Kelly Bires continues to hold his position in the top 10 in the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series standings after another consistent run saw the Clorox driver finish 17th in the O’Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas today.

Bires now has six top 20 finishes from seven starts this season, a combination of speed and consistency that sees the 23-year-old sit ninth in the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series standings.

Bires worked hard with a push out of the corners in the #47 Clorox Ford Fusion at the fast 1.5-mile speedway, but still looked on course to challenge for a top 10 result.

In the final stages of the race Bires did not have luck go his way and he fell several positions at the final round of pit stops, resulting in a 17th place finish for the Wisconsin native, one lap down on the leaders.

Only six of the top 20 drivers in today’s race were Nationwide Series only drivers, with nine of the top 10 finishers at Texas all full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers.

Kyle Busch won today’s O’Reilly 300 ahead of Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer.

Bires and JTG Racing will be back in action next weekend for the Bashas Supermarkets 300 at Phoenix International Raceway on April 11.

Kelly Bires - #47 Clorox Ford Fusion

“We didn’t run as well as we wanted here today,” said Bires.

“We got caught on pit road there when the caution came out. So, we were a lot better than that. We were probably a 10th or 12th-place car today. I don’t think we were any better than that.

“But, it wasn’t a bad day for the Clorox Ford Fusion. We had good pit stops. I just wish there would’ve been a little bit better racing luck there at the end of the race.

“If it had stayed green instead of that last caution we would’ve been sitting a little bit better, too. But, we stayed out and a couple people took tires and ended up getting a couple of spots from us at the end. Overall, the car’s in one piece and it’s a top-20 day. Not bad.”

“We fought tight off most of the day, and being tight off the corners, it really slows you down and those long green-flag runs really got the best of us. It was just a good day. We’ll take that and go home and work on the car and make it better for the next run.”

RESULTS: O’Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway
Race 7 in the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series
1. #18 Kyle Busch 200 laps
2. #29 Jeff Burton
3. #2 Clint Bowyer
4. #21 Bobby Labonte
5. #16 Jamie McMurray
6. #32 Brian Vickers
7. #5 Dale Earnhardt Jr
8. #6 David Ragan
9. #38 Jason Leffler
10. #20 Tony Stewart
17. #47 Kelly Bires 199 laps

STARTING ORDER: O’Reilly 300
*qualifying rained out - field set by 2008 Owner’s Points
1. #33 Kevin Harvick
2. #2 Clint Bowyer
3. #60 Carl Edwards
4. #29 Jeff Burton
5. #99 David Reutimann
6. #20 Tony Stewart
7. #6 David Ragan
8. #22 Robby Gordon
9. #88 Brad Keselowski
10. #5 Dale Earnhardt Jr
12. #47 Kelly Bires

2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Standings - After Race 7 of 35
1. Clint Bowyer 1047
2. Carl Edwards 990
3. David Reutimann 927
4. David Ragan 913
5. Kyle Busch 888
6. Brad Keselowski 879
7. Mike Bliss 848
8. Jason Leffler 841
9. Kelly Bires 820
10. Kevin Harvick 817

2008 NNS Prizemoney after 6 races:
Kelly Bires: US$227,771

ABOUT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Track Length: 1.5 miles (2.414km)
Race Distance: 200 laps – 300 miles (482.80km)
Degree of Banking in Turns: 24 degrees
Degree of Banking on Straights: 5 degrees

NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES RECORD BOOK
Defending Nationwide Race Champion: Matt Kenseth
Defending Nationwide Polesitter: David Ragan
Kelly Bires 2007 Race Finish: 19th
Kelly Bires 2007 Qualifying: 28th