championship series, where she drove a Super Late Model. Brandt's first test was the 2023 Snowball Derby, where she failed to qualify.

Brandt took her first ALMC win at Langley Speedway, before taking two more wins at Wiscasset Speedway and South Boston Speedway. On top of this, Brandt won the 2023 Short Track U.S. Nationals at Bristol Motor Speedway with a last lap pass on former Lowe's Truck Series champion Blake Pearson. Brandt's performances got noticed by Satou Medical, who signed her on to another full-season of ALMC in 2024. Brandt, with one of the best cars in the field, ran away with the championship, taking home 8 wins in the process. On top of this, Brandt won the 2024 Snowball Derby in convincing fashion. With Brandt's impressive performances, Satou Medical moved her up into the STARS ranks.

Satou Medical: 2025

Satou Medical signed Brandt to do double duty in both the AAS Nationwide Series and the STARS Lowe's Truck Series. Brandt impressed in her opening weekend at Albany, performing well in both the AAS race and the Truck duel, but a crash in her duel and a lack of owner's points meant she missed the Spotify 100 in her first attempt. Brandt responded strongly, finishing in fifth the next week at Watkins Glen and third the week after at New Jersey. Brandt collected top 5's in both AAS and the Trucks series, nearly winning the AAS race at Texas World before her car faded at the end of the race.

During the AAS race at Iowa, Brandt was battling Kayla Forrest for the win when she got together with Bob Boyd on the last lap. As a result, Brandt punched Boyd on pit road after the race. Despite some words being said between the two on Twitter post-race, both drivers have dropped the incident since. Brandt nearly won the AAS race at Edmonton before hitting the wall and dropping down the order, but she would rebound by taking her first career Trucks series win in the same weekend. Brandt followed up with a solid top 5 run in the Truck race at Charlotte.

There was sponsor controversy for Brandt after Charlotte after she revealed on Twitter, in the midst of controversy with the company, that Satou Medical had not paid her for racing in either AAS or STARS for the entirety of the season until that point. Satou Medical left the team, who reformed at Phantom Trigger Racing, and Brandt picked up sponsorship from Nocturne Beauty Products, who she had signed on as a model for earlier in the year, and Ganbaruby!, who is owned by STARS Lowe's Premier driver Ruby Mayberry. In her first race in her new colors, Brandt finished 13th at the Charlotte Roval. At this point in the year, Brandt was solidly in the top 5 in Truck points, and inside the top 10 in AAS points.

After the injury to Aya Maruyama at Chicagoland, Brandt was given the opportunity to drive the #27 ATK Motorsports Chevrolet for a handful of races, starting at Texas Motor Speedway. Brandt led late in the race at Texas but was ultimately passed for the win by Rosemary Black. The next week, Brandt won her second career Lowe's Pro Truck Series race at Denver. Brandt finished the season winless in AAS, but 6th in points, and with 2 wins in the Lowe's Pro Truck Series, also finishing 6th in points.

ATK Motorsports: 2026-2029

In early April, Toyota announced their plans to move their manufacturing support from Satou Medical to ATK Motorsports. With the switch, Toyota elected to sign Brandt as a factory driver, and Brandt announced she was leaving Satou Medical. A week later, Brandt and ATK Motorsports announced that she would drive for the team in the Lowe's Premier Series in 2026.

Brandt started the season with a 20th place in the Empire State 300, before scoring top 5's at Watkins Glen and New Jersey, where Brandt let entering overtime but was passed by Aurora Sullivan on the white flag. Brandt scored a 6th place finish at New Hampshire, before having a serious accident at Pocono. Although Brandt initially appeared uninjured, another heavy crash at Dover caused her pain in her lower back, which was found to be a minor contusion. Brandt chose to race again the next week at Michigan, but was involved in another large accident where she backed into the wall and went airbourne. With the accident flaring up her injury, Brandt sat out for two races as she recovered from the injury.

Brandt returned at Iowa, where she scored a third place finish, followed by another top 5 finish at Memphis. A few races later, Brandt played her part in a 1-2 finish for ATK Motorsports, finishing second at North Wilkesboro. Brandt had the win at Homestead snatched away from her at the last minute, losing another race in overtime and finishing third. Initially, STARS suspended Brandt for her conduct post-race, but the decision was overturned after an appeal and widespread disapproval of the penalty. At Indianapolis, Brandt had the dominant car, leading 21 laps early in the race, but was taken out by Rin Hoshizora as she was trying to lap her.

After the race at Springfield, Brandt was suspended after an incident with Aurora Sullivan on the last lap of the race. Brandt returned with a top 10 at Irwindale, before another runner-up finish at the Las Vegas Speeddome. After a second place finish at Sonoma and a third place finish at Kansas, Brandt finished her rookie season 7th in points with 9 top 5's and 11 top 10's, despite missing three races. Brandt was retained as Nocturne Beauty Products took over ATK Motorsports.

Brandt started 2027 with a bad run in the Empire State 300, but scored another second place finish the following week at New Jersey. Unlike 2026, Brandt struggled to get going at the beginning of her sophomore season, but her crew chief Aya Maruyama was replaced following disputes between the two, with Tohka Shishigaya coming in at Michigan, where Brandt scored a solid third place finish. With Shishigaya coming in, Brandt's form improved drastically, with a top 5 at Kansas following not long after. At Nashville, Brandt was closing in on Rose Kendrick for the lead late in the race, but Kendrick was penalised under the final caution. Brandt held off Steve Duggan for the last two laps as she finally took her first Lowe's Premier Series victory in the 45th career start. A top 10 at Talladega followed, with top 5's at North Wilkesboro, Road America and Indianapolis following, before Brandt put on a masterclass in defence, holding off Kayla Forrest for the final 40 laps to take her second career win at Vancouver. While Rosemary Black and Rose Kendrick were leading the title chase, Brandt had put herself into the fight for the title and was closer than ever entering the final third of the season.

Unfortunately, unreliability plagued Brandt as she failed to finish a race during the Florida swing, losing a large number of points. The week after at Denver, Brandt suffered from another mechanical failure that ended her race, before she led a race-high 24 laps at Oklahoma, but faded to a 12th place finish. Brandt failed to finish inside the top 10 between Springfield and Auto Club, finally breaking the streak with a win at Irwindale. However, a poor car and a 31st place finish in the season finale at Kansas saw Brandt fall out of the top 5 in points, having to settle for 6th in the final standings, with 3 wins, 4 poles, 10 top 5's and 12 top 10's. Brandt was retained by the team as they again switched ownership, seeing Joe Branch come in and Ben Atkins return to ownership at the team.

Brandt started 2028 with a tire failure in the Empire State 300, meaning she was trapped a lap down for the entire race as it went without a caution. Brandt rebounded with an 11th at New Jersey, a 7th at Watkins Glen, a 9th at Michigan and a 2nd place finish to Aimee Cunningham at Bristol. Brandt lost a chunk of points when she was caught in accidents at Atlanta and Talladega, but finished 2nd yet again in a thrilling finish at Darlington with Madison Baszler taking the win. A poor run of form saw her drop in the points into the mid-teens entering the second half of the season. Brandt would go without a top 10 run after this until the race at Lucas Oil Raceway Park, where Brandt would take a commanding win. Despite this, Brandt's run of poor form would continue for a little bit longer, until Chicagoland, where she finished 6th. From here, Brandt's form would improve massively, as following this, she scored a 4th place finish at Homestead, 2nd at Texas, 7th at Texas World, 2nd at Pikes Peak, 5th at Las Vegas Speeddome, and 2nd at Auto Club. In 11 weeks, Brandt went from 20th to 3rd in points, and was suddenly on track for her career best year. A crash at Irwindale set her back slightly, but a 3rd place finish at Kansas solidified Brandt's strong finish to the season, finishing 3rd in points with 1 win, 9 top 5's and 15 top 10's; her best season to date.

In 2029, Brandt went on another lengthy winless streak but remained consistent throughout the year, reguarly contending for wins. She lost in a photo finish to Lillie Corden at Michigan, and finished second to teammate Jessica Dalton at Road Atlanta, despite leading most of the race. Brandt lost in another photo finish at Milwaukee, narrowly losing out to Aurora Sullivan despite leading 68 laps. A consecutive second place finish following at Las Vegas, again to Lillie Corden. At Denver, Brandt against led the most laps, but her late charge fell slightly short as she was beat by Aria MacHale. Brandt lost out to MacHale again at Texas World, making it six 2nd place finishes in 2029. Despite going winless, Brandt finished a strong 8th in points with 8 top 5's and 14 top 10's.

ATK Contract Extension; 2030-

In the off-season before the 2030 season, Brandt signed a 5-year contract extension which would see her drive for ATK Motorsports until the end of the 2035 season. Brandt described the contract extension as "one of the easiest choices of her life", having already been with the team for 5-years. At this time, Brandt was already the driver who has stayed with their team for the longest period of time in the series.


Personal Life

Brandt's father, David, is a former race winner in the Lowe's Premier Series, having taken one win at Talladega in 2015. Brandt is the youngest of four children, having three older brothers, Harry, Joshua and Lucas, with the latter two both being models as well. Brandt is currently in a relationship with Lowe's Pro Truck Series driver William Sparks.

On top of her racecar career, Brandt has had a successful modelling career, having previously worked with Nocturne Beauty Products, when the company was owned by fellow model Riko Vance. She now works for Ganbaruby!, which is owned by Ruby Mayberry. Brandt has been on the cover of Backstream Magazine, and has been given a reputation at the prettiest driver in STARS, a title that she does not endorse.

Brandt is known as one of the more humble drivers on the grid, often reflecting on how fortunate she is to be in the position she is. Despite this, Brandt has been known to be hotheaded and does let her temper get the best of her. Brandt is one of the more popular figures on the grid, but is in particular very good friends with Aria MacHale, her teammate and fellow model. Brandt is also good friends with Eden Collier, having met her during the 2023 Snowball Derby and having kept in contact with her ever since.

Brandt measures in at only 5'2".