Bridget Burgess (born December 26, 2001) is an Australian stock car racing driver. She last competed full-time in the ARCA Menards Series West, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet for her family-owned team, BMI Racing.

Bridget Burgess
Born (2001-12-26) December 26, 2001 (age 22)
Brisbane, Australia
ARCA Menards Series career
2 races run over 2 years
ARCA no., teamNo. 88 (BMI Racing)
Best finish107th (2021)
First race2021 General Tire 150 (Phoenix)
Last race2022 General Tire 150 (Phoenix)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
ARCA Menards Series West career
31 races run over 4 years
ARCA West no., teamNo. 88 (BMI Racing)
Best finish9th (2021)
First race2019 NAPA Auto Parts Idaho 208 (Meridian)
Last race2024 Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 100 (Phoenix)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 9 0
Statistics current as of November 19, 2022.

Born in Australia, Burgess and her family moved to the United States in 2008. After beginning her racing career in short course off-road racing, she transitioned to competing on asphalt in 2019 to pursue a career in NASCAR.

Racing career

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Burgess ran her first off road race at age 15.[1] In 2017, she competed in the Open V8 class of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series, scoring a podium finish in her debut race. She later competed in the series' Pro Lite class as well.[2] Burgess began her stock car career in 2019 with a pair of races in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, where she finished 12th and 11th at Meridian Speedway and All American Speedway respectively.[3]

At the 2020 ARCA Menards Series West series opener at the Las Vegas Bullring, Burgess' car suffered a gear failure,[1] leaving her with a 17th-place finish.[4] After skipping the series' doubleheader at her home track in Utah,[1] Burgess' family team received a 2007 Toyota chassis on loan from Bill McAnally Racing.[2] She drove the car in the remaining eight races of the season, leading to a streak of three consecutive top-ten finishes,[2] including a career-best of seventh in her return to Las Vegas.[5]

 
Burgess' No. 88 car at Sonoma Raceway in 2022.

Burgess began the 2021 season with sponsorship from GearWrench tools and HMH Construction.[6][7] In March, she made her ARCA Menards Series debut through a combination race with the West Series at Phoenix Raceway, where she finished 22nd.[8] Her season-best was an eighth-place finish at Sonoma Raceway. Burgess ran as high as fifth in the race, which was her first in the series on a road course.[9]

On March 8, 2022, Burgess announced that she would return full-time to the ARCA Menards Series West.[10] Burgess tied her career-best finish at Portland International Raceway, finishing seventh.[11] The next week, she followed up with another top-ten run by finishing tenth at Sonoma.[12] At the Las Vegas Bullring, Burgess competed against her mother, Sarah Burgess, as the pair became the first mother and daughter to compete against each other in a NASCAR-sanctioned race.[13] Bridget finished in 12th place ahead of Sarah in 17th.[14]

Personal life

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Originally from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Burgess' family moved to the United States in 2008 to pursue opportunities in motorsports.[2] She currently lives in Tooele, Utah, near Utah Motorsports Campus.[2] Her father, Adam, serves as her spotter.[15] Her mother, Sarah, is a former off-road racing competitor and serves as Burgess' crew chief and owner.[2] With a lack of funding compared to bigger teams in the series, Sarah is often tasked with completing the jobs of an entire pit crew, such as changing all four tires during a pit stop by herself.[2]

Burgess frequently helps with mechanical work on her equipment;[1] during the 2020 ARCA West season, she replaced the gear differential on her car between races on back-to-back days.[2]

Motorsports career results

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ARCA Menards Series

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Menards Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 AMSC Pts Ref
2021 BMI Racing 88 Chevy DAY PHO
22
TAL KAN TOL CLT MOH POC ELK BLN IOW WIN GLN MCH ISF MLW DSF BRI SLM KAN 107th 22 [16]
2022 DAY PHO
23
TAL KAN CLT IOW BLN ELK MOH POC IRP MCH GLN ISF MLW DSF KAN BRI SLM TOL 111th 21 [17]

ARCA Menards Series West

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ARCA Menards Series West results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 AMSWC Pts Ref
2019 Tim Spurgeon 86 Toyota LVS IRW TUS TUS CNS SON DCS IOW EVG GTW MER
12
31st 65 [3]
Stafford Smith 34 Toyota AAS
11
KCR PHO
2020 BMI Racing 88 Chevy LVS
17
MMP MMP 10th 283 [18]
Toyota IRW
12
EVG
11
DCS
9
CNS
10
LVS
7
AAS
11
KCR
14
PHO
22
2021 Chevy PHO
22
SON
8
IRW
13
CNS
9
IRW
14
PIR
16
LVS
20
AAS
11
PHO
24
9th 359 [19]
2022 PHO
23
IRW
12
KCR
12
PIR
7
SON
10
IRW
19
EVG
10
PIR
10
AAS
19
LVS
12
PHO
17
7th 483 [20]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Jag, Julie (June 29, 2020). "Bridget Burgess is trying to crack the code on an auto racing career — right in her backyard". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Haislop, Tadd (December 16, 2020). "Sarah And Bridget Burgess: The Mother-Daughter Duo Stepping On The Gas Pedal In ARCA". ARCARacing.com. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Bridget Burgess – 2019 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  4. ^ "2020 Star Nursery 150". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  5. ^ "2020 General Tire 150". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  6. ^ "GearWrench Partners With Bridget Burgess, BMI Racing For ARCA Menards Series West Season". ARCARacing.com (Press release). February 17, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  7. ^ "Bridget Burgess Teams Up with HMH Construction to Compete Full Time in the ARCA Menards West Series". SpeedwayMedia.com (Press release). March 11, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  8. ^ "2021 General Tire 150". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  9. ^ Haislop, Tadd (June 8, 2021). "ARCA Menards Rewind: What We Learned At Mid-Ohio And Sonoma". ARCARacing.com. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  10. ^ "Bridget Burgess Geared Up for another Full Season of NASCAR's ARCA Menards West Series with HMH Construction and Gearwrench". SpeedwayMedia.com (Press release). March 8, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  11. ^ Fenwick, Adam (June 6, 2022). "ARCA Menards rewind: Takeaways from Portland International Raceway". ARCARacing.com. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  12. ^ Haislop, Tadd (June 11, 2022). "Jake Drew doubles up on road course wins, takes checkered flag at Sonoma". ARCARacing.com. Retrieved June 12, 2022.
  13. ^ "eBay Motors to sponsor Sarah and Bridget Burgess in historic mother-daughter ARCA race". ARCA Menards Series (Press release). eBay Motors. September 28, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
  14. ^ Haislop, Tadd (October 17, 2022). "Sarah and Bridget Burgess make history, share moment of a lifetime at Las Vegas Bullring". ARCA Menards Series. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
  15. ^ Long, Dustin (May 9, 2021). "Every day is Mother's Day at the track for Burgess family". NBC Sports. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  16. ^ "Bridget Burgess – 2021 ARCA Menards Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  17. ^ "Bridget Burgess – 2022 ARCA Menards Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  18. ^ "Bridget Burgess – 2020 ARCA Menards West Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  19. ^ "Bridget Burgess – 2021 ARCA Menards West Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  20. ^ "Bridget Burgess – 2022 ARCA Menards Series West Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
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