The Kelly family team was originally formed out of a takeover of Perkins Engineering ahead of 2009 and ran in the main game from 2009-2020.
That morphed into what is now Grove Racing, initially run as Kelly Grove Racing in 2021 before a full buyout ahead of 2022.
Kelly Racing returned as a Dunlop Series team in 2023 – initially with a single Nissan Altima for Todd’s son Mason.
It’s run two KR Mustangs in the last two seasons, where Mason has been paired with race winners Aaron Cameron (2024) and Cam McLeod (2025).
The 20-year-old Mason elected to step back from Super2 racing following a heavy crash at Ipswich in August, and Todd has now elected to sell up.
“We’ve been in it for our whole lives, pretty much,” Todd Kelly told Speedcafe.
“It’s been fantastic for Mason to experience what myself and his uncle, Rick, have experienced with all the tracks in these cars.
“He’s had a fantastic opportunity to get a taste of what we did, and it’s flowed on a bit now he’s got a few other opportunities in different cars, which is good.
“With the news that there are two years left in this spec car [before Gen3 moves into Super2], we thought it’s a really good time to try and offload everything.
“Rick and I don’t want to be older and greyer than what we are and have collected all these cars and gear in our shed, so it’s a good time to hand it over.
“There’s a lot of interest. Nothing’s locked away yet, but there are a few good options to make sure that Super2 doesn’t actually lose them off the grid.
“But for us, between the resort up in Mildura and a few other projects we’ve got going on, there’s just not enough time in the day, so it’s better that we don’t do it.”
The Trentham Waters Resort is scheduled to open to the public on December 15 in a major milestone for the family.
Todd and Rick meanwhile retain a Nissan Altima each, presented in Carsales and Castrol colours respectively, but have no such sentimentality towards the Mustangs.
All other Kelly Racing team equipment is also for sale, from tyre trollies to fuel rigs, setup equipment and spares.
The transporter has already been snapped up by Team 18, which will use it to underpin its Craig Lowndes-fronted wildcard entry.
The Kelly Racing machine shop, which was established alongside the race team in 2012, was also recently sold to engineering firm GN Precision.
Kelly will lease the Mustangs if they are unable to be sold, but either way Kelly Racing won’t return to Super2 next season.
It’s the end of an era, although not a complete full stop.
“We’ve still got the two Nissans and a heap of engines and stuff at work,” said Kelly.
“The engine building is still operational, as well as all the sub-assembly stuff, so I don’t think we’ll ever be out of it, you know.
“We’ll still support all the older Nissans and these Fords within the workshop and rebuilding stuff, supplying parts and bits and pieces.”
Mason, meanwhile, could return to action in the booming GT4 Australia series next year.
“He’s had a few test days in a Mustang GT4 car, which he did really well at. He likes the car, it suits him well,” explained Kelly.
“I don’t think anything’s locked in. He’s sort of off and running now, organising his bits and pieces, which is good, but hopefully he gets a few runs in that next year.
“He’s gearing up a fair bit with his uni and a few of his own projects too, so I think for the next year or so that that level would be quite handy with what he’s got on his plate.”
Kelly Racing’s Super2 swansong will see it field Max Geoghegan alongside McLeod at this weekend’s Adelaide Grand Final.
Geoghegan had spent the season to date with Image Racing, with his seat filled for this weekend by NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Jesse Love.
Discussion about this post