10 Days of Champions - Kaylee Bryson: SGT National Championship

December 20, 2024

Coming from the world of dirt racing and ovals, Kaylee Bryson had a challenge in front of her as she embarked on a full-season championship effort in the longest-running professional road racing series in North America. However, her focus and commitment in the new discipline paid off, as she drove her No. 02 Logical Systems Inc./Sam Pierce Chevrolet Corvette to GYM WEED Winners Circle three times, becoming just the third female champion in the history of the Trans Am Series.

After driving to fourth-place finishes in the opening two races of the season, Bryson secured her first victory in the class at NOLA Motorsports Park, leading the most laps in the event.

“This is my first time on the podium,” said Bryson from the top step. “I’m glad to get my first win today for my team; they've worked so hard. There's a whole army that goes into this, making this possible, and I'm so grateful for them. The car was on rails all weekend, and I'm super happy to come out here and get first. I'm thankful that everybody drives clean. It was a really fun time out there.”

Bryson followed up her victory with a third-place finish at Lime Rock Park and a fourth-place finish at Pittsburgh International Race Complex, then scored three-consecutive second-place finishes at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Road America and Watkins Glen International. Bryson’s next victory came during the series’ first visit to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in a decade.

“This feels good; it was fun to bring the GT car out here and race with the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series cars and TA cars,” said Bryson. “They'd really kill me on the straightaway, but I had something for them in the corners, which made it a little bit of fun. We were racing around quite a bit with the TA2 cars and passed a couple of them, which made it really exciting for us and our team. We want to come out here and race and put down really quick laps. I'm so thankful to have a car that makes it all 100 miles, and I’m really thankful to the whole crew for all the work they put in. It's fun to be back on the top step.”

Bryson went back-to-back, winning the next event at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) in her first visit to the track.

“You know, it's my first time at VIR, and I definitely rank this one at the top of my list,” said Bryson. “That was the race of my life right there, I never gave up. We started third and really, really had to chase down the guys. I think once we got the fuel load off, the car really came to life at the end. I can't thank my fellow competitors enough for racing me clean. We were side by side and never touching, having to run qualifying laps every single lap, and that was really awesome.”

Bryson concluded her season with a second-place finish at Circuit of The Americas before accepting the trophy for her first road-course championship.

“First of all, it feels really good to be a champion,” said Bryson. “We went into the season not really knowing what to expect; It's my first year of road racing, so I had a lot to learn and I tried to do it as quick as I can. I'm lucky enough to have a team behind me that gave me a great car and taught me everything that I need to know, and we were lucky enough to win a championship. That's really awesome. Our goal for the year was to win Rookie of the Year, but to secure a championship is just the cherry on top.”