Todd Kelly

Todd Kelly has qualified his #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore in seventh position for tomorrow's Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 after a weather-affected Top 10 Shootout at Mount Panorama today.
Kelly was the third car out onto the track in today's qualifying run-off, held on a drying track following a rain shower roughly an hour prior.
With the track gradually drying, Kelly's lap was held as several high speed corners across the top of the mountain were still considerably damp, giving television viewers spectacular views from the new ‘WingCam' as the Jack Daniel's Commodore skated close to the concrete wall at Sulman Park.

Both Todd and brother Rick Kelly are confident of the race package they have ahead of tomorrow's 161-lap race, backed up by a strong fourth place result in practice earlier today when the pairing chose to concentrate on heavy fuel load race simulation runs.

Endurance specialists Nathan Pretty and Ben Collins will start this year's Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 from 24th position on the 32-car grid after Pretty put in a solid performance yesterday in the #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore.

Garth Tander won pole position at Bathurst today ahead of Craig Lowndes and Mark Winterbottom.

Jack Daniel's Racing driver Todd Kelly has booked he and brother Rick's new V8 Supercar team a Top 10 Shootout appearance after setting the eighth fastest time in qualifying for the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama today.
The elder of the Kelly brothers took on the bulk of the workload aboard the #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore today and one of the pacesetters in qualifying around the daunting 6.213-kilometre circuit.

Todd Kelly is now determined to make further improvements overnight with the view of qualifying as highly as possible in tomorrow's Top 10 Shootout.

Meanwhile, Rick Kelly was behind the wheel in the opening practice session of the day, working on race set up with heavy fuel loads and older, worn tyres.

In an encouraging sign for the lead Jack Daniel's Racing pairing, the dual Bathurst winner set a time of 2min8.5061secs in race trim, only half a tenth of a second shy of the race lap record set by Jamie Whincup in 2007 (2:08.4651).

Endurance specialists Nathan Pretty and Ben Collins will start this year's Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 from 24th position on the 32-car grid after Pretty put in a solid performance today in the #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore.

Jason Richards earned provisional pole in qualfying at Bathurst today ahead of tomorrow afternoon's Top 10 Shootout, topping the timesheets in his Commodore ahead of fellow Holden drivers Garth Tander and Lee Holdsworth.

"Today we went through our plan and worked at what is going to suit our Jack Daniel's Commodore in terms of race car set-up, so it was more about planning for Sunday than getting outright pace over one lap.

"We learned quite a bit and obviously this is our first year at Bathurst as a new team. For me I've only driven one sort of car here so it's a little different.

"We made some good gains today and learned quite a bit.

"We need to work on making a couple of changes to get some more pace out of it but we're pretty confident that we can get it up the front when we turn our attention to qualifying tomorrow.

"We made one set-up change where we went the wrong way on our new tyre run, so that hurt our lap time today but it gives us a clear direction on what to do for tomorrow. So it's good to learn these things early in the weekend."

Todd Kelly - #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:

"The priority today was to try and get a good race car set-up on our Jack Daniel's Commodore," said Todd Kelly.

"We didn't use any new tyres until right at the end, so we tuned the car on very low grip level, which is a good thing for the race.

"We got the car better and better and in the end it was quite good on old tyres. Then we put the new ones on and it was just a little bit too much in that direction for the massive change in grip level.

"So it wasn't an ideal car on green tyres. We've got a really good idea now of the extremes from old tyres to new so now we will hopefully suit us in qualifying tomorrow."

Rick Kelly is confident that he and brother Todd's new team is now in a position to make a serious attack on this weekend's Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 after the Kelly brothers completed their traditional drive to Mount Panorama.
As the newest team in the V8 Supercar pack, lead drivers Todd and Rick Kelly have worked hard at developing the new team since it opened its doors in Braeside, Melbourne on March 2nd earlier this year.

The Kelly brothers drove a custom '53 Chev to Bathurst along with Jack Daniel's Racing team-mates Nathan Pretty and Ben Collins this week, continuing an annual tradition that the Kellys and Pretty share with so many other Bathurst fans.

With a qualifying race win at the L&H 500 at Phillip Island in the first endurance race of the season last month, the #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore of the Kellys will be a car to watch at Mount Panorama, one of only three entries that can boast both drivers as former Bathurst winners.

Brothers Todd and Rick Kelly have continued their own Bathurst tradition - and that of so many other Australians - by driving to Bathurst this year ahead of this weekend's Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
The Jack Daniel's Racing team-mates departed Kelly Racing's Melbourne headquarters this morning in their spectacular matt-black, V8-powered 1953 Chevrolet, travelling north to Bathurst in New South Wales for this year's all-important Bathurst event.

Todd and Rick themselves applied the finishing touches to the eye-catching ride in their hometown of Mildura recently.

The drive continues a tradition for the Kelly brothers and Jack Daniel's Racing endurance driver Nathan Pretty in driving to Bathurst every year, just as so many fans from around Australia do each October.

The trio are also bringing British sportscar driver Ben Collins along for the ride, keen to show the Jack Daniel's Racing recruit and Bathurst rookie the Australian outback along the way.

The Kelly brothers will race together at Bathurst for the second time this October aboard the #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore, having finished second by less than a second in 2006 in their only previous Mount Panorama start paired together.

Dual Bathurst winner Rick Kelly says that their traditional drive to Bathurst is a ritual they aim to preserve for many years to come, always seeking to ‘do things differently' at the same time.

Brothers Todd and Rick Kelly have confirmed the potential of their new V8 Supercar operation by ending a positive weekend at the first endurance event of the season with fifth place in the L&H 500 at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria today.
The pairing are now well-placed for an assault on the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 next month, having proven one of the strongest combinations in the field aboard their #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore and finishing a close second in their one and only appearance paired together at Mount Panorama.

It could have been even better for the team-mates, with the combination on course for a podium finish mid-way through the 113-lap race, an encouraging sign just sixth months after Kelly Racing opened its doors.

A seatbelt problem in Todd Kelly's second stint in the Jack Daniel's Commodore slowed his pace, causing him to lose several positions and vital track position to the leaders. Kelly was able to alleviate the problem with his belts to improve the circulation to his legs, allowing him to return to his earlier strong pace.