Kelly Makes Moves En Route To Lee Fields Memorial Podium

Colton Kelly (left) celebrates a third-place finish at Mobile Int'l Speedway. (CLK Motorsports photo)

MOBILE, Ala. – A strong podium finish capped Colton Kelly’s charge through the field in Saturday night’s Lee Fields Memorial Race at Mobile Int’l Speedway.

Kelly posted a solid qualifying lap of 19.868 seconds around the half-mile paved oval before lining up seventh for the 35-lap main event.

The talented teenager from Villa Rica, Ga., got to sixth on the initial start and settled in before picking off positions one by one to advance forward in the running order.

Kelly reached fourth place by the halfway point of the race and made his move to take third on lap 18 with a pass of class veteran David Herndon. From there, he gave chase to the lead duo of Grant Thompson and Steven Davis, who spent most of the race battling tooth-and-nail for the top spot.

Though Kelly couldn’t catch the front two before the checkered flag, he did close the gap down to 1.359 seconds, a strong late run for the No. 18K Pave America team to close out the weekend.

“It was a really strong race for us at Mobile the last time out,” said Kelly. “To have the speed we had really built more confidence for me, and to have a front row seat later on to the battle between Grant and Steven was fun as the laps wound down. I was able to creep up to them in the closing laps and had a shot to get to Steven, but never quite was able to make the move I needed to.

“Looking back on it, I could have been a bit more aggressive and maybe tried to force the issue for second place, but [finishing] third was better than potentially leaving with a torn-up truck,” he added. “We’ll take a really solid run and move on to Pensacola at the end of the month.”

Saturday’s third-place finish finalized the season point standings for Mobile’s track championships, giving Kelly fourth in the overall Pro Truck standings as well as rookie-of-the-year honors.

Kelly would like to thank Pave America, Southern Protection Agency, Southern Drywall, Grant and John Thompson, Race Face Brand Development, and the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation for their partnership and support of his racing efforts.

His Pro Truck campaign continues Friday night, Aug. 29 with a return to Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla., for the first time since late April.

About Colton Kelly

Colton Kelly is a 14-year-old racer from Villa Rica, Ga., who has been fulfilling his need for speed on the racetrack since 2017, when he began quarter midget racing at the age of five.

Kelly’s resume in motorsports features more than 100 quarter midget victories, as well as 10 track championships in his home state of Georgia.

A four-time runner-up in the Southeast-based Dixie Shootout Series point standings, Kelly also has two national quarter midget victories with the NASCAR Youth Series and was the 2023 NASCAR Youth Series Senior Honda division champion.

For 2025, Kelly will graduate out of quarter midgets and turn his focus to Pro Truck racing, where he’ll drive the No. 18K with sponsorship from Pave America, Southern Protection Agency, and Southern Drywall, under the mentorship of Grant and John Thompson.

When not behind the wheel or at a racetrack, Kelly enjoys fishing, skeet shooting, and playing soccer. He is recognized as a top youth skeet shooter in the state of Georgia, all while maintaining honor-roll and Dean’s List status in school. On the charitable front, Kelly is a supporter of the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation’s efforts to better the quality of life for children battling pediatric cancer and their families.

For more information, visit his website at www.coltonkellyracing.com.