Jessica Brunelli

Jessica Brunelli was born on the 17th of January 1993 in Hayward California. Her infatuation for racing began at the young age and was cemented when her father bought her a go-kart for her tenth birthday. It could be said that racing was in her blood, her Grandfather crewed on drag racing cars and her father used to race when she was younger and would take her to the track. Her father has been an encouraging influence in her career and Jessica looks up to him and considers him her best friend and her hero. Such was her passion that she decided to forego other teenage activities to concentrate on her motor sports, even discontinuing her cross country running that she did for her school so that she could practice more. Jessica competing in go-karts and in the 2006 International Karting Federation (IKF) she gained two regional championships.

She branched out in the 2007 season taking part in the Skip Barber Championship Series where she won at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, California, taking the "Rookie of the Year" award at the end of the season. Her success helped to earn her a place that year in Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle driver development programme, a programme designed to help train drivers for careers in NASCAR. She received her USAC (United States Auto Club) licence in 2008, making her the youngest driver, at that time, to receive their licence, and spent the year driving USAC Ford Focus Midgets and graduated from the Lyn St. James’ Winner in Women’s Circle Academy after further developing her skills.

She made history again in 2009 when she competed in the NASCAR Whelan All-American Modified Series at Roseville Speedway in California and gained the series coveted "Rookie of the Year" award. Jessica was chosen to be one of thirty drivers, in 2009, to take part in the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine, a leading development programme for minority and female drivers and crew members.

She was also chosen to make the final cut for the 2010 Drive for Diversity Programme along with nine other drivers. Because of this Jessica made the move to Mooresville, North California so that she could practise for the forthcoming season. She will be making her debut in the NASCAR K & N Pro Series West at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on the 11th of June, 2011 and at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California on the 25th of June 2011 when she will be teamed up with Naake Motorsports of Roseville, California and the Stephanie Bellotti Foundation. Jessica has been competing in Motorsports - racing go-karts, quads, Modifieds and the Late Models - since she was a small child and she has been inspired by NASCAR drivers, the likes of Dale Earnhardt and Tony Stewart.

Her true potential was shown in 2009 she competed in the Modified division at All American Speedway in Roseville, finishing third in the point standings and had ten Top 5 finishes and thirteen Top 10’s and also raced in two Late Model events at the Roseville track, gaining a Top 10 finish, in 2010 she posted six Top 5’s and ten Top 10’s in nineteen races in the NASCAR Whelan All-American Series. She was named "Rookie of the Year" in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Modified Series in 2009, becoming the youngest driver to ever receive the award. She is also inspired by those racers who have come before her, including Dale Earnhardt and Tony Stewart. Brunelli is determined to continue advancing her racing career in the hopes of participating in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Jessica spends a lot of her time practising and improving her racing skills. She continues to train both on and off the track with Ron Sutton’s Winner’s Circle and is at this time preparing for the upcoming season. In her spare time, she is currently restoring a ‘69 Chevy Camaro SS/RS. She likes Muscle Cars and enjoys dancing.

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