Making Indy 500 history about pressure, pride for Team Penske pit crew ace Caitlyn Brown

Josef Newgarden roared into the pit box, locking his wheels in a furious slide toward the inside line where Caitlyn Brown crouched in position for the No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet.

It was the team’s first live stop of the year during a preseason test at The Thermal Club in the Southern California desert, and the two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion already was impressed by his new left-front tire changer.

“I nearly took her out, and Caitlyn didn’t even flinch,” Newgarden told NBC Sports with a broad smile. “She just slightly adjusted, still finished the pit stop and was quicker than half the other people on the car.

“She’s very impressive. That’s not to take anything away from anyone else. We’re a team, a unit. They’re all solid, but she is very deserving of what she has achieved.”

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Four months into her first year as a full-fledged pit crew member, Brown has achieved a special place in IndyCar history.

She is believed to have become the first woman to go over the wall for an Indy 500 winner when Newgarden won the 107th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last month.

Five days later, while processing the feat during an interview in Team Penske’s RP1 mobile office at the Detroit Grand Prix, Brown got choked up assessing her place in history.

“It’s kind of crazy,” said the native of Wilmington, Illinois (about 60 miles southwest of Chicago). “I still can’t believe we won it. But it’s really special to me to be able to say I’m the first to do something. Especially at this level for this team at that race given the history of this team and the history of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500. It’s crazy to think it’s