“We are honored to name Sarah Burgess as the recipient of the 2021 General Tire Spirit Award,” said Gregg Vandermark, Senior Event Manager, Conti-General. Adam serves as Bridget’s spotter, and all three spend time working on the car between races and driving the transporter to the track. Not only is Sarah the team owner, but she is also the crew chief and, for the overwhelming majority of the races, the entirety of the pit crew. The family-owned team has scraped and saved and bargained to get Bridget on the race track. Meet the Australian mother-daughter duo stepping on the gas pedal in American auto racing Sarah Burgess: Crew chief (and entire pit crew)
Upgrades to their equipment for 2021 gave them optimism headed into the new season, and Bridget delivered with an eighth-place finish at Sonoma Raceway and then scored her second top 10 of the season at Colorado National Speedway. Bridget scored her first top-10 finish, a ninth-place run at Douglas County Speedway, and then bettered it with a seventh-place finish at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Throughout a year impacted by a downturned economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the BMI Racing team participated in most of the races of the 2020 season, only missing a few in the first half of the season while they were preparing their new-to-them car. They bought a 2007-spec car from McAnally, and off they went.
In 2020, Bridget started the ARCA Menards Series West season in one of Wood’s cars, but the family had already had thoughts of branching out on their own. That opened the door to make a pair of starts for West Series team owner John Wood at the end of 2019.
The family acquired a modified, and Bridget drove it a dozen or so times at Magic Valley Speedway in Idaho with a best finish of fourth. Bridget Burgess’ asphalt career started with a conversation with renowned West Series team owner Bill McAnally, who recommended time at the local short tracks before moving up the ladder. (Matt Cohen/ARCA Racing)Īs avid motorsports enthusiasts, the family quickly became a race team building their own chassis for drifting and off-road. Sarah Burgess adjusts her daughter Bridget Burgess’ hair ahead of the General Tire 200 for the ARCA Menards Series West at Sonoma Raceway on June 5, 2021.
In addition to the family’s racing commitments, Sarah Burgess is the Business Development Manager for eBay Motors. Ten years later, the family relocated to Tooele, Utah, and two years later, Sarah Burgess retired from racing to focus on Bridget’s motorsport program. Burgess competed professionally in drifting and then switched to short-course off road. The Burgess family - Sarah, husband Adam, and daughter Bridget - relocated from Brisbane, Australia, to Los Angeles to chase their dreams of competing in motorsports with little more than the clothes they were wearing and a few suitcases. The General Tire Spirit Award was established to recognize someone within the ARCA racing community who has demonstrated true sportsmanship both on and off the track as well as perseverance when faced with major challenges. 88 HMH Construction Chevrolet driven by her daughter Bridget full-time in the West Series, will receive $2,500, as will the charity of her choice, Tunnel To Towers. ARCA Menards Series West team owner Sarah Burgess has been named the recipient of the 2021 General Tire Spirit Award.