The Jack Daniel's Racing crew did a stellar job to fix the problem in time for Rick to rejoin the race and be classified a finisher, three laps behind race winner Mark Winterbottom.
The point gained by his 30th place finish are enough for the Kelly pairing to start from sixth position and with the pace shown today, the brothers still stand a great chance of a strong result tomorrow.
Ben Collins showed great potential to finish 13th in his race aboard the #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore, but Nathan Pretty was hit by another car at the start of his race, ending his day with damaged steering.
JACK DANIEL'S RACING QUOTEBOARD
Todd Kelly - #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:
"That was not what I was hoping to see in that race," said Todd Kelly.
"We were looking pretty good there and I thought it was all over.
"Rick came in and they managed to fix the drama and get him back out and I'm blown away that we're still starting sixth.
"It's not as bad as we thought it would be so we're still looking pretty good for tomorrow.
"It's a long race and sixth place is no drama. You can do a good job from there.
"We will get over that one and look forward to tomorrow."
QUESTION: What exactly was the problem? The crew did a fantastic job to work on a hot race car and fix it so quickly.
"The boys did a great job," said Todd Kelly.
"It broke a bolt that holds ballast in the car, so the ballast actually dropped down and was dragging on the track.
"Aaron (Zampese, mechanic) had the hot exhaust on one side and a rattle gun going flat out in his ear on the other side and got it all back together.
"They did a fantastic job and I think we just got back out in time to finish, so that's full credit to the guys to get us back to sixth."
AFTER RACE ONE WIN ...
"I just about ‘teared up' on the cool-down lap there. That was one of the most emotional races of my career," said Todd Kelly.
"This is a car that we built and it's a Kelly Racing Commodore, and the amount of work that's gone in to get us to this point is huge.
"The boys have worked extremely hard. Just this week they were there until two in the morning a few nights in a row and you watch them do that but I haven't been able to give them a decent result for the year.
"So it's all worthwhile when you can do that and all that hard work and emotion builds up. Hopefully this is a bit of a turning point for us now and we've got our Jack Daniel's Commodore where we need it to be and we can even get more out of it and carry this for the rest of this year now.
"I think we are looking reasonable. From where Rick's qualified, if he can bring it home in a good spot I think we are looking pretty good. You couldn't get it off to a better start than what we have today.
"Only half the blokes in the field were out there, so that makes a bit of a difference, but certainly it's probably the most emotional race I've had with all the circumstances.
"The last time I drove a HRT car was here, but this probably tops that because it's our own show.
"We're all a little bit down that we haven't had a podium or a pole until this point of the year. We set our bar pretty high at the start of the year. The thing we always said was that we want to be in a position by the end of the year where we can win races. It's a long engineering and manufacturing process to get all the bits in the car, so we never said we were going to win first up.
"But even though we knew that, we were still always disappointed that we hadn't got a better result. So we're probably on schedule really for all the work we've done to the car and now the performance is coming on track as well. It's a just a matter of where we can get the car to from here at the next few events. All the equipment we've got at our fingertips is good enough to do the job."
Rick Kelly - #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:
"We've still got a lot of improving to do with the Jack Daniel's Commodore to make it good in a race," said Rick Kelly.
"But to be honest, that's great that we've got such a window to improve still, because we are pretty close to the front.
"There are probably one or two cars out there that have got better race pace and we've still got a fair bit of improving to do.
"If we do that we should be in with a shot tomorrow, it's just disappointing that that happened in our race. We need to go right over the car and make sure it's in good nick for tomorrow.
"It's good to get that bad luck out of the way in that race rather than the main race on Sunday."
Ben Collins - #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:
"I think we will be OK in the race," said Ben Collins.
"It's unfortunate that Nathan was taken out by a spinning car so that's put us right at the back at the start for tomorrow.
"But the car feels like it will be good on longer runs. That's what really matters, so hopefully we will cut through the field and get a good finish.
"There's a lot to take in and that Sprint race taught me a lot in managing the tyres going off. So hopefully we'll take that into tomorrow and that we will get better track position and better lap times.
"Every time I drive the car I'm learning more and it's been great learning and working with Rick and Todd as well. I'm gutted for their race. It's gone tit's up at the last minute, which is not what they deserved either, but hopefully both Jack Daniel's Commodores will come through tomorrow."
Nathan Pretty - #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:
"It's disappointing," said Nathan Pretty.
"Unfortunately that's what happens when you start so far down the back with all these other blokes.
"It's very disappointing because I think the Jack Daniel's Commodore is strong and we would have come through.
"Ben did a great job coming up to 13th, so I just had to accumulate some more points to start in the top 20.
"But unfortunately I was out on lap one but we will still have a good crack in the long race tomorrow."
STARTING LINE-UP: L&H 500
1. #6 Steven Richards/Mark Winterbottom
2. #888 Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup
3. #2 Will Davison/Garth Tander
4. #111 Michael Patrizi/Fabian Coulthard
5. #17 Steven Johnson/James Courtney
6. #7 Todd Kelly/Rick Kelly
7. #9 Shane Van Gisbergen/Alex Davison
8. #34 Lee Holdsworth/Michael Caruso
9. #39 Russell Ingall/Tim Slade
10. #18 Warren Luff/Jonathan Webb
RESULTS: Driver B Race
1. #6 Mark Winterbottom - 14 laps
2. #111 Fabian Coulthard
3. #25 Jason Bright
4. #17 James Courtney
5. #34 David Besnard
6. #3 Jason Bargwanna
7. #55 Andrew Thompson
8. #4 John McIntyre
9. #18 Jonathon Webb
10. #8 Jason Richards
30. #7 Rick Kelly - 11 laps
DNF. #15 Nathan Pretty
RESULTS: Driver A Race
1. #7 Todd Kelly - 14 laps
2. #888 Craig Lowndes
3. #2 Will Davison
4. #9 Shane van Gisbergen
5. #39 Russell Ingall
6. #22 Paul Dumbrell
7. #24 David Reynolds
8. #5 Dean Canto
9. #10 Steve Owen
10. #88 Allan Simonsen
13. #15 Ben Collins
RESULTS: Driver A Qualifying
1. #22 Paul Dumbrell 1:33.3204
2. #7 Todd Kelly 1:33.3314
3. #2 Will Davison 1:33.4363
4. #17 Steven Johnson 1:33.5187
5. #18 Warren Luff 1:33.5769
6. #6 Steven Richards 1:33.7058
7. #24 David Reynolds 1:33.7286
8. #888 Craig Lowndes 1:33.7353
9. #5 Dean Canto 1:33.7670
10. #8 Cameron McConville 1:33.8144
22. #15 Ben Collins 1:34.5186
RESULTS: Driver B Qualifying
1. #6 Mark Winterbottom 1:33.1970
2. #111 Fabian Coulthard 1:33.2237
3. #7 Rick Kelly 1:33.2625
4. #17 James Courtney 1:33.3305
5. #8 Jason Richards 1:33.3969
6. #25 Jason Bright 1:33.4010
7. #888 Jamie Whincup 1:33.4777
8. #2 Garth Tander 1:33.5145
9. #9 Alex Davison 1:33.6643
10. #18 Jonathon Webb 1:33.7825
30. #15 Nathan Pretty 1:35.5797
RESULTS: Driver A Practice
1. #22 Paul Dumbrell 1:33.5864
2. #9 Shane van Gisbergen 1:33.6101
3. #888 Craig Lowndes 1:33.6690
4. #18 Warren Luff 1:33.7597
5. #6 Steven Richards 1:33.8508
6. #2 Will Davison 1:33.8684
7. #10 Steve Owen 1:33.8753
8. #34 Greg Ritter 1:33.9359
9. #5 Dean Canto 1:33.9742
10. #8 Cameron McConville 1:33.9752
18. #7 Todd Kelly 1:34.3317
23. #15 Ben Collins 1:35.1430
RESULTS: Driver B Practice
1. #888 Jamie Whincup 1:33.4671
2. #2 Garth Tander 1:33.4677
3. #7 Rick Kelly 1:33.5691
4. #25 Jason Bright 1:33.6174
5. #17 James Courtney 1:33.6569
6. #6 Mark Winterbottom 1:33.8394
7. #8 Jason Richards 1:33.8721
8. #111 Fabian Coulthard 1:33.9247
9. #9 Alex Davison 1:33.9562
10. #33 Michael Caruso 1:34.1551
26. #15 Nathan Pretty 1:35.4251
JACK DANIEL'S RACING DRIVERS AT PHILLIP ISLAND:
Rick Kelly - #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:
2008 Qualifying: Sixth
2008 Qualifying Race (A): FIRST
2008 Race: Seventh (with Paul Radisich)
Todd Kelly - #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:
2008 Qualifying: 25th
2008 Qualifying Race (A): 19th
2008 Race: 13th (with Shane Price)
Nathan Pretty - #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:
2008 Qualifying: 24th
2008 Qualifying Race (A): 21st
2008 Race: Eighth (with Jack Perkins)
Ben Collins - #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:
V8 Supercar debut at Phillip Island.
2009 V8 Supercar Championship Standings
Championship Points - After Race 16 of 26
1. Jamie Whincup 2007
2. Will Davison 1824
3. Garth Tander 1479
4. Craig Lowndes 1478
5. Steven Johnson 1374
6. Mark Winterbottom 1332
7. Lee Holdsworth 1269
8. Russell Ingall 1187
9. James Courtney 1154
10. Michael Caruso 1134
11. Rick Kelly 1133
18. Todd Kelly 892
L&H 500 DETAILS:
Circuit: Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
Location: Phillip Island, Victoria
Circuit Length: 4.446 kilometres
Format: Two 14-lap qualifying races (Saturday - one per driver) and 113-lap race (Sunday - Both drivers)
2008 Qualifying Driver A Pole: Mark Winterbottom
2008 Qualifying Driver B Pole: Jamie Whincup
2008 Heat Race A Winner: Rick Kelly
2008 Heat Race B Winner: Jamie Whincup
2008 L&H 500 Winner: Garth Tander & Mark Skaife
Be there when the V8 Supercars ‘season of endurance' begins at the L&H 500 at Phillip Island on September 11-13.
Tickets from just $24 are available at www.ticketek.com or visit www.v8supercarevents.com.au
Kids 12 and under get free general admission access to the event with a paying adult. Grandstand tickets from $130 receive a free pit walk. Camping is also now available and includes access to the Island Pavilion for dining, car displays, driver interviews and more.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
All times are local Australian Eastern Standard Time
Friday 11 September 2009
12:40pm - 1:15pm: Practice A
1:30pm - 2:20pm: Practice B
3:00pm - 3:50pm: Practice C
Saturday 12 September 2009
9:10am - 9:40am: Practice (Driver A)
9:55am - 10:25am: Practice (Driver B)
11:05am - 11:25am: Qualifying (Driver A)
11:40am - 12:00pm: Qualifying (Driver B)
2:35pm: Qualifying Heat Race A (Driver A)
4:25pm: Qualifying Heat Race B (Driver B)
Sunday 13 September 2009
10:25am - 10:45am: Warm-Up
1:35pm: L&H 500 - Series Race 17 (113 laps)
*Race must end by 5:13pm AEST
TELEVISION SCHEDULE - SEVEN NETWORK
Times subject to amendment - please check local guides.
Saturday 12 September 2009
2:00pm - 3:00pm (Support Races)
3:00pm - 5:30pm (V8 Supercars)
Sunday 13 September 2009
12:00pm - 1:00pm (Support Races)
1:00pm - 5:30pm (V8 Supercars)
