Bires Takes on Challenge of New Surface in Darlington Debut

Kelly Bires will make his Darlington Raceway debut at the ‘new’ track in the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 in Darlington, South Carolina this weekend.

Bires will be running his first race at the famous track on a special weekend in the history of the circuit known as ‘Too Tough To Tame’.

Darlington’s famous surface has been repaved in the off-season, presenting drivers and teams with a new challenge this weekend.

With Darlington already known as a fast and narrow track, the new surface is expected to provide even faster speeds, giving young drivers like Bires a big challenge in this Friday night’s race.

The new surface will be an exciting challenge, giving Bires confidence that the repaving will level the playing field somewhat as veterans and rookies alike seek to find their way at Darlington, although the Wisconsin native still believes that he has much to learn on his first visit to the tough venue.

Kelly Bires - #47 Clorox Ford Fusion

“It is an interesting time for me to make my debut at Darlington,” said Bires.

“I never ran on the old surface, so the new surface for me will be all I know.

“The guys that have run here before are still going to have something of an advantage, but with a new surface hopefully that will level the playing field a little bit.

“Everything I’ve heard about Darlington is that it’s a real tough track. It looks good and the speeds are fairly high.

“We are taking a really good intermediate track car there and we ran well last time we used this Clorox car. It drives really well and it’s got a good body on it.

“So the big thing will be me getting up to speed and getting in the groove at Darlington. That will be the main thing but Darlington is one of the tracks that I’m really looking forward to running so it will be great to finally get out there.”

NASCAR.com – Bires wrestles with success as learning curve flattens

CLICK HERE to read Raygan Swan’s excellent feature on Clorox driver Kelly Bires on NASCAR.com.

2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Standings - After Race 11 of 35
1. Clint Bowyer 1565
2. Carl Edwards 1556
3. Kyle Busch 1553
4. David Ragan 1434
5. Mike Bliss 1424
6. David Reutimann 1407
7. Brad Keselowski 1382
8. Jason Leffler 1342
9. Mike Wallace 1297
10. David Stremme 1177
12. Kelly Bires 1154

2008 NNS Prizemoney after 11 races:
Kelly Bires: US$345,568

RACE SCHEDULE
Local South Carolina (US Eastern) Times
Practice 1
Thursday 8 May 2008
5:40pm – 6:50pm

Final Practice
Thursday 8 May 2008
8:10pm – 9:00pm

Qualifying
Friday 9 May 2008
3:10pm

Race – 147 laps
Friday 9 May 2008
7:30pm US Eastern

UNITED STATES TV SCHEDULE
Saturday 9 May 2008
ESPN2
7:00pm US Eastern

ABOUT DARLINGTON RACEWAY
Location: Darlington, South Carolina
Track Length: 1.366 miles (2.198km)
Race Distance: 147 laps – 200.8 miles (323.16km)
Degree of Banking in Turns 1 & 2: 25 degrees
Degree of Banking in Turns 3 & 4: 23 degrees
Degree of Banking in Straights: 6 degrees

NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES RECORD BOOK
Defending Nationwide Race Winner: Denny Hamlin
Defending Nationwide Polesitter: Denny Hamlin
Kelly Bires – Darlington Raceway debut