Kelly Bires

Born	August 25, 1984 (1984-08-25) (age 25)
Hometown	Mauston, Wisconsin
Achievements	2001 Great Lakes Allison Legacy Series Champion 2006 ASA Late Model Series Challenge Division Champion
Awards	2000 Great Lakes Allison Legacy Series Rookie of the Year 2002 Dells Motor Speedway Rookie of the Year 2006 ASA Late Model Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Nationwide Series statistics
Car #, team	#88 - JR Motorsports
2008 NNS position	13th
Best NNS position	13th - 2008 (Nationwide Series)
First race	2007 Federated Auto Parts 300 (Nashville)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 8 0
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series statistics
2007 NCWTS position	44th
Best NCWTS position	44th - 2007 (Craftsman Truck Series)
First race	2006 Easy Care Vehicle Service Contracts 200 (Atlanta)
Last race	2007 Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200 (Milwaukee)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 1 0
Statistics current as of April 12, 2009.

Kelly Bires (born August 25, 1984 in Mauston, Wisconsin) is a NASCAR race car driver. He drives the #88 JR Motorsports Chevy in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

[edit] Background

Kelly Bires during the 2007 Ford 300 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Bires began karting at Sugar River Raceway in Brodhead, Wisconsin at age 9. He began competing in national karting events at age 12. He won several regional titles and two national championships. ^[1]

He became the Great Lakes Allison Legacy Series Rookie of the Year in 2000, and followed up the championship by winning the series in 2001. He next moved up to the Super Late Model racecars at Dells Motor Speedway. He finished fifth in points and was the 2002 Rookie of the Year. He finished second in championship points in 2003. Bires made his first start in ARCA in May 2004. He qualified fourth and finished eighth at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He was the 2006 American Speed Association Late Model Series champion.

In 2007 he was to the #21 Wood Brothers Racing truck in 19 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, he left the Truck Series started racing for Tad Geschickter beginning at Nashville Superspeedway. His best Busch Series start was 26th and best finish was 7th in the Meijer 300 presented by Oreo at Kentucky Speedway. He was named the permanent driver of the #47 in 2008, and had six top-ten finishes en route to a 13th place points finish. He lost his job at the end of the season due to a lack of sponsorship. He has just signed a deal with JR Motorsports (owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr.) to drive the #88 car in 2010 and 2011.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kelly Bires

• Kelly Bires Official Website
• Bires' NASCAR stats at Racing-Reference.info