Derrick Kelley is moving his racing career in a fast-forward mode going into NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series racing starting at Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C. driving in the Infineon 200 on Friday night.Kelley of Florida is scheduled to compete in 10 races in 2004 in the ADESA Impact Chevrolet Silverado truck owned by David Malcolmson of Concord, N.C.
Kelley will also drive at Dover on June 4, Memphis on June 19, Kentucky on July 10, Nashville on Aug. 14, Bristol on Aug. 25, Loudon on Sept. 18, Martinsville on Oct. 23, Darlington on Nov. 11 and Homestead on Nov. 19.
Its a real workable deal for Kelley who has, NASCAR Dash, USAR ProCup and USAR Late Model racing credentials to his credit and has a lot more race savvy than your average driver.
Kelley also joins a host of drivers in NASCAR racing that competed in USAR that include: Matt Kenseth; Brian Vickers; Scott Wimmer; Jon Wood; Chad Chaffin; Regan Smith. There are seven other USAR drivers that have also competed in NASCAR competition.
Derrick is a very personable guy with me and everybody, said Malcolmson. One of the things you have to take into account is that these races are televised nationally and you have to be able to conduct yourself appropriately when you have a national audience so thats another thing that made it a good fit with Derrick.
Kelley has always taken a close look at all his options so this step up the racing ladder is no great surprise in the racing community.
Things happened at the right time for me to secure this ride and David Malcolmson has the team on the right track in the ADESA truck ride, said Kelley.
Kelley ran a practice session in his truck at Rockingham last Thursday to check its performance out.
I had a real comfortable feeling in the ADESA Impact truck and we were turning some times that fit in with the competition, said Kelley. Im really looking forward to competing in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series racing and facing many of these fine truck drivers at tracks across the country.
For Kelley its just another day at the shop.