Jack Daniel's Racing driver Rick Kelly has scored ninth place in the first race of this weekend's Sydney Telstra 500 at the Sydney Olympic Park street circuit in New South Wales today.

Kelly qualified in 11th place earlier today aboard his #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore, quickly moving up the order in the opening laps of the race.

Kelly was in position to challenge for a podium finish in the first half of the race, but having to contend with pit lane congestion at both his pit stops put pay to any chances of another trophy for the 26-year-old.

The dual Bathurst winner is now just 15 points behind sixth place in the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series points standings with just one race remaining in the season.

Brother and team-mate Todd Kelly qualified 14th and finished in the same position in today's 74-lap race.

Todd Kelly soldiered on in high temperatures today, with the Cool Suit system in the #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore failing shortly before the start of the race, making it an uncomfortable afternoon for him.

Garth Tander won today's opening race of the Sydney Telstra 500 ahead of Mark Winterbottom and Jason Bright. The final leg of the Sydney Telstra 500 will be held tomorrow.

Want to know what Todd and Rick Kelly think of the Sydney Olympic Park street circuit? CLICK HERE to find out ...

JACK DANIEL'S RACING QUOTEBOARD

Rick Kelly - #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:

"Today wasn't too bad," said Rick Kelly.

"I could have done a better job in qualifying but we worked our way up to sixth in the race and it seemed that our tyres were coming on a bit quicker than everyone else's.

"We were pretty strong in the initial laps, the first 10 laps or 15 on the first and second set of tyres. But a couple of hold ups in the pits with traffic cost us a chance at a podium. We are a bit disappointed with that.

"The track is a lot of fun but you just can't pass around it. We had more pace than the guys in front, and we just buggered our tyres up. We burnt our rears up trying to get by them. So it's a bit of a bummer.

"The lesson from today to learn for tomorrow is to qualify better and stay up the front.

"It's our first race here so doing 74 laps in a row you really have to have a good feel for the car and you can play with the bars and see what it wants. So we are confident of making it a lot better for tomorrow."

Todd Kelly - #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:

"The strategy didn't really land in our lap and I struggled with the car, but I didn't drive it as well as what I should have," said Todd Kelly.

"The cool suit packed up on the grid before the start of the race so I did the whole race without it. From about mid-race it was pretty average, I wasn't getting anywhere near the most out of the car.

"If we can fix the cool suit and re-hydrate and wake up alright in the morning and fine tune the car a bit more, we should have a better day tomorrow. It was hard going. It was a pretty tough race."

2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series
Points Standings after Race 25 of 26
1. Jamie Whincup 3286
2. Will Davison 2954
3. Garth Tander 2916
4. Craig Lowndes 2592
5. Mark Winterbottom 2285
6. Steven Johnson 2177
7. Rick Kelly 2162
8. James Courtney 2042
9. Lee Holdsworth 2006
10. Russell Ingall 1928
16. Todd Kelly 1624

RESULTS: Race One (Series Race 25)
1. #2 Garth Tander 74 laps
2. #5 Mark Winterbottom
3. #25 Jason Bright
4. #33 Lee Holdsworth
5. #1 Jamie Whincup
6. #34 Michael Caruso
7. #3 Jason Bargwanna
8. #6 Steven Richards
9. #15 Rick Kelly
10. #9 Shane Van Gisbergen
14. #7 Todd Kelly

RESULTS: Top Ten Shootout
1. #2 Garth Tander 1:29.8489
2. #33 Lee Holdsworth 1:30.3376
3. #1 Jamie Whincup 1:30.3631
4. #34 Michael Caruso 1:30.3938
5. #14 Cameron McConville 1:30.4007
6. #51 Greg Murphy 1:30.4018
7. #5 Mark Winterbottom 1:30.4168
8. #18 James Courtney 1:30.5638
9. #10 Paul Dumbrell 1:30.8739
10. #24 David Reynolds 1:30.6887

RESULTS: Race One Qualifying
1. #2 Garth Tander 1:29.5840
2. #24 David Reynolds 1:29.6478
3. #18 James Courtney 1:29.7457
4. #33 Lee Holdsworth 1:29.7802
5. #10 Paul Dumbrell 1:29.7807
6. #5 Mark Winterbottom 1:29.8795
7. #34 Michael Caruso 1:29.9817
8. #51 Greg Murphy 1:30.0011
9. #1 Jamie Whincup 1:30.0413
10. #14 Cameron McConville 1:30.0555
11. #15 Rick Kelly 1:30.0583
14. #7 Todd Kelly 1:30.1967

SYDNEY TELSTRA 500 DETAILS:

Circuit: Sydney Olympic Park Street Circuit
Location: Olympic Park (Homebush), Sydney, New South Wales
Circuit Length: 3.4 kilometres
Format: 250km race Saturday and Sunday
2009 is debut event

 

WEEKEND SCHEDULE
All times are local Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time

Friday 4 December 2009
12:35pm - 1:10pm: Practice - Part A
1:25pm - 2:15pm: Practice - Part B
2:55pm - 3:45pm: Practice - Part C

Saturday 5 December 2009
10:00am - 10:20am: Qualifying - Leg 1
10:25am - 10:40am: Qualifying - Leg 2
10:55am - 11:25am: Top 10 Shootout
2:35pm: Race 1 (Series Race 25) - 74 laps

Sunday 6 December 2009
10:30am - 10:50am: Qualifying (for Race 2)
2:35pm: Race 2 (Series Race 26) - 74 laps

TELEVISION SCHEDULE - SEVEN NETWORK
Times subject to amendment - please check local guides.

Saturday 5 December 2009
1:00pm - 2:00pm AEDST (Support Categories)
2:00pm - 5:00pm AEDST (V8 Supercars)

Sunday 6 December 2009
1:00pm - 2:00pm AEDST (Support Categories)
2:00pm - 5:00pm AEDST (V8 Supercars)

Saturday 12 December 2009
1:00pm - 2:00pm AEDST (V8 XTRA Season Review)