Jeff Burgess Career Profile
Jeff began his racing career in 1985 working as a crewmember for his father, Butch, learning racing technology, chassis setup and car preparation. After Butch retired from driving in 1993, Jeff bought his first race car, a used Wheeden chassis out of Massachusetts, and rebuilt it with plans to race in the Pro Stock division at Unity Raceway. In 1993 Jeff began working full-time running a race shop for Dick Belisle and crew-chiefed for Dick while he raced at tracks across Maine and at LEE USA Speedway in New Hampshire.
In 1994 he headed off to Unity as a rookie driver, racing the second half of the season. He raced 9 races at Unity, finishing 7th in his very first feature race. Jeff also made his first visit to Wiscasset Raceway for their season finale. He had 6 top 10 feature finishes in his first season.
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Jeff won his very first feature race in 1995, beating none other than his boss in a barn-burner 35 lapper at Unity Raceway. Jeff raced 16 times in 1995. He had 12 top 3 finishes in heat races, and 4 top 5s in features. He had top 10 finishes in all of the features he finished.
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In 1996 Jeff purchased his first factory-built Howe chassis and completed his first full season of racing, driving in 17 races at Unity Raceway and 6 races at Wiscasset Raceway. Jeff had 7 heat wins and a feature win at Unity, where he finished the season in 4th place in the point standings. Jeff won the pole position for 2 long distance races in this season, the Coastal 150 at Wiscasset Raceway and the Long John 100 at Unity Raceway.
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In 1997 Jeff and his father realized their life-long dream of owning a race shop and started Burgess Racing and Fabrication (BRF) where they did chassis rebuilds and repairs as well as body fabrication and engine work. Jeff started off the season picking up “Best Appearing Car” honors at Unity Raceway and continued to divide his seat time between Unity and Wiscasset. He had 11 top 3 heat finishes, including 4 wins. He went a full season before winning a feature race, but when he did win, it was a big win. Jeff won Unity’s biggest race of the season, the Long John 100 season finale. He also lead the most laps of that race. Along with his trophy he was given a checkered long johns flag as a momento.
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1998 was a season plagued with mechanical and engine problems. However, Jeff had his first multi-win season, winning 3 features at Wiscasset Raceway. He also won 6 heats while racing at Unity and Wiscasset. Jeff picked up Pole Awards for the Boss Hogg 100 at Wiscasset and the Long John race at Unity. Jeff was given the “Most Improved Driver” award at the Wiscasset Raceway championship banquet.
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Jeff had a new Distance Racing chassis built in 1999, which he raced a full season at Wiscasset. As a tribute to his father the car was painted like Butch’s yellow and orange Championship car from 1988. Jeff won 10 heat races in 1999 and had a career-best 5 feature wins, two of which he won in the same day. He finished the season fourth in season points at Wiscasset. Jeff raced 2 races at Unity during the year. At one of those races he won the Pole Award for the Long John race, which was changed from 100 laps to a 150-lap race.
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In 2000 Jeff was chosen as one of 4 drivers in the state to represent the State of Maine DHS’s Partnership For A Tobacco-free Maine (PTM) in their “Please Don’t Smoke Around Your Kids” campaign. Jeff made special appearances at tracks and schools promoting the anti-smoking message. Jeff raced a full season of 24 races at Wiscasset Raceway and raced at Unity 4 times. There were 10 heat wins and 2 feature wins for the year and Jeff finished 3rd in Wiscasset’s season-end point standings.
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The year 2001 saw a major growth in the race shop business when Jeff and Butch became the only authorized dealers on the East Coast for Hamke Race Car chassis out of Mooresville, NC. This was the first season Jeff raced in a Hamke chassis.
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Jeff was a 5-time feature winner in 2001 and raced at 4 different Maine tracks as part of his Partnership for a Tobacco-free Maine commitment. He raced 19 races at Wiscasset, 6 at Unity, 5 at Speedway 95 in Hermon, Maine and made his first attempt to qualify for the Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway. Jeff had 10 heat wins and 5 feature wins, 3 coming at Wiscasset and 2 more at Unity. He also took home the winner’s trophy at Unity’s Long John 150 and became the first driver to ever repeat as winner of the annual event. Headlines claimed ‘Jeff Burgess Hot in Long Johns!’.
At the start of the 2002 race season, Jeff went into the year with 18 feature and 50 heat race career wins. He had his most successful season to date, winning 7 more features, 3 at Unity and 4 at Wiscasset. In fact, he won the last 4 out of 5 races of the Wiscasset Raceway season. He also had 9 heat wins and all but 2 of his heat finishes were in the top 3 positions. Jeff had top10 finishes in Pro All-Stars Series tour races at Unity and Oxford Plains. In 2002, Jeff had his first Oxford 250 start of his career. He was in 10th position when he was involved in a wreck and forced to leave the race. 2002 was the final season of the PTM program that Jeff had participated in for 3 years.
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Jeff got off to a strong start, winning the season opener at Wiscasset Raceway in 2003. He had a successful day, also picking up “Best Appearing Pro Stock” honors. Jeff went on to have 5 heat race wins and 4 feature wins in 2003. He raced half seasons at both Unity and Wiscasset, winning 2 features at each track. The race shop business continued to be successful and BRF now had 13 Hamke chassis on tracks across Maine. Jeff ended the 2003 season by making the 1000+-mile trip to race at Concord Motorsport Park, in Concord, NC, a ½ mile high-banked tri-oval.
Due to the permanent loss of the Pro Stock division at Wiscasset Raceway, Jeff made a full-time move to Unity. This season proved to be a real struggle for Jeff. He was plagued with extremely bad luck and freak mechanical breakdowns, Jeff had only 6 top 3 feature finishes all season long. He did however win 2 features and 7 heat races. In 2004 Jeff was invited to do a feature article for Short Track Magazine. As a buildup to the DNK Select race, Jeff gave tips on how to get around ‘Maine’s Toughest Oval’. At the awards banquet, Jeff picked up hardware for Sportsmanship and also took home the Hard-Luck Award. He eagerly looked ahead to the 2005 season.
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Jeff again raced a full season at Unity in 2005. After the poor 2004 season, Jeff went into 2005 with one vision in mind – to win the Pro Stock Championship. This was Jeff’s first intentional run at a points race. The season ended up being the most productive of Jeff’s 11-year career. He finished every regular race of the shortened 13-race schedule. He won 3 features and had 5 2nd place finishes. At the end of the year, Jeff was crowned the Unity Raceway Pro Stock Champion, the first championship of his career. A highlight in the season was Jeff and Butch’s feature on Hamke Race Cars for the Mainely Motorsports t.v. show. Jeff was also invited to do a segment for Mainely Motorports on chassis dynos. Jeff’s car and chassis setup were dyno tested for the segment.
For the 2006 season, Jeff made the move to Oxford Plains Speedway. In his few ventures to Oxford in previous years, Jeff had taken a liking to the track and was excited to race there on a regular basis. Jeff raced the entire season at Oxford and when they closed for the year he moved back to Unity for a PASS race where he finished 4th, and he kept his streak alive by winning one feature for the season. It was a good one to win and one he’d won twice before, the annual Long John race at Unity. With the end of Pro Stock racing at Oxford, Jeff will make the move to the PASS tour where he will run selected events in 2007.
Phone Number for BRF - 207-465-7055
