Kelly Drake

Team Manager

Nine Racing's success has been largely built by Team Manager Kelly Drake. Kelly, who joined Nine Racing in 1995 as the chief mechanic, and worked under the watchful eye of car builder Bob East. He also keeps everything in motion during the preparation for a big race weekend. He keeps the crew organized, manages paperwork in the office, orders parts, and oversees the preparation and maintenance of the cars, truck and trailer. Because of Kelly, the shop runs like clockwork; crew members know what needs to be done, so everybody does what they need to do. The crew fires up the dirt cars for testing and prep work before they're loaded into the trailer. At the track during an event, the team practices, qualifies, runs heat races, and then runs the main event. It's a laid out format, as the crew tries to adapt to the track and do its best. For Kelly, it's all about claiming victory; everything he does on a day-to-day basis leads up to that three-letter word--Win!

Kelly is no stranger to racing, as he's been involved in midget racing since he was five years old. He started in quarter midgets at a young age, moved up to TQs (three-quarter-sized midgets), and raced midgets himself as a teenager and in his early 20s. Kelly, the youngest in a family of racers, was influenced by older brother Mike, who also raced TQs, and then full-sized midgets, and is currently Nine Racing Special Projects Engineer. Kelly learned about the cars and the industry through helping his older brother, a period of time that primed him for greatness.

Kelly, who never in his wildest dreams thought he could ever make a living in midget racing, enjoys the gratification that comes with winning. After putting in countless hours and much effort, it undoubtedly feels good to win.

Kelly started at Nine Racing in 1995 when his nephew, and then up-and-coming racer Jay Drake, was a driver on the team. A mechanic position opened up, so Kelly, a machinist by trade, along with his wife Kelley, packed up their belongings and moved from California to Brownsburg, Indiana. Kelly fit right in with the team from the first moment. In fact, the first year Kelly came aboard, Tony Stewart, who drove for Nine Racing at the time, won all three USAC championships--Silver Crown, midgets, and sprint cars. Kelly was part of that historical Triple Crown championship moment. Beginning in 1995, Nine Racing won two USAC National Championships in a row, with Tony (1995) and Kenny Irwin Jr. (1996), then beginning in 1998, won seven championships in a row, with Jason Leffler (1998-1999), Kasey Kahne (2000), Dave Darland (2001-2002), JJ Yeley (2003), and Bobby East (2004). Kelly's role was monumental to the winning tradition at Nine Racing.

While achievements are numerous, Kelly's latest accomplishments include winning the prestigious Turkey Night Grand Prix in 2007, where Nine Racing driver Dave Darland dominated the field, along with winning the Copper Classic running with the first Ed Pink-prepared Toyota midget race engine with driver Dave Steele.

It's no wonder that Kelly prefers the tracks where Nine Racing claims glory. The team manager, who's always up for a challenge, favors pavement track O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis because it's tough for drivers to figure out right away and a challenge for the car setups as well. He favors dirt track Belleville in Kansas for the same reasons. Belleville is what Kelly calls an engine dyno track because for an engine builder, it's very challenging. It's a track that he really enjoys going to, but admits that the whole time he's there, he's a nervous wreck because it can be 'scary-fast.' Nine Racing has scored 18 wins at O'Reilly Raceway Park (formerly IRP) and 10 wins at Belleville so far, and that's hard to do.