The expectations have been raised at the Tulsa Expo Center for Kaylee Bryson.
It’s no longer enough to simply make the feature for the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. She wants to emerge as a contender in her debut appearance in a Bertrand Motorsports entry fielded by the legendary Sammy Swindell.
Bryson made history in 2022 when she became the first woman in event history to make the main event with a victory in her B-Main. She returned to the feature in 2023, both times driving for Keith Kunz Motorsports, generally regarded as the best team in the discipline.
At the same time, a Bertrand car won the race last year with Logan Seavey out of the Swindell Speedlab stable, so Bryson very much believes she should be in the mix next week as well.
“The first year I made the feature, I was just so happy because it’s something every dirt racer dreams of,” Bryson told Sportsnaut on Wednesday. “Then we made it again next year and that’s not enough now.
“It’s still a big deal to make the race but we want to make some noise in our prelim and on Saturday.”
Crew chief Chris Santucci made the connection between Bryson and Swindell earlier in the year when they were racing Sprint Cars with Dale Howard. Since then, Swindell has served as a driving coach for Bryson.
Bryson said she had a couple of options for Chili Bowl this year but never wavered on making Swindell a priority. She calls the five-time Chili Bowl race winner a hero and wants to add to his legacy as a 10-time race winner as a team owner.
It was a dynamic and interesting 2023 for Bryson, who completely changed-up her career, spending most of her time in Trans-Am and USAC Silver Crown — earning rookie of the year honors in the latter. She earned top-10s in six races, five on pavement, and took quickly to road racing too.
Bryson, still just 21, continues to target a career in NASCAR or IndyCar after parting ways with Toyota and enjoyed a productive first season with Aaron Pierce’s driver development program.
“I think it went really well,” Bryson said. “Really, I was just happy to be able to race this past year. I realized how reliant I was on Toyota so I was really grateful to meet Aaron.
“He took my career to the next level in getting me experience on pavement and road courses.”
Bryson feels legitimately confident about her chances to take the fight to Logan Seavey and Kody Swanson next year.
“I feel like I learned everything there was to learn as a rookie and it’s just a matter of applying it,” she said. “The last race at IRP, I was right there with Seavey. The goal is to win races next year.”
That’s the goal in Tulsa next week too.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.