Kelly Estey Racing News Archive
HBBING, MN (May 27, 2008) - After a very successful first week of racing that saw Kelly take a 2nd at Superior and two 1st place wins at Hibbing and Proctor, Kelly's Como Oil & Propane, Mohawk's Salvage, Bud Light, Bougalis & Sons Construction, Carquest Motorsports, Ken's Range Satellite, Mirror Images Day Spa, Tim's Automotive Machine, Scott's Designs, StarTax.com, Specialty Fabricating J-Car was ready for a short weekend of racing.  There was no Modified racing in Superior on Friday because the Amsoil Late Model Series was running their first race that night.  So just two races this weekend, but that was just fine as Sunday was the first race of the Como Modified Series and that allowed Kelly a little more time to prepare for his quest for a second straight series title.

Saturday night in Hibbing, Kelly started out in the inside of row five.  Kelly quickly took fourth place coming out of corner two and down the front stretch Kelly bolted himself past Bob Broking and Tim Danielson with a very quick reaction move and found himself in second place after the first lap.  Kelly then worked on the leader Jodi Olson for the next two laps and after the pass, never looked back, taking the checkered flags in first.  Kelly came out for the feature in the inside 5th row.  Kelly again quickly worked his way around Jeff Hart and Marc Damjanovich, and after five laps found himself in fifth.  Kelly worked the next 15 laps getting around Brad Hanson.  Hanson and Estey made their way up to second and third respectively and Kelly finally passed Brad with about 7 to go.  Kelly now had his sights on the leader Ricky Roche, however Ricky was checked out by that time, and Kelly settled for a very solid 2nd place finish.

Sunday night was the scene of the first Como Mod Series race of the year.  Kelly drew the 7th position in heat number 2.  Kelly screamed across the very tacky Proctor Speedway and finished 2nd behind Craig Thatcher, earning himself a spot in the Castrol Syntec Pole Dash.  Kelly started the Pole Dash in the 5th position and worked his way to 4th with one lap to go.  On the final lap the leader, Jeff Spacek, blew a tire in corner one, and Ryan Aho and Jayme Lautigar battled up on top of the backstretch only to see Kelly scream by them on the bottom and pass three cars on the final lap to win the Pole Dash and secure the Pole for the feature.  Kelly started out the 30 lap feature by racing side by side with Jayme Lautigar for two laps, then pulled out to a commanding lead.  Once Kelly got to lap traffic, Aho started to reel Kelly in.  With 14 laps to go, Aho passed Kelly on the high side down the front straightaway, and took the lead.  The next seven laps saw Aho, Estey and Lautigar weaving in and out of lap traffic.  With seven laps to go, a caution came out, and that put Kelly on the back bumper of Aho with no lap traffic in front of either modified.  On the restart, Kelly was right on Aho's bumper at the flag stand and when Aho dove low in corner one, Kelly stayed up top and flew by Aho coming out of corner two.  Kelly would lead the next seven laps and cruise to his 3rd feature win of the year and 6th Como Mod Series feature in 17 races.  Kelly also has won every Como Mod Series opening race in the history of the 3 year old series. 

HIBBING, MN (April 19, 2008) - The racing season has finally begun in the northland and Kelly Estey's Como Oil & Propane, Mohawk's Salvage, Bud Light, Bougalis & Sons Construction, Carquest Motorsports, Ken's Range Satellite, Mirror Images Day Spa, Tim's Automotive Machine, Scott's Designs, StarTax.com, Specialty Fabricating J-Car was ready for action!!

Superior Speedway was the scene for the first race of the year and Kelly drew the pole for the third heat. He paced the field to the checked and earned a great opening night heat race win in front of a full house. The dredded point inversion system is not used the first night of racing at a WISSOTA-sanction track, so the feature races were lined-up straight up from the heat races. Kelly won the third heat so that put him inside row two for the feature behind the Forest Lakes's Joey Jensen and Aurora's Duane Dale. Kelly bolted out to an early lead in turn two and led the first eight laps. Joey Jensen fell back to third, but worked his way back into second and slowly reeled Kelly in. Kelly was very fast on his favored bottom groove, but Jensen found some traction on the top side and bolted past Kelly on lap nine. Kelly made a little charge through lapped traffic, but had to settle for a very solid second place behind Jensen.

On Saturday night Kelly race at his home track's season opener in Hibbing, MN. Kelly has performed very well at Hibbing over the years, but unlike Friday night, he drew mid-pack and started on the inside of the third row. Kelly worked his way around a couple drivers during his heat and settled for a third place finish in a very competitive heat. That finish earned Kelly an inside row three starting spot for the night's WISSOTA Modifed feature. On the green, front row starters Ricky Roche and Alan Olafson got into each other and Roche ended up with a flat tire while Olafson had body damage and couldn't continue. During the next three laps Kelly passed Bob Broking, Ryan Aho and then Jeff Wood for the lead. Once out front, Kelly built up a straightaway advantage over the field, but four cautions thereafter, brought the competition on his back bumper. On each restart Kelly pulled out to a commanding lead and had the field covered for his first WISSOTA Modified feature win of the year.

On Sunday at Proctor Speedway, Kelly drew nearly the same for his heat race as the night before in Hibbing. Kelly started on the outside of row three and passed three cars immediately, but finished second behind Modified rookie and former Super Stock national champion Ryan Aho. The second place heat finish earned Kelly an outside second row feature start. Kelly quickly jumped into second, and on a restart with two laps in, got a great jump on the race leader, Aho, and checked out. There was a great battle for second between Aho, Jayme Lautigar and Darrell Nelson. That battle allowed Kelly to extend his lead, however, Nelson emerged from the second place battle and use the bottom groove to reel in Kelly. With six laps to go Kelly saw Nelson going high in three and four and changed his groove to prevent Darrell from catching him. They fought through lapped traffic and it was a classic Estey & Nelson cat and mouse game; they entertained the fans for two laps in lapped traffic before the final caution came out. With three laps to go Kelly fought off the last efforts of Nelson and crossed the checkered with his second WISSOTA Modified feature win in as many nights. It's a great start for the 37 Team!!