To say that one person’s life has changed from a year ago would be an understatement if you were in Kelly Bires shoes. The Mauston, Wisconsin native had a memorable 2006 season which led him to a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series ride in 2007.
Bires had a successful season with winning the 2006 ASA Late Model Series Challenge Division championship and Pat Bourdow Memorial Rookie of the Year titles for WalTom Racing. But he also picked up one of his personal biggest victories, fending off NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Champions Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart to win the First Supply All-Star Challenge at the Madison (WI) International Speedway last June.
“It’s really hard to believe a year has already passed since our victory last year, ” Bires recently stated. “Winning the All-Star Challenge was by far the biggest win of our 2006 season. RK Race Promotions really puts on a first class event that draws some heavy-hitters. When you can compete at an event of that caliber and win the race, it really shows you’re doing something right. The win carried us to a very successful end of 2006 and a contract with Wood Brothers JTG Racing. “
Today, Bires is competing for the Rookie of the Year title in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driving for the aforementioned Wood Brothers JTG Racing team piloting the #21 Air Force/Bush’s Best Baked Beans/Ravens Wood Winery/Bubba Burgers Ford F-150 truck. He is scheduled to compete in 19 of the 25 races. Mark Martin is scheduled to drive in the other six. “These races are up in the air for me, whether I will be driving a third truck, for another Ford team, or not at all, ” Bires stated.
“The season has been going really well, except for the luck factor, ” Bires explained. “We had a Top-10 truck at Daytona, ending up getting wrecked. We then had at Top-10 run at Atlanta despite a loss of 20hp because of a wiring problem. Mark had a winning truck at California and got spun out on a restart. Had a Top-15 truck at Martinsville and lost a rear end gear. Would have finished in Top-2 at Kansas and lost a motor. The good thing about all these races is that we have been very competitive and seems like we even get better every race. ”
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