Milestone Starts for the Kelly Brothers

Competitors, drivers, team owners and brothers – Todd and Rick Kelly are again sharing racing milestones.

Todd records 400 race starts and younger brother Rick 350 today at the Coates Hire Ipswich 360.

Both Jack Daniel’s Racing drivers have Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 wins, Rick a V8 Supercars Championship, but the achievement they are most proud of is successfully bringing a new manufacturer into the Australian motor racing series.

Having already recorded a fifth placing at just the fifth Championship event of the season, with Rick behind the wheel of his #15 Nissan Altima, there’s plenty of positives.

Both Rick and Todd Kelly spoke to V8supercars.com.au about the milestone race starts – or “being old” as Todd joked.

“I didn’t know about the 400 starts until this morning and it certainly does make you think back to some of the races we have done over the years,” he said.

“It’s not something you think of… but we’ve certainly done a lot over the years.

“Started from nowhere to Formula Ford, to driving and being involved in a factory team for 10 years to starting our own team and forming a factory team. It’s been a pretty big journey.

“To pull this off, what we’ve done here (with Nissan), is basically next to impossible. To go and start running our own team, we’d never be able to do it with the two of us working in different areas. Unless we were all in, it would never happen.”

The numbers mean when Rick joined the series, he had a more experienced older brother – with 50 race starts under his belt.

But Rick said the opportunity to learn from other racers early in their careers was a positive.

“The funny thing is for the first two-thirds of our careers, we were in completely separate teams,” Rick said.

“It wasn’t until 2009 we teamed up as teammates – apart from the enduros at Sandown and Bathurst in 2006 – so it’s been good to learn from a few other guys through our careers and come together around the mid-stage.”

The two couldn’t recall an incident when they came together on-track, though Todd joked Rick cleaned him up yesterday.

“Over the years we’ve almost caused accidents avoiding each other – it’s been crazy we haven’t come together,” Todd said.

And while Rick has one up on his brother with the 2006 V8 Supercars Championship under his belt, he says he doesn’t brag about it – it was a long time ago, and his opportunity came from being in a strong car, with a strong team in then Toll HSV Dealer Team.

“The way we’re going, when we get the engine sorted out we’ve got the cars and team that are good enough to get back up to the pointy end,” Todd said. “There’s a few years left in both of us, if we get the Nissans to be race winning cars to fight for a Championship.

“I’ve got a few years left!”

While the rules don’t allow it, the brothers would love to pair up again in the endurance races – for a few reasons. Costs are high for experienced enduro drivers and teams can’t take the risk of using a younger driver in a Championship-contending car.

“It stops us putting younger guys in the car to give them miles at those key events – and that’s how Todd and I both got our shot back in the day – Todd and Murph (Greg Murphy) were teamed up to win the race, and it was me and Nath (Nathan Pretty) in the second car,” Rick explained. “I’d love to see it change because it means me and Todd could pair up and we could give some youngsters a chance.”

Which of the two brothers is going to be the first to put a Nissan on the podium?

May be it will be ‘the neighbours’ – James Moffat and Michael Caruso in the Norton Hornets have also had glimpses of hope in the Altimas.

Rick starts from 22nd in the upcoming Race 23, Todd from 27th.

And while v8supercars.com.au ran this image recently when Rick spoke about his first Bathurst start – given his reference to the Kmart Racing days and 2001, here's a chance to run it again (Todd left, Rick third from left):