Turkington was born on 21 March 1982 in Portadown. He began his competitive career in 1993 in the Ulster Karting series. In 1996 and 1997, he competed in autograss before transitioning to circuit racing in the Northern Irish Metro Championship in 1998, where he secured his first title. He subsequently moved to the Ford Credit Fiesta Zetec Championship in Britain, winning that title in 2001. Outside of racing, Turkington performed television work in 2002, presenting a BBC Northern Ireland report regarding environmental damage.
Turkington debuted in the BTCC in 2002 driving a year-old MG ZS for Team Atomic Kitten. Partnered with Gareth Howell, he finished 14th in the standings. For 2003, he joined the manufacturer-backed West Surrey Racing (WSR) squad, where he achieved his first race victory at Brands Hatch and finished eighth in the championship. Despite MG withdrawing official support in 2004, Turkington improved to sixth in the standings and took a win at Mondello Park.
In 2005, he moved to Vauxhall to replace James Thompson. Although he finished sixth in the championship for a second consecutive year, he was not retained by the team for the following season.
Turkington returned to WSR in 2006 to drive an RAC-sponsored MG ZS. He finished the season third overall with two wins and 14 podiums. In 2007, WSR transitioned to the BMW 320si. Turkington took the first BTCC win for a BMW in over a decade at Croft and secured his first Independent Drivers' title. He retained the Independents' crown in 2008, a season in which he finished every race in the top ten.
The 2009 season marked his first overall BTCC title. Driving for WSR, he took the championship lead at mid-season and maintained it through a run of eighteen consecutive point-scoring finishes. Despite this success, the team lost its title sponsor, and Turkington was unable to defend his title in 2010.
After a period away from the series, Turkington rejoined WSR and the BTCC in 2013, driving the BMW 125i. He finished fifth that year with five wins. In 2014, he secured his second Drivers' title after taking eight race victories.
In 2015, Turkington moved to Team BMR. The team switched to the Subaru Levorg in 2016. Following a difficult start to the year and a withdrawal from the Thruxton round due to fuel line concerns, Turkington took the Levorg's first win at Oulton Park and finished the season fourth in the standings.
Returning to WSR in 2017, Turkington finished as runner-up to Ashley Sutton after a collision in the final round. He secured his third title in 2018, notably winning the championship while taking only a single race victory during the season. In 2019, he won his record-equalling fourth title at Brands Hatch after championship rival Dan Cammish suffered a brake failure in the closing laps of the final race.
In 2006, Turkington's WSR team switched to bio-ethanol fuel late in the season, nearly becoming the first team to win a race using the fuel.
During the 2017 season opener at Brands Hatch, Turkington collided with Matt Neal at the start but recovered from the back of the grid to finish ninth. His title hopes that year ended in the final race following a collision with Mat Jackson.
In the 2010 World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) at Brands Hatch, Turkington finished third and fifth in the two races. While he initially moved into second in the Independents' championship, a WTCC regulation change on 1 August 2010 stripped him of his Independent status.
In early 2025, Turkington confirmed he would be absent from the BTCC grid for the following season. This concluded a tenure in the series that ran from 2002–2009 and 2013–2024.
Turkington has competed extensively in international touring cars. In the WTCC, he made appearances for WSR in 2007, 2010, and 2012, and for Wiechers-Sport in 2011. He achieved his first WTCC victory in the 2010 round in Japan following the disqualification of Augusto Farfus and Andy Priaulx. In 2011, he competed in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship for Flash Engineering, finishing fifth in the standings with five podiums.
In February 2026, it was announced that Turkington would move to the British GT Championship. He joined the GT4 Pro-Am category driving a BMW M4 GT4 EVO for WSR, sharing the car with Ernie Graham.
Turkington was elected to the MSA's Race Elite Scheme in April 2007. He holds the record for the most BTCC titles (four), a distinction he shares with Andy Rouse and Ashley Sutton. He also secured the BTCC Independent Drivers' title in 2007 and 2008.
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