Todd Kelly

Hi All,

Firstly, apologies for the lack of updates this year, with running our own team for the first time this year it has been the busiest year ever.

Well, the year is almost over and I can't believe how fast it has gone. It was only 11 short months ago that we were trying to find a workshop, building cars and engines and trying to hire staff and find sponsors and drivers.

A lot of work has gone on since then and we are very lucky to have such a great team of people that make it all happen.

I am just sitting at the airport in Perth waiting to head home after the second last round of the championship feeling a little stiff after our first major accident for Kelly racing. The weekend started off well with a second place in the first race which was the third podium for the team in the last four races with Ricks two at Phillip Island. The second race didn't go so well, I got turned around in the last corner and another car crashed into the side of me. The accident didn't look all that bad but after having a better look afterwards we soon realised that we may not be able to repair my car. We will get it back to the workshop and strip it down as quickly as we can and make a proper assessment, either way we will definitely not be using that chassis for Homebush.
 

Amongst all the hard work put into the race team this year, Rick and I have been able to sneak off and compete in a few Water Ski races this year which has been heaps of fun.

We competed in the three river races on the Murray in the F2 outboard class with Rick driving, me skiing and Dad and his crew racing the inboard in the 6 litre class.
We also took the 6 litre to the south Australian Titles and won a few races. It was a thrill for me to ski behind the inboard at around 100 miles per hour and I also had a drive in one of the races.

To view the photos from our latest ski race  click here

Jack Daniel's Racing driver Todd Kelly has scored his first podium of the season and collected his first trophy for Kelly Racing with second place in the opening race of the Bigpond 300 at Barbagallo Raceway in Perth today.
Kelly was the first Holden Commodore across the line in the 42-lap race, scoring his first podium finish since Symmons Plains last season.

Jack Daniel's Racing has now scored podium finishes in three consecutive races, with Rick Kelly finishing third and second in the two races held at Phillip Island two weeks ago.

Todd and brother Rick Kelly are now equal on 26 career podium finishes each, with some friendly sibling rivalry now building as the pair look to bolster their new team's trophy collection.

Todd Kelly qualified in second place aboard his #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore and then was fifth fastest in the Top 10 Shootout.

To see photos from the weekend click here.....

Jack Daniel's Racing drivers Todd and Rick Kelly are keen to continue their new team's late-season charge at the Bigpond 300 at Barbagallo Raceway in Perth this weekend.
Rick Kelly, the younger of the two brothers, picked up the team's first two trophies at Phillip Island two weeks ago aboard his #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore.

With a third place on Saturday and second place on Sunday at the Island 300, Kelly is determined to finish this season strongly to build momentum for an all-out attack on the championship in 2010.

Todd Kelly is also keen to score his first podium finish for Kelly Racing, having been fast enough to run in the top five in both races at Phillip Island, only to have luck go against him on both occasions.

Rick Kelly has delivered Jack Daniel's Racing its second trophy in two days with second place in the final race of the Island 300 at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria today.
Just nine months (278 days to be exact ...) after Kelly Racing's official opening, Kelly delivered the squad two podium finishes in two days around the fast seaside circuit.

This weekend's speed outlined both the pace of the team's two Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodores and the potential of the emerging team at both the final two events of this year and heading into the 2010 season.

Kelly qualified in fifth position in his #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore and was up to fourth by the time the first round of pit stops was completed.

Jack Daniel's Racing driver Rick Kelly has scored the Kelly Racing operation its first podium finish and race trophy with third place in the opening race of the Island 300 at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria today.

It was a great display of car speed and potential for Rick and brother Todd, with both Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodores right on the pace.

Todd Kelly qualified in fourth place with Rick right behind in fifth. Todd was run wide by polesitter Jason Bright at the first corner but rejoined the track and settled into third spot for the opening laps of the race.

Todd pitted on lap six aboard his #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore, while Rick came into pit lane for his compulsory stop one lap later.

As a result of the slightly differing pit strategies, Rick came out on track in third, with Todd close behind in fourth, with the two Jack Daniel's Commodores running nose-to-tail for much of the middle stages of the 22-lap race.

Jack Daniel's Racing team-mates Todd and Rick Kelly head to The Island 300 at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit this weekend with clear winning potential.
Todd Kelly claimed a qualifying race win at the fast seaside circuit just two months ago at the L&H 500, with the brothers teaming up to finish fifth and show strong car speed all weekend.

Since that event the team has stepped up its pace, showing podium potential at both Bathurst and Surfers Paradise.

Entering these three last events of the 2009 season, the Kelly brothers are seeking to score podium results to finish the first season of their new team on a high note.

The Island 300 at Phillip Island is being staged as a result of the postponement of the Gulf Air Desert 400 in Bahrain, which will now be the second event of the 2010 series.

Jack Daniel's Racing driver Rick Kelly has risen to seventh in the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series points standings after a strong comeback drive on the final day of the Nikon SuperGP on the Gold Coast today.
But it could have been so much better for the driver of the #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore around the Surfers Paradise street circuit.

Kelly qualified in third position in qualifying this morning and was running in second place in the opening race of the day when black flagged for a small and intermittent fuel leak.

Rather than continue his challenge for the lead, Kelly was forced to make a second pit stop to fix the problem, ruining any chance he had of securing a podium result or victory.

Jack Daniel's Racing driver Rick Kelly has made ground over today's proceedings at the Nikon SuperGP at the Surfers Paradise street circuit on the Gold Coast today.
Kelly was disappointed to qualify in 16th position yesterday but moved up the order in his #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore today, finishing 12th in the first race today and then climbing through the pack to be ninth in the second and final stage of today's proceedings.

Rick Kelly now lies just seven points behind Lee Holdsworth for seventh place in the championship standings entering Sunday's two 34-lap hitouts.

Todd Kelly endured a tough day aboard the #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore, crashed out at the third corner on the opening lap of today's first race by Jason Richards.

The impact damaged Todd Kelly's steering, forcing him to bring his battered car home as best he could, finishing in 19th position.

Todd then struggled with further problems in the second race of the day, finishing in 23rd position to now lie 17th in the points tally.

Jack Daniel's Racing team-mates Todd and Rick Kelly have qualified 14th and 16th respectively at the Nikon SuperGP on the Gold Coast today.
The brothers were disappointed to miss out on an appearance in tomorrow morning's Top 10 Shootout but are confident that there is more to come from both Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodores around the 4.47-kilometre street circuit.

In the first practice session of the day Todd Kelly was fastest, also catching attention for making contact with the tyre wall at the second chicane. The clash only caused cosmetic damage, with two new doors fitted to the #7 Jack Daniel's Commodore.

It was a hectic qualifying session today with several on-track incidents preventing drivers from completing a fast lap around the Surfers Paradise street circuit.

Mark Winterbottom won provisional pole in qualifying today ahead of Jamie Whincup and Russell Ingall.

Jack Daniel's Racing team-mates Todd and Rick Kelly are keen to begin an end of season charge when they take on a gruelling new format at the Nikon SuperGP on the Gold Coast this weekend.
The brothers formed their own new team at the start of this season and after showing strong pace at both the V8 Supercar endurance events at Phillip Island and Bathurst, are now determined to put some impressive results on the board in their Jack Daniel's Commodores.

Rick Kelly sees these last four events of the season as crucial to building momentum to take into next season.

"It's critical for us to have strong races in these last four events because the teams that are strong in the last four events of one season are often one of the leading teams at the start of the next year," said Rick Kelly.

Please see below comment from Jack Daniel's Racing driver Todd Kelly (2006 Gold Coast event winner) and Jack Daniel's Racing Team Manager Joe Bremner regarding this afternoon's announcement that next weekend's Nikon SuperGP will consist of four 150-kilometre V8 Supercar races as a result of the withdrawal of the A1GP category from the event program.
Todd Kelly - #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:

"I think this year's Gold Coast event will be as good as we've ever had there," said Todd Kelly.

"There are a lot more races for us with our V8 Supercars and there is going to be a lot more action and I've got no doubt that we will put on a show that everybody will be pretty happy with.

"The V8 Supercar Series is really ‘hotting up' now.

"We've got guys that are fighting for championships and guys like Rick (Kelly, brother and Jack Daniel's Racing team-mate) and myself that have really come on in this second part of the year in our Jack Daniel's Commodores but are not a chance at the championship.

Kelly Racing driver Todd Kelly sees a new long-term relationship with industry leaders Autodesk and KarelCAD as an important step in the growth of the new V8 Supercar team.
Kelly Racing's engineering team will use Autodesk digital prototyping software for all the team's CAD (computer aided design) development well into the future, with maintenance and assistance coming from KarelCAD's professional support team.

KarelCAD engineer James Tennent has already begun to work with Kelly Racing's engineering team on further improving the team's design capabilities.

The deal has been welcomed with open arms by Kelly Racing's engineering team of Todd Kelly, David Swenson, Barry Ryan, Oscar Fiorinotto, Peter Craik and James Small.

Jack Daniel's Racing pairing Todd and Rick Kelly have been left heartbroken after falling painfully short of scoring a debut podium finish for their new team at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama today.
In the final stages of the race the #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore of the Kelly brothers was in second position and in the thick of a spectacular battle for the lead, but in the end the entry was cruelly left to come home in eighth position.

After starting from seventh position on the grid, the pairing got off to a solid start in slippery conditions at the 6.213-kilometre circuit in the early stages, but had their stints shortened by successive problems with left rear tyre delamination problems.

When James Courtney spun at Reid Park on lap 81, Rick Kelly slowed to avoid the clash only to be hit from behind by Jonathan Webb in the skirmish.

As a result of the contact, the diffuser on the Jack Daniel's Commodore became detached, resulting in a black flag for the entry and the car being brought into the pits for the aerodynamic bodywork to be torn from the back of the car.

To view photos from the weekend click here

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.

Jack Daniel's Racing driver Todd Kelly has won the first of two races that determine the grid for tomorrow's L&H 500 at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria today.
But after the adulation of taking victory in the first race, a failure in the second race with brother Rick Kelly behind the wheel means the pair will start sixth for tomorrow's first endurance event for the season.

Todd Kelly qualified second for his race aboard the #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore and led away from the start of the 14-lap race, leading every circulation to take a popular win for the brothers' new team.

But in the second race, where Rick Kelly started from third place after another good qualifying performance, a bolt failure saw ballast in the left side of the car drag on the ground and create a shower of sparks underneath the car.

To view photos from today click here