Jack Daniel's Racing event summary

RICK KELLY STORMS TO SECOND PLACE FINISH IN ADELAIDE

Rick Second Place Clipsal 500 Sunday

Rick Kelly has finished in second place in a rain-effected final leg of the Clipsal 500 at the Adelaide Parklands street circuit in South Australia today.

Kelly survived a rain-effected, carnage-ridden race to score a well-earned podium finish aboard his #15 Jack Daniel's Commodore.

The result swept away disappointment following Saturday's race, where the Jack Daniel's Racing driver had the pace to score a podium finish but strategy decision did not pan out as intended.

After qualifying in eighth place earlier today, Kelly showed great pace in wet conditions, Kelly moved forward to eventually take the lead of the race on lap 25 from James Courtney.

In the end Jamie Whincup proved too strong for Kelly, taking the lead on lap 44, with Kelly's second place finish lifting him to eighth in the 2011 V8 Supercars Championship points standings after four races.

Todd Kelly failed to finish today's race as a result of a crash on lap two at Turn 4. In treacherous wet conditions the

1. 7 Jack Daniel's Commodore spun and collected the back of Jason Bargwanna.

While Todd Kelly initially soldiered on, a broken steering arm eventually ended his race after 33 laps.

V8 Supercars will be back on track next weekend for a non-championship appearance at the Formula 1 QANTAS Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park GP circuit in Melbourne, Victoria.

JACK DANIEL'S RACING QUOTEBOARD:

RICK KELLY - #15 Jack Daniel's Holden Commodore

Rick Kelly - Second Place Media Conference:

"The team have done a great job on focussing on where we are heading and not where we were a couple of rounds ago," said Rick Kelly.

"It's difficult when you have a tough round not to throw things around and panic. We've had a very clear direction the whole time and we've been able to implement that extremely well.

"From a personal point of view it's difficult after a tough round in Abu Dhabi when I qualified 27th not to lose heart and give up on it. At the moment I can say that I am quite good at bouncing back and this weekend has proved that as well and from the whole team's point of view.

"Yesterday after the race I wanted to head home and today I want to race again tomorrow. That's the ups and downs of motorsport. It's important to bounce back and the whole team can take a lot of confidence from today's result to find a little bit more pace.

"The #15 Jack Daniel's Commodore in the dry is still not as quick as we would like and I'm still not driving it as well as I need to in the dry either, so I really needed to capitalise on those tough conditions, which I did.

"I got to the front and then lost a spot, then got it back, and so on. That is the sort of thing we need to do while we are finding that pace."

QUESTION: When you go into a race like that do you try a compromise set-up for the wet and dry?

"I didn't know what to do in the wet. We just left it and hoped for the best."

QUESTION: How can you share this success with your older brother? He's just not having a good run of late and when you go well he doesn't and vice versa. How can you get two black Jack Daniel's tops up there on the podium?

"To be honest it is well and truly on the way, there is no doubt about that. The job that Todd did at Abu Dhabi was second to none. As soon as he rolled the car out of the truck and I saw the look on his face i knew I wasn't going to get near him.

"This has been a tough week but if we get that look back on his face he will be untouchable in the car we have got at the moment.

"To be honest with you all of his efforts are the reason that we are on the podium. Full credit to him, the decisions he is making in the team are making it stronger and stronger.

"For Todd and I will start having success while we are looking after the team is phenomenal. All the success that I have he shares in."

QUESTION: How impressed were you with the contribution with David Reynolds this weekend?

"He is awesome.

"He is a funny cat and it's good to have someone that you can poke a bit of fun at every now and then'

"He has bought a good, new attitude into the team and his pace is phenomenal.

"In qualifying on the first set of greens I thought I did a good job and we were punching the air and thinking we will be OK on the next set and then I hear on the radio that little mate's two one hundreths behind me. So we tried to pull out a quicker time and didn't really manage it so we ended up back in eighth.

"It's quite important for our sponsors and all the crew in that team for our four cars to be as far up the order as possible.

"We've still got a few little things to iron out but it's very exciting in terms of where we are heading. We just need to refine him a little bit more and he will be extremely strong, there is no doubt about it."

TODD KELLY - #7 Jack Daniel's Holden Commodore

On failing to finish today's race ...

"On the fourth corner of the second lap is really where my race ended," said Todd Kelly.

"I think I got on a white line and just sailed into that corner almost backwards and collected Bargs.

"As soon as I hit the brakes the thing was sideways. I don't know whether someone has just given me a tap or whether I was on a white line but either way that's where our race ended.

"The damage in the #7 Jack Daniel's Commodore was pretty huge. After that we limped around a bit. I was pushing harder than what I should have to try and get back. The car just didn't want to know about it.

"At the end of the day a few bits and pieces got more and more bent as I went on until one of the steering arms on the front snapped and that was the end of our day."

On Rick's second place finish ...

"It's great for the team," said Todd Kelly.

"All the work that the boys have done with our R&D and everything is starting to really pay off.

"It's really the first time in a long while that our cars have had genuine pace and also hung onto their tyres really well.

"Everything in the cars is doing what we expect it to, which doesn't always happen.

"I think this is a bit of a turning point in the whole team. We've got four cars that have got all the same equipment in them now and we've showed that they can hold onto their tyres a lot better, both at Abu Dhabi and here.

"I think this is a bit of a turning point in the whole team. We've got four cars that have got all the same equipment in them now and we've showed that they can hold onto their tyres a lot better, both at Abu Dhabi and here.

"When we start to get our head around the equipment we've got now even more, I think that we should have a pretty solid year in front of us."

-source: jdr