Kelsey marches on at NOLA

 

RPSRaceTeam.com sponsored Danny Kelsey continued to march through the 2013 season with 5 wins at the 5th round of the CMRA Sprint Championship Series. The event marked an opportunity for the team to also shakedown their GSXR-1000 in preparation for the AMA Pro National Guard Superbike event the following weekend. This event marked the CMRA’s first time at NOLA Motorsports Park.

 

The weekend was in question for Kelsey and the team as Danny and his wife Kayla welcomed Madison Rose Kelsey into their lives just 4 days prior to the weekend’s festivities. With Danny being introduced into fatherhood; the team, families, and crew chief all discussed whether Kelsey should even participate. All involved believed Kelsey should race and his wife Kayla was the leading voice in the discussion. Kelsey however would not be flying into NOLA until Friday night. This would provide several challenges for the team to overcome in order for Danny to succeed in his racing endeavors.

 

Kelsey and the team used the limited time on Saturday to attack the setup of the team’s Pirelli shod Suzuki GSXR-750 and GSXR-1000. Valuable setup data was gathered and crew chief Marcus McBain made a multitude of changes to address the challenges that were expected by the fierce competition that is the norm in CMRA sprint championship action.

As Sunday morning practice and qualifying concluded, the team was very pleased as Kelsey was able to run a 1:44.2 on his GP Suspension and JRi shocks equipped GSXR-1000 in the Breast Cancer Research Awareness Formula One qualifying and this put him on the front row for the CMRA’s premier class despite the hasty setup. The team’s GSXR-750 also responded well to the critical changes and the team was ready for the expected onslaught of CMRA challengers for top honors in Kelsey’s 5 classes he contests.

 

As the starting light sent the field off for 750 Superstock race, Kelsey quickly put his DP Brakes equipped GSXR-750 into the lead and set a blistering pace. Although Kelsey was in the lead, he was also using the race to verify the smaller Suzuki’s setup. On lap 3, he felt comfortable enough to push the pace into the 1:45’s. He continued to get faster every lap and on lap 6 he ran a 1:45.526 en route to his first victory of the day.

 

Open Superstock was anticipated to be a barn burner with some of the competition involved. Crashes by by at least one of his key competitors meant that Kelsey was never challenged as he won by over 21 seconds after 6 laps of racing action. The Breast Cancer Research Awareness Formula one race additionally played out the same with Kelsey posting his 3rd win of the day and a 23 second win as the checkered flag was displayed after 8 laps of competition.

 

750 Superbike may have been the closest finish expected for the day, but again Kelsey was fortunate and posted another win. Again, Danny set the pace and ran a race fastest 1:48.863 on a drying track. As the CMRA fought delays from sporadic and heavy rainfall, Danny was facing new drama. His flight to return to his wife and new daughter was at 8:00pm that evening. Open Superbike did not leave the starting line until almost 6:00pm. This meant that Danny would have to leave within 15 minutes of the checkered flag waving for the race. Kelsey made sure he finished upright while winning the Open Superbike expert race and caught his flight with minutes to spare.

 

“It was a very difficult weekend for me. I really am very happy to have had the opportunity to compete with the tremendous support of all my family. We didn’t really expect these results. I am very happy for our sponsors. I also want to dedicate this weekend to my wife and daughter Madison,” stated Kelsey as he rushed to the airport.

 

Danny Kelsey will continue to contest the entire CMRA series in his efforts to regain the number one plate. The team would not be able to compete at this level without the special efforts of KMC Controls, RS Taichi, Pirelli, Dynojet, Vortex, Motoliberty, South Central Race Center, Motopia, M4 Exhausts, DP Brakes, K’s Motorsports, GP Suspension, JRi Shocks, Lone Star Track Days, Shoei Helmets, Hotbodies Racing, Silkolene, WRW Racing, Barnett, Chicken Hawk Racing. Kelsey will resume racing action at Baber Motorsports Park for the Triumph Superbike Classic presented by America’s First Federal Credit Union.