INDIANAPOLIS — Kaylee Bryson was a little out of touch with the midget racing world when she arrived at the Driven2SaveLives BC39 at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The 22-year-old has been narrowed in on the USAC Silver Crown Series this year, piloting the No. 26 entry for Sam Pierce Racing, in an attempt to better diversify her racing résumé.
She set out with the goal of earning the rookie-of-the-year title in the Silver Crown division and, as she’s currently leading by 150 points over Wayne Johnson, it appears her season objective will be met.
While she hasn’t blown the doors off the Silver Crown circuit — rather, she’s been quietly consistent with five top-10 finishes in 10 races — Bryson is pleased with her learning curve.
“The cars are big, they’re fast, we race on mile-long tracks — it’s been an amazing year,” Bryson said. “I feel like my range of knowing about cars and different types of racing, from dirt to asphalt, has grown so much over the past year.”
According to the Oklahoma native, that’s exactly the kind of personal progress she was looking for when she signed on for Silver Crown.
“I had the option, I could either move up with my racing career, do the same thing and just kind of go and cherry pick races, but I don’t think you’re going to learn anything doing that,” Bryson said. “So any chance I get to try something new or anything that’s going to teach me something is going to be a benefit. No matter if it’s dirt or pavement, it’s making you better in the seat.”
But with the USAC season winding down, Bryson was determined to jump back into a midget and knock some of the rust off.
She inked a two-race deal with CB Industries for the USAC national midget stops at Gas City (Ind.) I-69 Speedway and the Driven2SaveLives BC39 at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“It’s really nice to get back in a midget — something that I’ve done for three years,” Bryson said.
The cockpit of the No. 89 CBI car may be foreign territory for the Oklahoma native, who previously raced for Keith Kunz Motorsports, but her past experience running on the USAC circuit helped ease her transition.
In her first race back at Gas City, Bryson finished 12th after starting 17th. She then proceeded to finish ninth on her prelim night at the BC39 and 24th in Saturday night’s $20,039-to-win finale. While the result wasn’t quite as good as she was hoping for, Bryson admitted it was challenging to find her groove on dirt in such a limited time.
“Racing Silver Crown on pavement, it’s a lot different than these midgets. They’re really aggressive. You kind of have to be in the rhythm to race these types of cars. If you’re not racing full time, it’s kind of hard to jump back into it,” Bryson said.
Moving forward, Bryson’s full attention is on pavement.
“I wanted to come back and have a little fun,” Bryson said. “But I’m really enjoying what I’m doing in Silver Crown, sprint cars, SGT Corvettes, TA2 cars — that’s really what I want to do more next year.”