Bright started his motor racing career at the age of 15 in 1988 and won the Junior Club Championship at the Gippsland Go-Kart Club. The following year he won the Senior Club Championships. In 1990 he was runner-up in the Victorian Go Karting Championship, then won the championship in 1991.
In 1992 Bright moved into single-seaters, contesting the Victorian Formula Ford Championship and finishing fourth while also completing a further go-kart campaign, finishing third overall in Australia. He made his debut in the Australian Formula Ford Championship in 1993 in a factory-backed Spectrum, recording a best finish of sixth at Symmons Plains and finishing second at the Australian Formula Ford Festival at Winton. He finished third in the 1994 Australian Formula Ford Championship behind Steven Richards and Gavin Monaghan, and won the Formula Ford race supporting the Australian Grand Prix.
In 1995 Bright won the Australian Formula Ford Championship, the Australian Grand Prix support race, and the Lexmark Indy 300 support race, and was nominated for two major Australian awards. He was runner-up in the 1996 Australian Drivers' Championship behind Paul Stokell, winning three races, before dominating the 1997 Australian Drivers' Championship with seven victories.
Bright's first international competition came in 1996 when he raced in the US Formula Ford 2000 Championship, winning two races at St. Petersburg and Mosport, finishing second in the championship behind Steve Knapp, and earning Rookie of the Year.
In 2000, Bright joined the Indy Lights series in America, working with race engineer Gerald Tyler to record five podium finishes and finish sixth in the standings. He also made his Champ Car debut at the Lexmark Indy 300 that year.
Bright made his V8 Supercar debut at Symmons Plains in 1997, finishing ninth, and finished third in the Sandown 500 that year alongside Alan Jones.
In 1998, Bright joined Stone Brothers Racing as a full-time touring car driver and delivered several top-six performances including a third place at Calder Park. He and co-driver Steven Richards won the Bathurst Classic that year after Bright crashed heavily in practice and managed only a single flying lap in qualifying due to the extent of the repairs required.
In 1999 he recorded six podiums including a win at Hidden Valley Raceway and three pole positions. In 2001 he joined the multi-championship-winning Holden Racing Team, won the season-opening Clipsal 500, and led for most of the first half of the season before finishing third. In 2002 he recorded two wins and a pole at HRT.
In 2003 Bright moved to Paul Weel Racing and finished fourth in the standings. In 2004 he won three races and finished third in the championship. He also won the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour race in a Holden Monaro alongside Peter Brock, Greg Murphy, and Todd Kelly; that car was run by Garry Rogers Motorsport.
In 2005 Bright crossed to Ford, joining Ford Performance Racing and finishing ninth overall. In 2006 he won the Sandown 500 and the inaugural Desert 400 at the Bahrain International Circuit, along with podiums at Surfers Paradise and Symmons Plains.
Bright established Britek Motorsport in 2005 while still driving for Ford Performance Racing; the team's marquee sponsor was Fujitsu, and it was officially referred to as Fujitsu Racing. Britek also briefly ran Ford Australia's entry in the Australian Rally Championship, fielding a pair of Super 2000 Ford Fiestas for Michael Guest and Darren Windus.
Bright joined his own team in 2007. He nearly won the 2007 Bathurst 1000 but a bad tyre call in the pits left him hitting the wall at McPhillamy Park with 10 laps to go. With funds tightening after two seasons, Bright leased out one of his two Racing Entitlement Contracts and focused on a single car, coming to an arrangement with Stone Brothers Racing for vehicle preparation and selling most of his team equipment, effectively shutting down Britek as a racing team. His older Britek BF Falcon was replaced with an SBR FG Falcon and he picked up a third at the Sydney 500. By that point major sponsor Fujitsu had announced it would be leaving the team. The team's franchises remained live in 2009; the leased franchise was sold to Brad Jones Racing at the end of that year.
For the 2010 season, Bright drove a Holden VE Commodore for Brad Jones Racing. Race 8 in Perth saw Bright win Brad Jones Racing its first-ever V8 Supercars victory. He followed that with a win at Winton and rose as high as fourth in the championship standings. He also recorded a fourth place at the 2010 Bathurst 1000 and a podium at Symmons Plains, finishing behind Paul Dumbrell and Mark Winterbottom, for an overall 14th in the championship.
In 2013, with the introduction of Car Of The Future rules, Bright and teammate Fabian Coulthard drove the new Holden VF Commodore to back-to-back wins at Tasmania. Bright also won Race 4 at Pukekohe Raceway, which awarded him the inaugural Jason Richards Memorial Trophy for scoring the most points over that weekend; his celebration resulted in him breaking a fluorescent light while jumping for joy. Bright finished the 2013 season seventh, one place below Coulthard.
In 2014 Bright had a monumental crash in Race 3 at the Clipsal 500, his only DNF for the season. He recorded one podium, a win at the Auckland 500.
Bright confirmed he would re-join Prodrive Racing Australia for the 2017 Supercars Championship season, just ten years after he left the team for Britek Motorsport, becoming the fourth driver in the team.
In 2006, Bright drove for Prodrive in an Aston Martin at the Sebring 12 Hour, finishing fourth. In 2013 he made his debut at the Le Mans 24 Hour race driving for 8 Star Motorsports, finishing tenth in class.
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