Brionna Lynch is a stunt driver with something to prove
STORY | Stein Broeder
PHOTOGRAPHY | Marc Shap
Brionna Lynch is out to prove something. She doesn’t want to be known as the best female stunt driver or best African American stunt driver. She wants to be known as one of the best stunt drivers. Full stop.
And she is well on her way.
Currently residing in California, the 26-year-old has been racing since she was a little girl. She rode her first dirt bike at age three (yes, really) and started racing at six. After tearing her ACL three times before she reached 20, she decided to put motocross aside. She then found a similar adrenaline rush drifting cars and stunt driving. Only this time the rush came from moving even faster and trying to maintain control when the moment dictates a loss of control.
This innate passion for movement continues to drive her every day. She has a hard time sitting still, so it should come as no surprise that in addition to being a professional stunt driver, Lynch is also an automotive enthusiast, mechanical hobbyist, and an entrepreneur.
Most importantly, she is an inspiration to those who strive to keep learning, keep improving, keep getting better every day. Or as Lynch likes to say, being better than your last lap.
A FAMILY AFFAIR
For Lynch, stunt driving runs in the family. She isn’t ashamed to admit that nepotism played a role in her becoming a stunt driver. “I got into stunt driving because of my dad,” says Lynch, “He’s been teaching me my entire life.”
Lynch’s father, Jalil Jay Lynch, grew up racing motorcycles and spent 30+ years as a stuntman and stunt driver. He got his first stunt gig in New Jack City but is best known for his work on Bad Boys, Captain America: Civil War, and several films from The Fast & Furious franchise. This work made him one of the most respected stunt drivers in the industry.
Lynch claims her father wanted a son but decided he would share his passion with his daughter to see if she would latch on. Latch on she did, all the while learning under the watchful eye of her father. But he didn’t teach her everything.
“Contrary to popular belief my dad didn’t teach me how to work on my own car. He was actually the guy who always wanted to drop the car off at the shop,” Lynch says with a smile. After her car was stuck at the shop for six months she decided to take matters into her own hands. With a little help from YouTube she began learning how to wrench on her own cars. “Working on cars has taught me some of the best lessons in life, like patience and determination,” added Lynch.
A FORCE FOR CHANGE
No job has proved too big for Lynch to tackle—including acting as a force for change in her industry. Lynch started her stunt career 2014 when she performed in the film Creed. Her father was already working on the film, and they needed another rider. She had the time, so she decided to make a little extra money. Stunt coordinators have been calling her ever since.
Lynch struggled early on in her career in the male-dominated profession of stunt driving. She found that as a woman, she had to work harder to prove herself. As her career progressed, she gained the respect of on-set mechanics and stunt coordinators and has even been asked to evaluate stunt cars to ensure they are properly set up even when she’s not driving them.
“My ultimate goal is to have my name up there with my dad’s name when they are picking some of the best stunt drivers in the industry to work on a big movie,” says Lynch.
She now has over 50 TV and film credits to her name including Black Panther and the installments from Fast & Furious franchise and she’s also performed in videos for Pharell Williams, Beyonce, and Chris Brown.
A CAR WITH A DEEPER MEANING
Stunt driving takes a lot of energy, focus, and preparation. Whether she is attending to timing cues or ensuring her vehicle is properly tuned, Lynch thrives when the pressure is on. Even when the pressure is off, Lynch still likes to spend time around cars.
And she is always looking for the next thing for her garage. Like many enthusiasts, she found one of her favorites on Craigslist. “I’ve wanted a 1977 280Z since high school and this one is the perfect blank canvas for a project car,” says Lynch.
The person she bought it from owned the Z for more than 20 years. The car had been owned by his best friend, who had passed away, and for the past five years it had sat idle in his garage, but he had finally decided it was time for it to find a new home.
The day Lynch bought the 280Z she shared the news with one of her best friends, Tiara Van Nortwick, who shares her passion for cars. They had big plans for the car and saw it as their ticket into SEMA. Tiara said they had to name the car “T”, for its color, tangerine. But the name “T” ended up having so much more meaning: that night, Tiara was killed in a car accident.
Although Lynch acknowledges the somewhat spooky history of the car, she fully embraces her role in keeping the spirit of Tiara alive in “T” and continues to drive it in her honor.
To date she has added Recaro XL seats, reupholstered with brown vegan leather, and she also upgraded to Wilwood disc brakes. She plans to keep upgrading and improving the street car, in memory of her best friend. Eventually she plans on rewrapping the entire interior of the car in brown vegan leather along with replacing the carpet. She also wants to add 240Z bumpers, a front air dam, coilovers for suspension, and more aggressive wheels. Then she plans to do a manual swap for a more analog driving experience.
Lynch has several other vehicles including a 2007 Pontiac Solstice, a 1982 Mercedes 300D turbo diesel, and a 2003 Nissan 350Z. It’s no ordinary 350Z, but a true race car with a 1JZ engine swap and a Garrett turbo. Some additional modifications include a carbon fiber driveshaft, custom Status Racing seats and harnesses, and a Hold Fast steering wheel. The Nissan also has Carbyne wheels, Parts Shop Max coilovers and angle kit, SPL tie rods, toe arms, and camber arms, and a Sparco fire-suppression system in the engine bay and cabin to keep Lynch safe.
AN ENTREPRENEUR
Beyond collecting cars, Lynch has also started a clothing company with a motorsports focus called Chasing Checkers. Although she isn’t a designer by trade, she loves the process. She sketches out ideas for her shirts and then has professional designers digitize her ideas. It’s a great way for her to release some of her creative energy.
Like her cars, the brand embodies her mantra: always being better than your last lap.
“It’s a mentality that all motorsports enthusiasts share. We all have the same goal, chasing that checkered flag. Everyone wants that podium spot, but you must put in the work. It’s not just about prep day, and it’s not just about race day, it’s about every single day,” says Lynch.
And that’s what Lynch is all about, improving yourself every single day.
