Stephanie Borchelt
Race Engineer, No. 12 Ford Mustang
Stephanie Borchelt is in her seventh season with Team Penske in 2020 and she returns to work alongside crew chief Matt Swiderski as the race engineer on the No. 12 Ford Mustang competing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS). The No. 12 Ford Mustang will once again compete with a limited schedule this season with NASCAR Cup Series drivers Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Matt DiBenedetto.
Working with Swiderski, Borchelt helped lead the No. 12 team to five top-five finishes and three pole positions in eight starts during the 2019 season with Keselowski, Logano, Blaney and Paul Menard behind the wheel.
Borchelt and the No. 12 team found success during the 2018 season with Team Penske's then rookie driver, Austin Cindric. Together the team captured one top-five and four top-10 finishes in just eight starts. Keselowski made his lone start with the No. 12 team at Watkins Glen, starting second and finishing 10th after an impressive battle for the win in the closing laps with teammate and race winner Joey Logano.
Since 2015, Borchelt has also worked with crew chiefs Greg Erwin and Brian Wilson as the No. 12 Ford Mustang has competed in select races each season. During that time, the team collected a total of five wins, eight top-five finishes and four poles in just 11 starts among drivers Blaney, Keselowski, Logano and Sam Hornish Jr.
Borchelt began her career at Team Penske in 2013 working as a design engineer for two seasons before being named the race engineer on the No. 12 NXS Ford and the NXS test team race engineer.
A Trafalgar, Ind. native, Borchelt was drawn to motorsports after watching a championship race with her stepfather. The allure of race strategy, ever-changing pit scenarios and evolving circumstances of each race fascinated the young aspiring engineer and had her trying to determine what the competitors would do next. She became fascinated with the chess match that is NASCAR and Borchelt knew she wanted to pursue a career in racing.
As a teen, Borchelt was always interested in complex puzzles, which helped her decision to pursue a career in engineering. "Being an engineer is really just the grown-up version of playing with puzzles all day. It's our job to find the best way to put things together in order to achieve a defined goal. We observe the world as it is and use our knowledge to create the next iteration."
Borchelt attended Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) where she earned a Bachelor of Science Motorsports Engineering degree. From there she worked with Vance and Hines Motorsports as a design engineer intern from 2010-2011 and the same position with Hendrick Motorsports from 2011-2012 before she Team Penske.
In 2018, Stephanie Borchelt begins her fifth season with Team Penske and she will work alongside crew chief Matt Swiderski as the race engineer on the No. 12 Ford Mustang competing in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS). Since 2015, Borchelt has worked with crew chiefs Greg Erwin and Brian Wilson as the No. 12 Ford Mustang has competed in select races each season. During that time, the team collected a total of five wins, eight top-five finishes and four poles in just 11 starts between drivers Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, and Sam Hornish Jr. Austin Cindric will compete for the majority of 2018 NXS races in the No. 12 Ford Mustang for Team Penske.
Borchelt began her career at Team Penske in 2013 working as a design engineer for two seasons before being named the race engineer on the No. 12 NXS Ford and the NXS test team race engineer.
A Trafalgar, Ind. native, Borchelt was attract to racing after watching a championship race with her step-father. The allure of race strategy, ever changing pit scenarios and evolving circumstances of each race fascinated Borchelt and had her trying to guess what the competitors would do next. She fell in love with the chess match that is NASCAR and knew she wanted to pursue racing as career.
As a teen, Borchelt was always interested in complex puzzles, which helped her decision to being an engineer. “Being an engineer is really just the grown up version of playing with puzzles all day. It's our job to find the best way to put things together in order to achieve a defined goal. We observe the world as it is and use our knowledge to create the next iteration.”
Borchelt attended Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) where she earned a Bachelor’s of Science Motorsports Engineering degree. From there she worked with Vance and Hines Motorsports as a Design Engineer Intern from 2010 through 2011 and from 2011 through 2012 with Hendrick Motorsports as a Design Engineer Intern before joining Team Penske.