USAC’s only female winner Kaylee Bryson to make NASCAR debut at the Sonoma Raceway

Kaylee Bryson will make her NASCAR ARCA West debut this coming Friday at Sonoma Raceway. The 24-year-old speedster will be driving the No. 17 car for Cook Racing. It’s indeed a landmark moment for her, and so, she shared the news with her fans on X.

The race will also feature several NASCAR icons like William Sawalich, Corey Day, Alon Day, and Spencer Gallagher. Fans can watch the action live on FloRacing, 6:30 pm ET onwards.

“We’re going racing at Sonoma!!” Bryson wrote Monday. “So excited to make my NASCAR debut in the #17 Chevrolet Cook Racing Technologies ARCA car this weekend!”

Bryson happens to be the first woman to win a USAC National Series race at Belleville High Banks Speedway Fairgrounds, Kansas in May 2024. In 2022, she also became the first woman to qualify for the A-Main at the Chili Bowl Nationals.

It’s not just dirt racing that Kaylee Bryson excels at. By winning a TransAm SGT championship with Sam Pierce Racing last year, she proved her racing prowess on road courses as well.

This year, she is competing under the Trans-Am’s XGT class. She won her first race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, on June 21. That being said, all eyes are now on the General Tire 200.

---

Back when Bubba Wallace lauded Kaylee Bryson for her Chili Bowl Nationals feat

Kaylee Bryson made the headlines back in 2022 by qualifying for the A-Main event at the Chili Bowl Nationals. So much so that even Bubba Wallace, driver of the No. 23 entry for 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, hopped on X and congratulated the Oklahoma native.

“Kaylee B!!!!!! Nice work!!!” Wallace wrote.

Bubba Wallace

@BubbaWallace

LINK

Kaylee B!!!!!! Nice work!!!

Nobody had finished higher than Harli White, who wound up 19th in a B-Feature back in 2016. So for Bryson, the win was special.

“It was super fun,” Bryson said during her post-race interview. “I just had a mindset that I wanted to make the Chili Bowl (A) Feature and it's been my dream ever since I was just a little girl. You know, coming here we have been super nervous, but amped up at the same time. I've just wanted to make this show so bad. So going out there for the B Feature, I just gave it my all and it turned out good for us in the end and we got the win.”

"I can't thank my team enough: Toyota Racing, James Hodge Toyota and Keith Kunz Motorsports. They really made this possible for me, and I'm just so blessed to have this opportunity," she added.

Kaylee Bryson was pitted against Wallace’s fellow Cup drivers, Christopher Bell and former Cup champion Kyle Larson. Despite her best efforts, she could only salvage a P18 in the 55-lap event.