Kelly Bires to Run Win-Tron Toyota at Talladega

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Kelly Bires to Run Win-Tron Toyota at Talladega
TALLADEGA AL (4-22-09) - Following a terrific fourth-place finish driving Kevin Harvick Incorporated's No. 33 in the Nashville 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race April 11 at Nashville Superspeedway, Kelly Bires is now anticipating his next shot behind the wheel this Friday at Talladega Superspeedway. Win-Tron Racing officials announced the signing of Bires as the driver of the No. 32 Wolfpack Rentals Toyota Camry in Friday's ARCA RE/MAX 250 at the 2.66-mile superspeedway.

Based in Lakeville, Minnesota, Win-Tron Racing welcomes Bires as their third driver on the ARCA RE/MAX tour in 2009. Bires will drive the same car that James Buescher drove to a popular win at Daytona International Speedway during February's Speedweeks.

Bires, 24, isn't shy about stating his expectations heading into Friday's 94-lap, 250-mile affair.

"We're going there to win," Bires said on Monday afternoon. "The Win-Tron team is proven with fast equipment. It's a great group of guys, and this is a great opportunity for me to work with everyone at Win-Tron Racing."

After the outstanding run earlier this month in the Nashville Nationwide Series event, Bires is ecstatic to be going back to one of his favorite tracks this weekend.

"I love racing at Talladega. It's one of my best tracks, even though this will be only my third time racing there. We finished fourth there in the ARCA race in 2006, and we were running in the top five last year when that huge accident happened and we got caught up in it."

Left without a full-time ride in 2009, the Mauston, Wisconsin, native Bires admits he's taking it one race at a time for now with hopes of proving that he's capable and ready for a full-time ride in ARCA or one of the three top NASCAR touring series.

"Right now, I'm focused on this weekend. After this race, I'll start working to put together another deal and focus on that race. This is an exciting deal for me because I'm from Wisconsin, and the Win-Tron team is based in Minnesota. So in a way it's like driving for the hometown team. I'm looking forward to doing the best I can and I hope that means giving this team another win," Bires added.

Win-Tron Racing co-owner and team manager Nate Thiesse echoes Bires' excitement regarding this weekend's race.

"We're excited to have a caliber driver like Kelly Bires onboard for Talladega," said Thiesse. "Kelly has proven he can do an exceptional job in the ARCA RE/MAX Series and there is little hesitation in our mind that he won't keep that same pace this weekend."

Friday will mark Bires' third career start in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. He finished eighth in 2004 at Lowe's Motor Speedway and finished fourth at Talladega in 2006.

Win-Tron Racing is currently tied for third in ARCA RE/MAX points.

The ARCA RE/MAX 250 is the fourth of 22 events on the 2009 ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule. It will be the 47th ARCA race at Talladega and it is a two-day show. Practice begins Thursday with a three-hour practice session planned from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Menards Pole by Ansell qualifying is set for later in the day slated to begin at 5:05 p.m. A "Happy Hour" 45-minute practice will be Friday from 9:30 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. The 94-lap race will see the green flag that afternoon shortly after 4 p.m. The race will be televised live on SPEED with additional live broadcasting available through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.com. All times are local.

Further information on Win-Tron Racing is available by visiting win-tronracing.com.

For more on Kelly Bires, please visit KellyBires.com.

~ARCAracing.com


Good Luck Kelly!

Good for Kelly. He deserves it.

Kelly qualified 3rd

Qualifying

POS NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM & CAR TIME SPEED
1 1 Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ Buddy's Home Furnishings Ford 51.321 186.590
2 81 Craig Goess/Greenville NC Greenville Toyota Toyota 51.335 186.539
3 32 Kelly Bires/Kannapolis NC Wolfpack Rentals Toyota 51.356 186.463
4 6 Justin Lofton/Westmorland CA Lofton Cattle Toyota 51.381 186.372
5 25 Mark Thompson/Cartersville GA Phoenix Air-Venturini Motorsports Toyota 51.392 186.333
6 19 Alli Owens/Daytona Beach FL ElectrifyingCareers.com Toyota 51.402 186.296
7 5 Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA Lucas Oil Chevrolet 51.453 186.112
8 83 Grant Enfinger/Fairhope AL BeasleyAllen.com Ford 51.731 185.111
9 52 Bill Baird/Sturgis KY Saturn Welding Chevrolet 51.743 185.069
10 04 Chase Mattioli/Long Pond PA Liquid Fence Toyota 51.822 184.786
11 60 Patrick Sheltra/Indiantown FL Buffalo Wings & Rings Dodge 51.872 184.608
12 69 Steve Blackburn/Prestonsburg KY Harley Davidson Pikeville-RideHonda.com Dodge 51.873 184.605
13 44 Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN Ansell-Menards Ford 51.877 184.590
14 29 Mikey Kile/Westlake LA Greased Lightning Cleaning Products Chevrolet 51.892 184.537
15 77 Parker Kligerman/Westport CT Cunningham Motorsports Dodge 51.936 184.381
16 16 Joey Coulter/Miami Springs FL Darrell Gwynn Foundation-Tempest Cycle Sales Chevy 51.962 184.289
17 00 Ed Kennedy/Coppell TX Thunder 2 Lubricants Chevrolet 52.003 184.143
18 20 Steve Arpin/Fort Frances ON Pinewood Sports&Marine-Full Force Archery Toyota 52.007 184.129
19 0 Butch Jarvis/Blountville TN Steris Dodge 52.086 183.850
20 09 John Wes Townley/Watkinsville GA Zaxby's Ford 52.131 183.691
21 30 Terry Jones/Amherstburg Ontario Jones Group Racing Dodge 52.134 183.681
22 51 Eddie Mercer/Pensacola FL Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts Toyota 52.264 183.224
23 36 Robb Brent/Shelby Township MI Orchard Chrysler Dodge Jeep Dodge 52.269 183.206
24 4 Ken Weaver/Dallas TX Tri Color-Kwik Cash Dodge 52.470 182.504
25 2 Tim George Jr./New York NY Ruby Tuesday Toyota 52.610 182.019
26 99 John Ferrier/Middletown NY EscapeRV.com Ford 52.652 181.873
27 74 JR Heffner/Stephentown NY Disposal Express Chevrolet 52.748 181.542
28 48 James Hylton/Inman SC James Hylton Racing Dodge 52.807 181.340
29 40 Troy Wangerin/Jordan MN Freightmaster Dodge 53.070 180.441
30 24 Mike Harmon/Birmingport AL DAB Constructors Chevrolet 53.447 179.168
31 7 Dicky Williamson/Savannah GA Dark Horse Racing Ford 53.476 179.071
32 03 Stephan McCurley/Humble TX American Screen-Porter Glass-Royal Purple Chevrolet 53.939 177.534
33 26 Brad Smith/Shelby Township MI ApplianceZone.com-Gene Patient Fabrication Ford 54.275 176.435
34 34 Darrell Basham/Henryville IN Anti Monkey Butt Powder Chevrolet 54.588 175.423
35 23 Jeremy Petty/Smolan KS Hixson Construction Chevrolet 55.042 173.976
36 06 Barry Fitzgerald/Sykesville MD TheBusPlace.com Ford 55.257 173.299
37 84 Todd Antrican/Lebanon OH Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet 56.251 170.237
38 94 Jason Basham/Henryville IN Darrell Basham Racing Chevrolet 60.318 158.759
39 10 Wayne Peterson/Pulaski TN NealCo Chevrolet 61.706 155.188
40 11 Bryan Silas/Stuart FL Rockingham Speedway-Oasis Outsourcing Ford DNS
41 28 Ron Cox/Soddy Daisy TN Hixson Construction Chevrolet DNS


4:00 PM Start of the Talladega ARCA 250 (250 miles / 94 laps) on SPEED

I'll be watching this one in a little while... always an exciting race!

Good luck to Kelly

Wow! that was a pretty boring race
I would have loved to have seen him have a better finish. Guess no one had a clue how to bump draft.

I was disappointed as well, a lot of single file racing. The end was especially bad - no one even tried to make a pass!

I saw this one too, and I can definitely say I've seen better racing than that. It looked like the drivers were too chicken to try and go for the lead.

yep, I think they were too chicken to do anything.

All Bire's needed was a little help.