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Kelly Racing is a team competing in the Australian V8 Supercar series. It is owned by John and Margaret Kelly, and made its debut in 2009. The team's current four driver squad includes John and Margaret's sons Rick Kelly and Todd Kelly racing under the Jack Daniel's banner, while Greg Murphy and Karl Reindler complete the Kelly Racing half of the team with Pepsi Max and Fair Dinkum Sheds sponsorships respectively.

Introduction
Despite some initial hurdles, the team was formed in 2009, launching officially on the evening of 2 March 2009 , after several months of preparation. The two sons of the owners, Rick and Todd act as lead drivers for 2009, with sponsorship from Jack Daniel's. Jack Perkins, with sponsorship from Dodo Internet, and Dale Wood (though later replaced by Mark McNally), with sponsorship from Hi-Tec Oils and Red Rooster, were confirmed as drivers of the third and fourth Kelly Racing entries.

Formation
After a troubled relationship with Tom Walkinshaw, with whom they formed the HSV Dealer Team, team principals John and Margaret Kelly took their two V8 Supercar team licences - numbers #15 and #16 - to set up Kelly Racing, forcing Walkinshaw to find other licences to run his second team in the championship.

With a decision by Holden to reduce support for most teams running their Commodore product in the series for 2009, along with the impending economic crisis , racing legend Larry Perkins chose to scale back his involvement in the sport through his Perkins Engineering team at the end of 2008. His two team licences - numbers #7 and #11 - will be used by Kelly Racing to form a four-car team. Ironically, through the effective merger of the Perkins Engineering team and the new Kelly Racing, Perkins indirectly maintained support from Holden through the new arrangements.

The Kelly's and Perkins swapped one of their racing numbers between themselves so that the Kelly owned licences could make use of the #7 racing number, to suit major sponsor Jack Daniel's and their "Old Number 7" brand. This sponsorship had been carried over from Perkins Engineering, where Todd Kelly was previously using the #7 racing number on behalf of Jack Daniels. This is similar to the relationship that NASCAR team, Richard Childress Racing has with Jack Daniels, and their car driven by Casey Mears, which uses racing number #07.

2009
The new team had its track debut at Winton Raceway on 3 March 2009, running the allowed 20-lap shakedown test for newly constructed cars in the V8 Supercar category, which was declared a success by both Todd and Rick. Following this initial shakedown, the team appeared at the official category test day at the same circuit on 9 March 2009, where all four cars appeared. At the test day, with the sponsorship of the Dale Wood car still to be confirmed, the #16 car ran an interim testing livery, thanking the team for getting all four cars ready for the season in two months.

The team's first race was the 2009 Clipsal 500, held from March 19-22. The two Kelly brothers finished in the top ten in the first race, Todd in 7th and Rick in 10th, after starting 24th and 17th respectively. Wood, who did not set a qualifying time after a crash in practice, finished 14th after starting from pitlane. Perkins failed to finish due to badly damaged steering caused by brushing the wall. Rick was the only one of the four drivers to finish the second race, again in 10th place. Todd Kelly and Jack Perkins both inflicted steering damage from contact with other cars while Dale Wood spun into the wall. The team left the weekend with Rick Kelly 8th in the championship standings, Todd Kelly in 16th, Dale Wood in 24th and Jack Perkins in 30th. Todd made the following comment on the team's first weekend: "Getting an event under our belt, we've now got pages and pages of things we need to address and improve on. This is our first race as a brand new team so given that, I think the weekend wasn't too bad."

Todd and Rick achieved numerous top ten results as the season went on, the best being Rick's 4th places at Winton and Hidden Valley, while Perkins and Wood struggled. Wood was replaced by Mark McNally from the Townsville round onwards. Former World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss tested with the team in August but nothing came of this, with Bayliss driving with Dean Fiore and Triple F Racing in the endurance races.

Todd and Rick teamed up in the #7 car for the endurances races at Phillip Island and Bathurst with Nathan Pretty and Ben Collins driving the #15 car. Dale Wood returned to the driving seat to partner Jack Perkins in the #11 car while Tony Ricciardello joined Mark McNally in the #16 car. The Kelly brothers finished fifth in the L&H 500 after Todd won one of the qualifying races. Bet 24/7 came onboard as major sponsor for the #11 car before Bathurst, with Perkins and Wood running #247 for the Bathurst weekend. Todd and Rick Kelly were running in second place with only a handful of laps to go in the Bathurst 1000, but a damaged rear wing and a late safety car led to the brothers finishing in eighth place.

Perkins reverted to #11 of the remainder of the season. The team scored its first podium finish at the The Island 300, which turned out to be the first in a hat-trick of podiums for the team, with Rick finishing third and second at Phillip Island and Todd finishing second in race one at Barbagallo. The final championship standings saw Rick Kelly finish in eighth, Todd Kelly in 18th, Jack Perkins in 26th, Dale Wood in 29th and Mark McNally in 30th. Jack Daniel's Racing (#7 and #15) finished sixth in teams' championship with Kelly Racing (#11 and #16) in 13th and last of the two car teams.

2010
On 23 November 2009, it was announced that Jason Bargwanna would be joining the team for the 2010 season with sponsorship from Rock Energy Drinks. Bargwanna was previously with Tasman Motorsport, a team which had just announced that it would close at the end of the 2009 season. Tony Ricciardello would take over the #16 car, first with Supermaxx sponsorship before Stratco became the major sponsor for the #16 car. Todd and Rick Kelly continued driving cars #7 and #15 with Jack Daniel's Sponsorship.

Rick took the team's first pole position at Winton but did not manage a win. Only one podium result came out of 2010, Rick finishing third in the rain-affected first race of the Sydney 500.

For the endurance races, Rick and Todd were not allowed to pair up due to new regulations regarding endurance co-drivers. Owen Kelly, of no relation to the two brothers, would join Rick in the #15 car while Dale Wood drove with Todd. Ricciardello was partnered by Taz Douglas while two-time Australian touring car champion Glenn Seton partnered Bargwanna. Rick and Owen had a strong run at the L&H 500, finishing fourth after needing to conserve fuel at the end of the race, while the other three cars all finished outside the top fifteen. The team had a disappointing Bathurst, with none of the cars finishing in the top ten, the best result 16th place for Rick and Owen.

The team hired Scott Dixon and Alex Tagliani as its international drivers for the Gold Coast 600, Dixon driving with Todd Kelly and Tagliani with Bargwanna. Owen Kelly remained with Rick and Wood moved into the #16 car with Ricciardello. It proved to be another average weekend, with Rick and Owen again providing the best result, a sixth place in race two.

The final championship standings saw Rick and Todd repeat their 2009 efforts, finishing eighth and 18th respectively. Bargwanna ended up 24th and Ricciardello was 26th. Jack Daniel's Racing was fifth in the teams' championship and Kelly Racing was 11th.

2011
2011 has so far been the team's most successful season. The season opener in Abu Dhabi saw David Reynolds score a top five finish, with Greg Murphy also scoring a top 10 finish. Rick and Todd were prevented from finishing with strong placings because of an oil leak setting back Rick, and Todd being taken out in an opening lap incident.

Adelaide showed the team's strong potential with Rick scoring a podium position in the second race. Todd finished in a strong 7th place in the first race, but retired after a collision in the second race.

Hamilton was a huge success for Kelly Racing, with Rick taking the team's first race victory and Todd taking 3rd, making it a double podium. Greg Murphy followed up with a top 10 finish, but David Reynolds was unfortunately taken out in a collision late in the race, preventing all 4 Kelly Racing cars from finishing in the top 10. Results were mixed for the following rounds, with all Kelly Racing cars showing good speed, but lacked consistancy. The team's success continued at Darwin with Rick Kelly winning the rounds second race.

For the endurance races, the team announced that Rick and Todd would be partnered with Owen Kelly (no relation) and David Russell. Greg Murphy would drive with Allan Simonsen, and David Reynolds would be partnered with Tim Blanchard. Owen Kelly and Allan Simonsen had previously driven with Rick and Murphy in the 2010 endurance races.

The endurance races were far more successful for the Kelly Racing half of the team. David Reynolds finished 6th in the L&H 500, while at Bathurst, Greg Murphy claimed pole and scored a podium finish. This was Kelly Racing's first Bathurst Pole and podium, while it was Murphy's first pole since 2005. Strong results followed for the Kelly Racing side of the team, with Murphy scoring the second highest amount of points than any other competitor, allowing to jump to 11th in the championship.

2011 was the team's best season with Rick and Todd finishing 6th and 18th respectively in the Drivers Championship, and Jack Daniel's Racing finishing overall 5th. The Kelly Racing half of the team had their most successful season with Murphy finishing 13th, his best result since 2007, and Reynolds finishing a career high of 19th. The Kelly Racing half overall finished 7th in the Teams' Championship, their highest placing.

2012
For 2012, Murphy resigned, along with Pepsi Max for another year and will race with his famous #51. Karl Reindler replaced David Reynolds and will use the #11 instead of #16. Reindler, who previously raced for Brad Jones Racing, brought Fair Dinkum Sheds sponsorship, replacing Straco as the title sponsor for the 4th Kelly Racing car.

Team Structure
Todd and Rick Kelly race under the Jack Daniel's Racing banner as one half of the Kelly Racing outfit, driving cars #7 and #15. The Jack Daniel's sponsorship moved across to the team from Perkins Engineering, the team that Todd drove for in 2008. Todd and Rick Kelly have driven the Jack Daniel's cars in all years that Kelly Racing has been competing in the championship.

The second half of the four-car Kelly Racing outfit uses the Kelly Racing name and has been less successful than the other half of the team. In 2011, the Kelly Racing half of the team had their best season, finishing 7th in the teams championship.

Jack Perkins and Dale Wood were the original drivers for the team in 2009, racing cars #11 and #16 respectively, with backing from Dodo and Hi-Tec Oils. Wood was replaced by Mark McNally during the season. For 2010, Jason Bargwanna drove car #11 with backing from Rock Energy Drinks and Tony Ricciardello drove car #16 with Stratco sponsorship. Greg Murphy and Pepsi Max replaced Bargwanna and Rock Energy for 2011 while David Reynolds drove the #16 car with continued backing from Stratco. Karl Reindler and Fair Dinkum Sheds replaced Reynolds in 2012.

Management
Joe Bremner, formerly the team manager of Jack Daniel's Racing in its Perkins Engineering guise, has been named as the team manager of the Jack Daniel's Racing half of the combined Kelly Racing team, while Barry Ryan has been named as the engineer of the #7, with David Swenson filling the same role on the #15 car. Bremner has gone on record as saying he believes the team can win within its first year.

Matthew House has been named as the team manager of the Dodo Racing / Hi-Tec Oils Racing half of the combined Kelly Racing team, and while Barry Jones was initially named as the engineer of the #11 car , he was later replaced with Mike Gennery, and later still by James Small. Oscar Fiorinotto was named as the engineer of the #16 car.

Later still, following the resignation of Joe Bremner to pursue other interests, a management restructure took place, including further changes to engineering positions. Matthew House moved from the team manager position for the #11 and #16 cars, to take over the role previously filled by Bremner for the #7 and #15 cars. James Small, who had recently taken up the position of engineer for the #11 car, moved across to take over the engineering role on Todd Kelly's #7 car, with the previous engineer of this car, Barry Ryan, taking over the team manager role for the #11 and #16 cars, vacated by House. The new engineer for the #11 car was named as Stewart McDonald, who joined the team from Tasman Motorsport, which had announced it was shutting down operations at the end of 2009.

Perkins Engineering
Perkins Engineering, having wound back its own involvement as a competing team in the championship at the end of 2008, maintains a presence by becoming the major engineering facility for the team. The two V8 Supercar franchises owned by Larry Perkins in turn formed the second half of the Kelly Racing team. Perkins Engineering will be responsible for heavy engineering work, particularly in the construction of racing chassis for the team.

Current Drivers

 * Todd Kelly
 * Rick Kelly
 * Karl Reindler
 * Greg Murphy

Endurance Races

 * Owen Kelly
 * Allan Simonsen
 * David Russell
 * Tim Blanchard

Previous Drivers

 * David Reynolds - 2011
 * Jason Bargwanna - 2010
 * Tony Ricciardello - 2010
 * Mark McNally - 2009
 * Jack Perkins - 2009
 * Dale Wood - 2009

Team Information

 * Official Kelly Racing Website
 * Kelly Racing Twitter Feed
 * Perkins Engineering Website