# Kelly Bires

Kelly James Bires (born August 25, 1984) is an American 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 age 9 and began competing in national karting events at age 12. He won several regional titles and two national championships.
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. 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 #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, 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 7th in the Meijer 300 presented by Oreo race at Kentucky Speedway. Named the permanent driver of the #47 car in 2008, Bires had six top-ten finishes en route to a 13th-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 10th-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 #88 Chevy through 2011, with Earnhardt eager to see what Bires could do in his equipment. Bires drove the #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 #88 car at the 2010 season opener at Daytona and Danica Patrick ran the #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 #88 car in favor of Cup driver Jamie McMurray after only five races run, with only one finish below 17th (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 18 races. Bires returned to the Braun Racing #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 #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 #18 Toyota at Richmond and Chicagoland. Bires also ran two races as a start and park in Go Green Racing's 04 car.
Bires attempted six races in the Sprint Cup Series in 2012 for Go Green, making 3 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 | NSCC | Pts | Ref |
| 2009 | BlackJack Racing | 51 | Dodge | DAY DNQ | 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 | NHA 42 | IND | POC | GLN | MCH | BRI DNQ | ATL | RCH | CHI | NHA 43 | DOV DNQ | TAL | CLT | KAN 38 | MAR | TEX DNQ | PHO | HOM | 54th | 9 | |

##### Daytona 500

| Year | Team | Manufacturer | Start | Finish |
| 2009 | BlackJack Racing | Dodge | DNQ | 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 | NNSC | Pts | Ref |
| 2007 | JTG Daugherty Racing | 47 | Ford | DAY | CAL | MXC | LVS | ATL | BRI | NSH | TEX | PHO | TAL | RCH | DAR | CLT | DOV | NSH 15 | KEN 7 | MLW 30 | NHA 24 | DAY 16 | CHI 24 | GTY 24 | IRP 38 | CGV | GLN | MCH 32 | BRI 29 | CAL 23 | RCH 26 | DOV 19 | KAN 40 | CLT 9 | MEM 14 | TEX 19 | PHO 22 | HOM 20 | 32nd | 1820 | |
| 2008 | JTG Daugherty Racing | 47 | Ford | DAY 12 | CAL 30 | LVS 15 | ATL 12 | BRI 20 | NSH 5 | TEX 17 | PHO 19 | MXC 31 | TAL 36 | RCH 20 | DAR 24 | CLT 33 | DOV 13 | NSH 8 | KEN 19 | MLW 11 | NHA 22 | DAY 16 | CHI 12 | GTY 32 | IRP 36 | CGV 24 | GLN 17 | MCH 9 | BRI 17 | CAL 13 | RCH 20 | DOV 34 | KAN 10 | CLT 7 | MEM 18 | TEX 22 | PHO 17 | HOM 9 | 13th | 3764 | |
| 2009 | Braun Racing | 10 | Toyota | DAY | CAL | LVS 37 | BRI 42 | TEX | | | | | | | | | | MLW 36 | | | | | | IOW 5 | GLN | MCH | BRI | CGV | | | | | | | | | | | 48th | 1053 | |
| 2009 | Kevin Harvick Incorporated | 33 | Chevy | | | | | | NSH 4 | PHO | TAL | RCH | DAR | CLT | DOV | | KEN 10 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | MEM 25 | TEX | PHO | | 48th | 1053 | |
| 2009 | MSRP Motorsports | 91 | Chevy | | | | | | | | | | | | | NSH 37 | | | NHA 41 | DAY | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 48th | 1053 |
| 2009 | JTG Daugherty Racing | 47 | Toyota | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | CHI 40 | GTY 40 | IRP 39 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 48th | 1053 | |
| 2009 | CJM Racing | 11 | Toyota | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ATL 32 | RCH | DOV | KAN | CAL | CLT | | | | | | | | 48th | 1053 | |
| 2009 | JR Motorsports | 5 | Chevy | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | HOM 29 | 48th | 1053 | |
| 2010 | JR Motorsports | 88 | Chevy | DAY | CAL 7 | LVS 42 | BRI 12 | NSH 14 | PHO 17 | TEX | TAL | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 45th | 1019 | |
| 2010 | Braun Racing | 10 | Toyota | | | | | | | | | RCH 11 | DAR | DOV | CLT | NSH | KEN | ROA | NHA | DAY | CHI | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 45th | 1019 | |
| 2010 | Baker Curb Racing | 27 | Ford | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | GTY 32 | IRP | IOW | GLN | MCH | BRI | CGV | ATL | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 45th | 1019 |
| 2010 | Team Rensi Motorsports | 25 | Ford | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | RCH 27 | | | | CLT 22 | GTY | TEX | PHO | HOM | 45th | 1019 | |
| 2010 | RAB Racing | 09 | Ford | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | DOV 21 | KAN | CAL | | | | | | | | | | 45th | 1019 | |
| 2011 | Team Rensi Motorsports | 25 | Ford | DAY 43 | PHO 37 | LVS 35 | BRI 43 | CAL | TEX | TAL | NSH | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 47th | 77 | |
| 2011 | Joe Gibbs Racing | 18 | Toyota | | | | | | | | | RCH 30 | DAR | DOV | IOW | | CHI 8 | MCH | ROA | DAY | KEN | NHA | NSH | IRP | IOW | GLN | CGV | BRI | ATL | RCH | CHI | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 47th | 77 | |
| 2011 | Go Green Racing | 04 | Ford | | | | | | | | | | | | | CLT 42 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | DOV 37 | KAN | CLT | TEX | PHO | HOM | | 47th | 77 | |
| 2012 | Go Green Racing | 39 | Ford | DAY | PHO | LVS | BRI | CAL | TEX 22 | RCH | TAL | DAR | IOW | CLT | DOV | MCH | ROA | KEN | DAY | NHA | CHI | IND | IOW | GLN | CGV | BRI | ATL | RCH | CHI | KEN | | | | | | | | | 131st | 0$^1$ | |
| 2012 | Rick Ware Racing | 15 | Chevy | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | DOV 42 | CLT | KAN | TEX | PHO | HOM | | | | 131st | 0$^1$ | |
$^*$ Season still in progress $^1$ 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 | NCTC | Pts |
| 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 | ATL 19 | TEX | PHO | HOM | 76th | 106 |
| 2007 | Wood Brothers Racing | 21 | Ford | DAY 26 | | ATL 10 | MAR 34 | KAN 31 | CLT | MFD 25 | DOV | TEX | MCH | MLW 35 | MEM | KEN | IRP | NSH | BRI | GTW | NHA | LVS | TAL | MAR | ATL | TEX | PHO | HOM | 44th | 572 |
| 2007 | Xpress Motorsports | 16 | Ford | | CAL 29 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 44th | 572 |