Sunday
Owen Kelly Outstanding Fifth In NASCAR Nationwide Series Debut At Road America
Press Release
Kelly turned in a storming finish aboard the #27 K1 Speed Ford Fusion of Baker Curb Racing, passing cars and racing up the order after suffering a front tyre puncture with 20 laps to go.
Kelly was forced to drive his car around the majority of the 4.048-mile road course (6.515 km) on the cut tyre to return to the pits, which in turn broke the car’s front sway bar.
With an ill-handling car as a result, Kelly battled on after dropping to 18th as a result of the puncture, but was able to move back through the field and score a stunning NASCAR Nationwide Series debut.
Sprint Cup Series driver Carl Edwards won today’s race ahead of Canadian road course ace Ron Fellows and Nationwide Series regular Brendan Gaughan.
WHAT OWEN HAD TO SAY …
“With 20 laps to go I cut a right front tyre and had to drive on the rim for almost an entire lap,” said Kelly.
“Driving back to the pits broke the front sway bar and the car handled like a speedboat from then on.
“We put new tyres on it and made sure we pulled the guard out. We lined up about 18th as the last car on the lead lap with about 18 laps to go.
“I managed to come through the field and pick up a heap of spots. The car was a bit of a handful but I just had to get on with it.
“I’m really happy with that. We had a good car before the sway bar fell off and were right on the pace all weekend.
“It made it difficult at the end but all things considered it’s a great result and I couldn’t be happier.
“A top five in the Nationwide Series is difficult to get at any time, so I’m pretty pumped to get one in my first race.
“It was not only my debut, I hadn’t driven a Nationwide car at all before first practice, so to have all that stacked up against me and come through with a good result was great.
“The team was awesome and helped me learn on the go. We’ve come through and everyone here is really pleased.
“Those double file restarts are crazy enough on ovals, but man they are hectic on a road course.
“Every time you line up, everyone bunches up and it’s ‘elbows out’, you are trying to look ahead and see what’s happening and make sure you miss the wrecks.
“It was really cool to be racing against guys that I’ve been watching forever on TV.
“To be right up the front racing against them and racing for a top five was just awesome.
“In the end I just had to grab a hold of the car by the throat and have a go.
“I had to get this first race under my belt to show that I can do it.
“You can walk up and down the pit lane talking to teams as much as you want but until they have seen you do it they don’t really know, so it’s so hard to get that first break.
“This will make it a lot easier to try and get something going for the next two Nationwide Series road races.”
OWEN KELLY – DRIVER BIO:
Name: Owen Kelly
Hometown: Devonport, Tasmania, Australia
Lives: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Age: 33 years old
Date of Birth: 12 March 1977
Owen Kelly is the son of former Australian speedway champion Chas Kelly, himself a front-runner in Sprintcar and Late Model sedan races in his day in Australia.
Owen Kelly began his racing career at the age of nine years old, racing karts in his home state of Tasmania, an island state of Australia.
Kelly progressed up the ranks into Formula Ford open-wheel race cars in 1998, then moved into two-litre touring car racing and soon after, V8 Supercars, the pinnacle of motorsport in Australia, in 2001.
Kelly is the third on the all-time Race Wins tally for the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, the second-tier series for V8 Supercars, just as the Nationwide Series is to NASCAR, with 13 race victories.
The 33-year-old has also raced many times in the top-tier V8 Supercar Championship Series, with a best result of third place in the 2005 Sandown 500.
Kelly will race for Jack Daniel’s Racing in the V8 Supercar endurance events at Phillip Island and Bathurst later this season, with those two events long distance races that require two drivers per car.
Kelly is also a race winner in Late Model competition in the United States, racing for NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr’s JR Motorsports team in pavement short track events in 2008 and 2009.
Kelly also has experience in Sportscar racing in both Porsche racing in Australia and the Daytona 24 Hour in Florida, where he partnered Boris Said, Tom Nastasi and fellow Australian Paul Morris in a Ford Mustang FR500 in 2009.
BAKER CURB RACING – TEAM BIO:
Baker Curb Racing is based in Nashville, Tennessee and is owned by businessman Gary Baker and Mike Curb, who both boast a vast history in NASCAR.
Baker is the former owner of Bristol Motor Speedway and Nashville Speedway, while Curb is a legend of the music industry as the founder of Curb Records, sponsor of numerous NASCAR and IndyCar teams for decades including the car of the late Dale Earnhardt Sr in his first championship season in 1980
Curb, who boasts a star on Hollywood’s ‘Walk of Fame’, was also the team owner for the Richard Petty in 1984, when ‘The King’ won his 200th win at Daytona International Speedway, who as at the track at the invitation of Curb.
Baker Curb Racing was formed in 2007 as currently fields the #27 and #43 Ford Fusions in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
- BAM Media Press Release
Article Tags: Baker Curb Racing, BCR, Brendan Gaughan, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Bucyrus 200, Bucyrus 200 presented by Menards, Carl Edwards, Gary Baker, Mike Curb, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, NNS, No. 27 Baker Curb Racing Ford Fusion, No. 27 K1 Speed Ford Fusion, NSCS, Owen Kelly, Richard Petty, Road America., Ron Fellows
