Todd Evan Kelly (born 9 October 1979) is a retired Australian professional racing driver who competed in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. He is the older brother of fellow Supercars driver and former

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a Touring car racing, touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supe ...

winner,

Rick Kelly Rick Kelly (born 17 January 1983) is an Australian professional racing driver who previously competed in the Supercars Championship. He last drove the No. 15 Ford Mustang (sixth generation), Ford Mustang GT for Kelly Racing. Previously, he dro ...

. He drove for the

Holden Racing Team Walkinshaw Andretti United is an Australian motor racing team based in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton. The team, initially branded as the Holden Racing Team, used to field Holden Commodores in the Supercars Championship before making the swit ...

from 2003 until 2007, and

Perkins Engineering Perkins Engineering was a team contesting the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series, operating as an active racing team between 1986 and 2008. From 2009 onwards, the involvement of Perkins Engineering in the championship was wound back i ...

in 2008. Since 2009, he has been with his family team Kelly Racing (now known as Kelly Grove Racing). He is the youngest driver to have reached 100 starts in the series.

Supercars Championship

Season

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

was Kelly's first full-time season in V8 Supercars (although he had previously raced in the category in 99' and 00'), he drove for the K-Mart Racing Team alongside

Greg Murphy Gregory David Murphy (born 23 August 1972) is a New Zealand professional racing driver, best known as a four-time winner of the Bathurst 1000. Greg Murphy joined Jeremy Clarkson and James May presenting Top Gear Live, when it had its first in ...

. He and Greg finished 3rd at Bathurst. He finished his first full season in 6th and broke through for his first-round victory in the

last round ''Last Round'' is a studio album by the American musical group the Holy Modal Rounders. It was released in 1978 through Adelphi Records. Critical reception The '' Lincoln Journal Star'' deemed the album "pleasant, amusing, ndpretty insignifica ...

of the season at

Sandown Raceway Sandown International Raceway is a motor racing circuit in the suburb of Springvale in Melbourne, Victoria, approximately south east of the city centre. Sandown is considered a power circuit with its " drag strip" front and back straights b ...

. Season

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

saw him take four second places, and fifth in the championship. After two successful years with K-Mart Racing Team, the departure of Jason Bright left a vacancy at the

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

. Kelly and new team-mate

Mark Skaife Mark Stephen Skaife (born 3 April 1967) is an Australian former racing driver. Skaife is a five-time champion of the Supercars Championship, V8 Supercar Championship Series, including its predecessor, the Australian Touring Car Championship, a ...

won the

Sandown 500 The Sandown 500 (commercially titled Penrite, Penrite Oil Sandown 500) is an annual endurance racing (motorsport), endurance Auto racing, motor race which is staged at the Sandown Raceway, near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from 1964. The even ...

in very wet conditions and in controversial circumstances with a late race tussle with the Team Dynamik Commodore of

Jason Richards Jason John Richards (10 April 1976 – 15 December 2011) was a New Zealand motor racing driver. A multiple championship winning driver in his homeland in the New Zealand Touring Car Championship, he moved to Australia to pursue a career in the ...

and

Simon Wills Simon Peter Wills (born 3 October 1976 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a former racing driver who currently runs a graphic design business. Racing career Formula cars Wills finished runner up in the 1995 New Zealand Formula Ford Championship. ...

. Kelly finished ninth in the championship, behind his brother Rick in eighth. Kelly was part of the two-car Holden Monaro assault by

Garry Rogers Motorsport Garry Rogers Motorsport is an Australian motor racing team. It is owned by retired racing driver Garry Rogers who began the team to further his own racing efforts. Based in Melbourne, originally out of a Nissan dealership owned by Rogers, the t ...

on the

2003 Bathurst 24 Hour The 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour was a motor race staged at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. The race started at 2:00pm on 22 November 2003 and finished at 2:00pm on 23 November. It was the second Bath ...

race. With co-drivers

Jason Bright Jason Paul Bright (born 7 March 1973) is a retired Australian racing driver who competed in the Supercars Championship, Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. He drove the No. 56 Ford Falcon (FG X), Ford FG X Falcon for Britek Motorsport, a ...

and

Peter Brock Peter Geoffrey Brock (26 February 1945 – 8 September 2006), known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain", or simply "Brocky", was an Australian motor racing driver. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, al ...

, Kelly won the race with Murphy crossing the line only 0.3505 seconds ahead of the teams lead car (and the

race winner) driven by

Garth Tander Garth Dirk Tander (born 31 March 1977) is a multiple-championship winning Australian motor racing driver competing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship's Enduro Cup, co-driving for Grove Racing. He was the 2007 series champion for th ...

and co-driven by

Steven Richards Steven James Richards (born 11 July 1972) is a New Zealand-Australian racing driver, currently competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship. Richards, the son of seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner Jim Richards (race driver), Jim Ri ...

Cameron McConville Cameron Eric "Conkers" McConville (born 22 January 1974) is an Australian racing driver and motorsport celebrity. While retired from full-time competition, McConville still races occasionally and is an in-demand endurance event co-driver. McConv ...

and

Nathan Pretty Nathan Pretty (born 7 July 1973) is an Australians, Australian racecar driver. Career He first rose to prominence racing Australian Stock Car Auto Racing, AUSCAR Superspeedway sedans (a Holden Commodore), becoming rookie of the year in his ini ...

. Season

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

saw him finish behind his brother in the Championship, but this time two places up in seventh. Season

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

was Kelly's most successful year in V8 Supercars, claiming five podiums. Three of them were wins, including the Bathurst 1000 with Mark Skaife which was Todd's 26th birthday and also the

V8 Supercars China Round The V8 Supercars China Round (formally known as the Buick V8 Supercars China Round) was a motor racing event for V8 Supercars that took place at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China, in 2005. History The China Round was announce ...

, the series' only ever event to be held in China. He finished 4th in the standings, ahead of teammate Skaife in fifth. Kelly's

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

season was fairly average throughout the first six rounds, albeit largely through mechanical failures, however after strong driving performances at the next three rounds including second in both the

and

when he paired up with younger brother Rick Kelly. Kelly's seat was taken by HSV Dealer Team driver

. He was just starting to show some of the form that had him finish fourth in the championship in 2005. He finished the year off strongly, with a second and first place in the last two rounds which left him in sixth place at the end of the year. Todd Kelly and Garth Tander

Season

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

was another average year for Kelly, he won the

Clipsal 500 The Adelaide 500, officially the BP Adelaide Grand Final, is an annual motor racing event for Supercars held on the streets of the east end of Adelaide, South Australia between 1999 and 2020 and again from 2022. The event uses a shortened form ...

but was not able to continue that edge. He came second at Phillip Island and at the Grand Finale, finishing seventh in the championship. In doing so, helped secure

the driver's championship. At the conclusion of the season, Kelly announced he would drive for Jack Daniel's Racing from 2008 onwards after a five-year association with HRT.Jack Daniel's Racing Signs Todd Kelly
This move is believed to have also been supported by 2007 champion Garth Tander confirming he will be moving from HSVDT to HRT. Kelly's

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

proved to be inconsistent. After starting the year well at Clipsal, where he finished fifth for the round, the middle part of the season saw a lack of the results expected from Kelly. After a major suspension geometry issue was resolved during the course of the Bathurst weekend, the car showed a sudden turn of speed. He finished 4th at

Surfers Paradise Surfing is a list of surface water sports, surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in Glossary of surfing, tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wind wave, wave of water, whic ...

, then scored a stunning race win in the wet at Symmons Plains, the first victory of any kind (race or round) for a

entry since 2006. Kelly finished the season in 12th position.

Career results

Supercars Championship results

(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Bathurst 1000 results

Bathurst 24 Hour results

References

External links

Official Todd Kelly Website

Todd Kelly Holden Motor Sport Profile

Todd Kelly V8 Supercars Official Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Todd 1979 births Bathurst 1000 winners Formula Ford drivers Formula Holden drivers Living people Sportspeople from Mildura Racing drivers from Victoria (state) Supercars Championship drivers Kelly Racing drivers Nismo drivers Garry Rogers Motorsport drivers Racing drivers from Melbourne