Kelly Bires Grabs Hold of Opportunity

Kelly Bires is a dreamer! A NASCAR competitor who has had to take whatever opportunity comes his way in order to keep his dream of a NASCAR championship alive. Opportunities did appear for him to follow his dream to the Promised Land but with no permanent ride and no sponsorship to keep his dream of NASCAR fame alive, he did whatever he had too to keep his dream alive.

Kelly Bires is getting ready to set the Nationwide Series on fire in 2010

He took his turn behind the wheel of what are called start-and-park rides, filling the seat behind the wheel for Nationwide Series teams like Kevin Harvick Inc., JTG Daugherty, and Braun racing during the 2008 and 2009 Nationwide Series campaign. Finishing in the top ten six times in 2008 racing in this manner, he persevered through this time and competed in cars that weren’t going to take him to his dream.

Staying visible and racing fast during this time has finally paid off with a chance for Kelly to drive steady for one team as he recently signed a two-year deal to slip behind the wheel of a JR Motorsports sponsored Nationwide Series race car. Kelly will take the place of Brad Keselowski behind the wheel as Brad makes the move to NASCAR’s premier class, the Sprint Cup Series, to race for Penske Racing during the 2010 season.

Kelly should be breathing a little easier now as he has a signed deal and can concentrate on racing instead of looking for a steady ride. Finding a ride to keep him on the track on a race-to-race basis is a big step to giving him the room and air he needs to do even better in 2010 and he had a pretty good year considering the circumstances he was racing under.

Kelly was able to find a ride for 12 races during the 2009 Nationwide Series, with five separate teams, and despite this finished in the top five twice and was in position for a possible win in three of his races. A pretty good showing for a racer who was probably thinking more about finding a steady ride most of the time, rather than how to win. He can now concentrate on winning his first Nationwide Series in 2010 and taking his dream up the next step on the ladder to NASCAR success.

“Image: Zuma Press”