Kelly Bires

Kelly James Bires (born August 25, 1984) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He most recently drove part-time for Go Green Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series. Previously, Bires drove competitively for JTG Daugherty Racing, JR Motorsports, and Braun Racing in the Nationwide Series.

Early career Bires began karting at Sugar River Raceway in Brodhead, Wisconsin at the age of nine and began competing in national karting events at the age of twelve. He won several regional titles and two national championships.

Bires became the Great Lakes Allison Legacy Series Rookie of the Year in 2000, and followed up the championship by winning the series in 2001. Bires next moved up to the Super Late Model race cars at Dells Motor Speedway, finishing fifth in points and named 2002 Rookie of the Year. The following year, he finished second in championship points. Bires made his first start in ARCA in May 2004. In 2006, he joined up with veteran American Speed Association Late Model Series crew chief Howie Lettow and won the season championship that year.

NASCAR career

2007–2008 In the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Bires was the driver of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing truck in nineteen races, handing over driving duties for the other six races to veteran Mark Martin. He had a tenth-place finish at Atlanta. After the departure of Jon Wood due to illness, Bires left the Truck Series and started racing for Tad Geschickter beginning at Nashville Superspeedway. His best Busch Series start was 26th and best finish was seventh in the Meijer 300 presented by Oreo race at Kentucky Speedway. Named the permanent driver of the No. 47 car in 2008, Bires had six top-ten finishes en route to a thirteenth-place points finish. But with Clorox/Kingsford moving up with Marcos Ambrose to the Sprint Cup Series, he was left without a full-time ride at the end of the season due to lack of sponsorship.

2009 to present Bires spent the 2009 season driving for various teams, including Braun Racing, MSRP Motorsports, and JTG, where he start and parked, as well as competing for Kevin Harvick Incorporated and CJM Racing. His best finish that year came at Iowa Speedway, where he finished fifth in Braun's Fraternal Order of Eagles Toyota. Bires also had a tenth place finish for KHI at Nashville. At the end of the season, Bires signed a two-year contract to drive for JR Motorsports in the No. 88 Chevy through 2011, with Earnhardt eager to see what Bires could do in his equipment. Bires drove the No. 5 Ragu Chevy for Junior at Homestead in preparation for running full-time in 2010.

Due to sponsorship obligations with Unilever and their Hellmann's Mayonnaise brand, Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran the No. 88 car at the 2010 season opener at Daytona and Danica Patrick ran the No. 7 car with her sponsor GoDaddy.com, forcing Bires to sit out. In his debut at Fontana, he did have a seventh place finish. Even more curious than his missing Daytona was when Bires was removed from the No. 88 car in favor of Cup driver Jamie McMurray after only five races run, with only one finish below seventeenth (a crash at Las Vegas). Earnhardt Jr. cited chemistry issues between Bires, JR Motorsports management, and the team including Tony Eury Sr. and Jr., and implied that Bires was taking a seat from "the next Brad [Keselowski], the next Jeff Gordon." Prior to Brad Keselowski, the team had also hastily released Mark McFarland in 2006 after 21 races and Shane Huffman in 2007 after eighteen races. Bires returned to the Braun Racing No. 10 at Richmond, where he finished 11th, then ran races for Baker-Curb Racing, Team Rensi Motorsports, and RAB Racing.

Bires returned to the Nationwide Series in 2011, driving for Rensi. However, Bires had to start and park his No. 25 on numerous occasions, and withdrew from two races. After Rensi cut back its schedule, Bires was hired by Joe Gibbs Racing to drive their No. 18 Toyota at Richmond and Chicagoland. Bires also ran two races as a start and park in Go Green Racing's No. 04 car.

Bires attempted six races in the Sprint Cup Series in 2012 for Go Green, making three races but finishing no better than 38th. Bires was released from both the Cup and Nationwide rides in November.

In 2013, Bires became crew chief for the late model team of Matt Kenseth's son Ross Kenseth.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts Ref 2009 BlackJack Racing 51 Dodge DAYDNQ CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON NHA DAY CHI IND POC GLN MCH BRI ATL RCH NHA DOV KAN CAL CLT MAR TAL TEX PHO HOM 83rd 0 2012 Go Green Racing 79 Ford DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL MAR TEX KAN RCH TAL DAR CLT DOV POC MCH SON KEN DAY NHA42 IND POC GLN MCH BRIDNQ ATL RCH CHI NHA43 DOVDNQ TAL CLT KAN38 MAR TEXDNQ PHO HOM 54th 9

Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 2009 BlackJack Racing Dodge DNQ

Nationwide Series NASCAR Nationwide Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Pts Ref 2007JTG Daugherty Racing 47 Ford DAY CAL MXC LVS ATL BRI NSH TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH15 KEN7 MLW30 NHA24 DAY16 CHI24 GTY24 IRP38 CGV GLN MCH32 BRI29 CAL23 RCH26 DOV19 KAN40 CLT9 MEM14 TEX19 PHO22 HOM20 32nd 1820 2008 DAY12 CAL30 LVS15 ATL12 BRI20 NSH5 TEX17 PHO19 MXC31 TAL36 RCH20 DAR24 CLT33 DOV13 NSH8 KEN19 MLW11 NHA22 DAY16 CHI12 GTY32 IRP36 CGV24 GLN17 MCH9 BRI17 CAL13 RCH20 DOV34 KAN10 CLT7 MEM18 TEX22 PHO17 HOM9 13th 3764 2009 Braun Racing 10 Toyota DAY CAL LVS37 BRI42 TEX MLW36 IOW5 GLN MCH BRI CGV 48th 1053 Kevin Harvick Incorporated 33 Chevy NSH4 PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV KEN10 MEM25 TEX PHO MSRP Motorsports 91 Chevy NSH37 NHA41 DAY JTG Daugherty Racing 47 Toyota CHI40 GTY40 IRP39 CJM Racing 11 Toyota ATL32 RCH DOV KAN CAL CLT JR Motorsports 5 Chevy HOM29 2010 88 DAY CAL7 LVS42 BRI12 NSH14 PHO17 TEX TAL 45th 1019 Braun Racing 10 Toyota RCH11 DAR DOV CLT NSH KEN ROA NHA DAY CHI Baker Curb Racing 27 Ford GTY32 IRP IOW GLN MCH BRI CGV ATL Team Rensi Motorsports 25 Ford RCH27 CLT22 GTY TEX PHO HOM RAB Racing 09 Ford DOV21 KAN CAL 2011 Team Rensi Motorsports 25 Ford DAY43 PHO37 LVS35 BRI43 CAL TEX TAL NSH 47th 77 Joe Gibbs Racing 18 Toyota RCH30 DAR DOV IOW CHI8 MCH ROA DAY KEN NHA NSH IRP IOW GLN CGV BRI ATL RCH CHI Go Green Racing 04 Ford CLT42 DOV37 KAN CLT TEX PHO HOM 2012 39 DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX22 RCH TAL DAR IOW CLT DOV MCH ROA KEN DAY NHA CHI IND IOW GLN CGV BRI ATL RCH CHI KEN 131st 01 Rick Ware Racing 15 Chevy DOV42 CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM

Season still in progress Ineligible for series points

Craftsman Truck Series NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pts Ref 2006 Wood Brothers/JTG Racing 19 Ford DAY CAL ATL MAR GTY CLT MFD DOV TEX MCH MLW KAN KEN MEM IRP NSH BRI NHA LVS TAL MAR ATL19 TEX PHO HOM 76th 106 2007 Wood Brothers Racing 21 DAY26 ATL10 MAR34 KAN31 CLT MFD25 DOV TEX MCH MLW35 MEM KEN IRP NSH BRI GTW NHA LVS TAL MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 44th 572 Xpress Motorsports 16 Ford CAL29