We're Momming Today! w/Lauren Simonetti · FOX News Podcasts

Daredevil Mom Finds Glory Through Rally Racing In Her 60's

·24 min·1 clip

Valkyrie Gives has raised over half a million dollars with no overhead.

Lauren Simonetti sits down with Renee Brinkerhoff for a brisk conversation about risk, age, and the odd way a hobby can turn into a whole life. Renee is introduced as a racing star, philanthropist, and mother of four. She says she was not chasing a big public project. She was simply moving into a phase of life with more free time, and that shift changed everything. Her husband’s cousin had just bought a car that caught her attention. She had never seen a Porsche 356A before, but the moment she saw it, she knew it was the one. She compares the feeling to the souped-up VW bug she drove as a teenager. The car felt familiar in sound and spirit, even if it looked far more like a sports car. From there, the story becomes a rally-racing origin tale. She heard about a race in Mexico and found the idea far more appealing than going around a track over and over again. Track racing sounded repetitive to her. Rally racing sounded better. Mexico sounded amazing. The conversation keeps moving quickly, with Lauren pressing on how the idea formed and what the first steps looked like. Renee describes the decision as something close to instant. She saw the car, wanted it, and committed to the road that followed. The early pull was personal and practical at the same time. She had finally reached a stage where she could pursue hobbies without apology. That freedom mattered as much as the racing itself. The stakes climb from there. The Porsche grows into a seven-continent project, and Renee talks through the logic of taking it to extremes instead of leaving it as a one-time stunt. She and the team adapted the car for harsh conditions, including the blue ice of Antarctica. The final stretch covers more than 350 miles. That detail hangs in the air as one of the most striking parts of the story. Lauren keeps coming back to the challenge of doing this as an older woman in a male-dominated sport. Renee does not turn that into a slogan. She treats it as a fact of life that sharpened her purpose. She says success gave women in the sport a voice, and that voice became part of the mission, not just the racing. The interview also leans into the practical question of age. Renee is 65 and still racing. She does not sound interested in making that sound exceptional. Instead, she points to a man she admires who is in his late seventies and still near the top of the pack in Carrera, using that example to argue that age does not have to be the last word. The closing exchange reinforces that point without getting sentimental. The episode stays light on jargon and heavy on human stakes. It is about a car, but it is also about timing, ambition, and what happens when a woman decides not to shrink her life just because the calendar says she could. The host keeps the pace brisk and the focus personal. That gives the conversation a clear path from garage impulse to global challenge.

As heard by us

A racing story that treats late ambition as something worth taking seriously.

Renee Brinkerhoff's story fits an interview about determination and reinvention. A mom of four, she traces how a vintage Porsche 356A turned into a rally project that reached seven continents, including the blue ice of Antarctica.

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If you want a mom who treats a vintage Porsche like a passport, start here.

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