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.