Kaylee Bryson
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Kaylee Bryson

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Kaylee Rae Bryson (born March 11, 2001) is an American racing driver who has broken multiple barriers for women in open-wheel and sports car racing. She is best known as the first female driver to advance to the A-Main at the Chili Bowl Nationals, the first woman to win a USAC National Series feature race, and a two-time Trans-Am champion across different classes.

Bryson began her racing career at age nine, competing in go-karts at 3D Raceway in Oklahoma. In 2015, she won the Tulsa Shootout's Restricted A class, becoming the second female driver to claim a Golden Driller trophy. Her early success on dirt tracks laid the foundation for a career that would take her through open-wheel midget and Silver Crown racing and into road course competition.

Bryson made her USAC National Midget Championship debut with Dave Mac Motorsports in 2019. She signed with Keith Kunz Motorsports in 2020, competing with backing from JBL and Toyota Racing Development. In her first full season she advanced to the main event in 22 of 23 starts, finishing eleventh in the standings.

In 2021, Bryson became the first female driver to qualify on pole at the Turkey Night Grand Prix and led the first seventeen laps, finishing fifth โ€” the best result by a woman in the event's history. Her 2022 season with Keith Kunz Motorsports was the strongest of her midget tenure: she finished seventh in national points, was named the series' Most Improved Driver, and made history at the Chili Bowl Nationals by winning her B-Main to become the first woman to advance to the A-Main feature, where she finished eighteenth.

Bryson made her USAC Silver Crown Series debut on June 18, 2022, with Sam Pierce Racing, then signed full-time for the 2023 season. She finished fifth in the Silver Crown standings that year and became the first female driver to earn Rookie of the Year honors in series history. On May 18, 2024, starting from pole at the Belleville High Banks, she won her first Silver Crown race โ€” making her the first woman to win a USAC National Series feature race outright.

Bryson made her Trans-Am Series debut at the 2023 season-opening race at Sebring. She expanded to a full-time campaign in the SGT class in 2024 to build road course experience. In her fourth career series start, on April 14, 2024, at NOLA Motorsports Park, she won from pole position by a 29-second margin, leading every lap. She added class wins at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Virginia International Raceway, and clinched the SGT class championship โ€” only the second female driver in history to win a Trans-Am title in that class and the third woman overall to win any Trans-Am championship.

In 2025, Bryson stepped up to the XGT class. Despite battling a cam sensor issue throughout the race, she took her first XGT win at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on June 21 and assumed the championship lead over veteran Paul Tracy. She clinched the XGT title at the season's penultimate round at Barber Motorsports Park, becoming the first female driver to win Trans-Am championships in two different classes.

In 2025, Bryson branched into stock car racing. She made her ARCA Menards Series West debut at Sonoma Raceway for Cook Racing Technologies, finishing fourteenth after electrical issues. Later that summer she made her national ARCA Menards Series debut at Madison International Speedway, finishing eighth.

Bryson's career represents a series of firsts that span multiple categories of American motorsport. Across dirt oval racing, pavement road courses, and stock cars, she has accumulated milestones that no female driver before her had reached: pole positions, feature wins, Rookie of the Year awards, and class championships. Her progression from go-karts in Oklahoma to multi-class Trans-Am champion outlines a disciplined career built on expanding her skill set rather than specializing in a single series.

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