Admiraal Racing

Kelly Admiraal, driver of the #83 Western Camp Services Chevrolet, scored his first career NASCAR K&N Pro Series top ten finish in the Carneros 200 this past Saturday at Sonoma (CA) Raceway with a seventh place performance. The 1.99-mile road course at Sonoma Raceway in Northern California is one of the more technical racetracks in North America but Admiraal quickly adapted to the 12-turn layout qualifying an impressive 12th for the 64-lap contest.

After logging only a handful of laps testing GT cars at Sonoma in preparation for the his NASCAR K&N Pro Series roadcourse debut, Admiraal and his Craig Raudman led team were among the fastest cars all weekend.

During the 64-lap race, Admiraal never fell below 12th place and stayed in the top ten most of the race even leading his first two laps in competition in his third NKNPS start.

After the race an excited Kelly Admiraal was thrilled with the team's performance. "I can tell you that was a whole lot of fun," Admiraal said. "I am wore out but it feels so good to run well in our first roadcourse event. Craig (Raudman- crew chief) had the perfect set up for me and the car was flawless all race."

Admiraal drives for his family owned team and his dad and brothers were all smiles after the race. "The kid drove his heart out and I could not be more proud," offered Menno Admiraal, Kelly's father. "We know he is a good racer but he proved something today."

Kelly's oldest brother Theo had a birdseye view of most of the action working as a spotter on the lower section of the course. Theo has experience drag racing but was quick to point out that Kelly is the racer of the family. "We all love racing but Kelly is the one with the real talent," Theo Admiraal said. "It was so much fun watching him race and doing so well against teams and drivers with more experience."

Ian Admiraal, the middle brother, runs the team and spends most of his time cultivating sponsorships so the team can race at a competitive level. "Kelly was awesome," Ian Admiraal said. "I know he drove the car but I am flat wore out just watching. Wow, was that fun."

Kelly Admiraal will have little time to truly enjoy his accomplishment as he is in the middle of high school finals and has several tests to take this week before flying to Seattle this weekend for the Late Model Summer Showdown at Evergreen Speedway.

"The tests are certainly going to seem a lot easier after the race at Sonoma," Kelly Admiraal offered. "A finish like this give me a lot of enthusiasm and motivation going forward. We now know we can race at this level. Having the whole family here and a lot of our friends from Edmonton was really cool. Everyone had a great time."

The team will compete in a variety of racing series this season including the NASCAR K&N Pro Series, NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, the Dakota Dunes Series, and selected Late Model special events.

The team's next NASCAR K&N Pro Series start will be on the 5/8-mile Evergreen Speedway known as the Superspeedway of the West with Kelly Admiraal behind the wheel. The team's complete schedule is located at www.admiraalracing.com.

The team's next NASCAR K&N Pro Series start will be on the 5/8-mile Evergreen Speedway known as the Superspeedway of the West with Kelly Admiraal behind the wheel. The team's complete schedule is located at www.admiraalracing.com.