Good first qualifying run

We had a nice clean pass on our first qualifying attempt tonite. Had a conservative setup and the car hooked up and ran well. Maybe we'll open it up some tommorrow.

1. Bob Gilbertson, Dodge Stratus, 3.353, 255.92
2. Jeff Diehl, Chevy Monte Carlo, 3.436, 256.89
3. Dale Creasy Jr., Chevy Impala, 3.463, 247.84
4. Jack Wyatt, Stratus, 3.514, 212.29
5. Andy Kelley, Pontiac Firebird, 3.528, 239.02
6. Matt Hagan, Monte Carlo, 4.343, 142.49
7. Jason Duchene, Firebird, 5.155, 96.53
8. Allen Middendorf, Chevy Camaro, 5.468, 72.41
Not Qualified:
9. Steven Macklyn, 5.544, 139.31
10. Terry Haddock, 7.920, 84.41
11. Todd Simpson, 11.062, 51.21

Talk to you all again tomorrow night.

Well, after an 18 hour drive we arrived in San Antionio. Got everything set up, and it looks like the rain has moved through for good.

Today IHRA announced their blog and social networking site on www.racingjunk.com, and I' proud to say we're one of the first bloggers they invited to participate. Check out IHRA's press release at http://www.ihra.com/article/2370.html

Anyway, since this is the first officially scheduled 1/8th mile national event, I thought I'd share my thoughts on this move by the IHRA. First off, as a racer on a tight budget, I like it from a financial standpoint. We'll use fewer parts, and it's less wear and tear on the equipment. Alot of match races we run are 1/8th mile events so we know what we need to do with the car, and frankly, there's not much we'd change in the setup anyway.

On the downside, the races will be won in the first 60'. In a 1/4 mile race, if you mess up on your reaction time or smoke the tires, you have a chance to recover if your opponent drops cylinders or has issues down track. In this format, if you have a bad launch and the other guy leaves cleanly, there is a very limited opportunity to catch him.

The other negative is purely emotional. It will be easy for the naysayers to use this to make us appear inferior or "less than" the NHRA guys. Hey, last time I checked we weren't trying to be anyone but who we are, and deliver the world of Nitro-fuel drag racing to folks who might otherwise not have the chance to see it, and do it in a more personal and intimate way.

Finally, from a fans perspective, you won't see the 300 mph number flash on the board, but most of the action happens inside the 1/8th mile (which is where most of our fans are sitting anyway), so all you'll miss is watching the rear ends of our cars go down the back half of the track. At least, I hope it's not a big deal to the fans. They're (you're) the ultimate judges of whether this is a good move by the IHRA.

PRESS RELEASE 3/31/08

KELLEY MOTORSPORTS READY FOR 2008 IHRA KNOLL-GAS NITRO JAM SEASON. ROCKINGHAM TEST SESSION GIVES TEAM REASON FOR OPTIMISM.

Piedmont, SC – March 31, 2008 – After a satisfying fifth place finish in the 2007 IHRA Nitro Funny Car points standings, Kelly Motorsports spent the off season looking for ways to improve upon their inaugural season. Months of work on the clutch setup and fuel delivery system, as well as refining most of the other components on their 7,000+ horsepower nitro-fueled, Firebird-bodied funny car, have driver Andy Kelley and his team excited about the season opening Amalie Oil Texas Nationals this weekend in San Antonio, Texas.

Despite finishing in the top 5 in points, and collecting several “Last Man Standing” low-qualifier awards, the Kelley team was frustrated last season by a tendency to lose traction at the starting line and smoke the tires, short-circuiting several chances to take home a national event win.

“Last year, our big struggle was getting our car to hook up consistently” said Andy. “Our number one priority this off season was to get our clutch setups right, and Richard Hartman made a significant discovery in our clutch system that should help us run more consistently.”

A successful testing session at the Rockingham Dragway last week has crew chief and team owner Pat Kelley excited about the upcoming season, especially the season opening race in San Antonio.

“Our testing session in Rockingham went as well as we could have expected. Despite track temperatures over 110 degrees, we got the car to hook up, launch hard, and run straight on both test runs.” said Pat. “We also added a new, high capacity fuel pump that will help us make more power and top our previous record speed of 305 mph.”

For a family-owned and operated team like Kelley Motorsports, testing sessions are a rare luxury, but are evidence of the commitment that Andy and Pat Kelley have made to the 2008 season.

“Our sponsors, great companies like Holbrook Performance Parts, Vickery’s Speed Shop, General Machine of Anderson, Victory One Valves, and Impact Racing are helping us realize a dream.” said Andy. “The IHRA Nitro Funny Car field is so much stronger this year that it’s going to take significant improvement to keep up with the established teams like Creasy, Wyatt, Haddock and Gilbertson, and to fend off the new teams that are beginning to make an impact like Matt Hagan and Jeff Diehl.

Happy Easter

I hope the Easter bunny left you a basket full of chocolate and eggs. The Easter bunny left 2 large basket for our kids. They are very excited and now there painted some eggs. (Then we will be washing their clothes) Well, Kelley Motorsports had a very good weekend. First of all, anna drew went with me. Her mama was a little nervous because she and heath stayed at home. I was very proud of her. She was very good and helped where she could. The only problem now is she says she wants to go to all of them. We went to Rockingham and made 2 back to back runs during the day without smoking the tires. Our first run was a planned shut off at 300. It's been 5 months since I've been in the car and I was a little rusty, but all went according to plan. I have all new Impact! safety equipment which fit me very well. I want to thank Dale Vickery of Vickery's Speed shop in Anderson SC and John Schneider with Impact! The car left straight and pulled hard all the way to 300ft where i clicked it off. We came back and serviced the car. Everything looked perfect so it was basic service and back to the starting line. This time it's a planned 1/8 mile shut off. The car launched hard , blacked tracked a little and still was pulling strong until i clicked it off at 1/8 mile mark. I sure wanted to run it on through, but with financial conditions, it just wasn't feasable, plus our initial plans were to just make 2 300ft runs. We came back and serviced the car and again, everything looked perfect, so were confident going to San Antonio. I got some good news last week when Mrs. Holbrook of Holbrook Performance parts called and told me they would be returning to help me out this year. I also want to thank Terry Mcmillen for giving me some Amalie Nitro Oil. Every thing helps when your on a small budget. I want to thank my crew for their hard work and dedication to my team. Butch, Don, Jay, Ray, Richard, Paul, and Jim. I also want to thank the efforts of Steve, David, Jack and Vince for their help this weekend. Well, me, Dad and jill are excited about going to texas and hope to bring home our first win. See you soon.

Hello

Hello everyone, its been a while since my last post. A lot has been going on around here. We were planning on being at the feb. test at Rockingham, but some family issues came up and I just could not go. We are still looking for one or more marketing partners for this year, so if you know anyone, help us out. We went and registered Anna Drew for k5, she is growing up quick. Heath is all about Funnycars, and he's only 3. Well, its late and Anna Drew is sitting on my lap helping me type and now she says its time to go to bed, see you at the races!

Season prep

Man, we will be racing shortly. Time surely flies when your having fun. We have been really busy getting everything prepped for the 08 season. We have some new product sponsors coming on board and were still looking for more. We had the car at Horton race cars having some new "stuff" installed. We have been looking high and low for our "tire smoker" problem and we actually found several. Richard Hartman has actually found them, he has worked his tail off helping us. I am pumped to get this year started. Like I said, we made numerous changes to the car, so we will do something we have never done--TEST! We plan on being at rockingham in feb. to do several launches to see how everything is going, then head to San Antonio in April. We're having a new aluminum air to air cooler being made by Griffin thermal products here in Piedmont SC for our Freightliner. I'm ready to put it on and see what the results will be. I know Griffin makes high quality and durable componets, so this will be no exception. I cant say enough about the help richard and my crew has given us. We will be painting the front of the Firebird tommorrow and touching up a few spots as well. We have a big weekend planned- working on the car, truck, trailer, parts, bodies, and insulating the inside of our race shop. I want to thank the efforts of Danny and Lanita Driggers and Robert Griffith of R&R Construction. What a huge help they have been. Me and my dad went over to see connie after his Knee surgery. He is doing well but still keep him in your prayers for a speedy recovery. Until next time.....

Merry Christmas to all.....

Happy Birthday Jesus. I hope everyone who is reading this has a Merry Christmas. We are having a great Christmas. The kids got way to much from Santa. It's been hectic. going here and there, eating 24/7... I bought Bron an excerise Bike, but I think I will be the one using it mostly so I can fit in the car. It's been great having family together, seeing old friends, and looking forward to the 08 season. Merry Christmas