Paul Kelley, seen here in victory lane in 2007, is the only four time winner of the World Crown. No other driver has won more than two of the Georgia short track classics. Photo by Brandon Reed
What do you call the person who has won a legendary event more than two times over anyone else?
In the case of the World Crown 300, you call him “King of the World Crown.”
That’s the nickname hung on Pendergrass, Georgia’s Paul Kelley. Kelley has beaten the best of the best in short track racing at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Georgia four times.
Nobody else has won the famed “king of the short tracks” event more than twice.
Kelley is also the only driver thus far to have won the famed event on both the old Peach State Speedway layout and the newly refurbished Gresham layout.
His first victory came on Oct. 23, 2001, when he was 19 years of age.
The field was led to the green flag by Rodney Landrum. Landrum would dominate the opening 54 laps of the event until Stephen Leicht took the top spot.
But Kelley had been stalking the leaders. With 80 laps to go, Kelley swept past Leicht, and then worked to hold on to the top spot. As the laps wound down, Commerce, Georgia’s Lee Langford charged for the front, passing Leicht with five laps to go. But a late caution would spoil Langford’s charge, and Kelley would go on to record his first World Crown win.
A common sight for race fans in 2006 and 2007 - Paul Kelley on the charge. Photo by Brandon Reed
Kelley would wear the crown again on Oct. 22, 2006. He established himself as a contender early on, taking the lead 15 laps in by passing early leader Bubba Pollard, and going on to lead most of the first half of the event.
Matt Hawkins would take the top spot from Kelley not long before the halfway point, with Kelley fading to the fourth spot as the race approached the halfway break.
Korey Ruble would move past former World Crown champion Fredrick Moore to take the lead soon after the restart. But a restart with 45 laps to go opened the door for Kelley to retake the lead, and he would hold the point to the lead, beating out Ruble for the victory.
It didn’t take long for Kelley to score his third World Crown victory, as he picked up the win one year later on Oct. 22, 2007.
Richard Petty once said only the last lap of a race counted. The other 499, he said, was all for practice.
Kelley showed the true meaning of that sentiment in 2007’s edition of the World Crown.
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Paul Kelley (23) makes the pass on Matt Hawkins (22) coming to two laps to go in the 2007 World Crown. Kelley would go on to win his third crown. Photo by Brandon Reed
Kelley played out a risky tire strategy to get himself into position to challenge leader Matt Hawkins late in the going. Hawkins had dominated the event, and appeared to be on his way to victory lane.
Kelley would make the pass on Hawkins with just two laps left to go, and would lead his only two laps of the day to score his third World Crown victory.
“It’s awesome,” Kelley said after his third overall World Crown victory. “We had a really good car, good crew, good tire guy. The crew chief and everybody worked together. Thank the Lord.
“We had so many problems just trying to get here. Motor problems, rear end problems, you name it, we had problems. But we got it all shaken out, got here this weekend, and everything just fell right into place.”
Maybe the most improbable of Kelley’s four victories is the most recent, coming at the Nov. 15, 2009 running of the event.
Second generation racer Chase Elliott started from the pole, with Jeff Choquette on the outside. Choquette would take the early lead, with Elliott and Ryan Sieg giving chase.
After a competition caution, Maine’s Cassius Clark took the top spot, with Choquette racing in his tire tracks. Choquette would take the top spot again, and hold it until the lap 200 break.
Paul Kelley waves to the fans after one of his four victories. Photo by Brandon Reed
On lap 223, Bubba Pollard took a wild ride on his top down into the first turn. He escaped injury, but the field saw another favorite fall by the wayside.
As the laps wound down, Kelley had moved into the top three, chasing leader Choquette and second place Max Gresham to the checkered flag.
But when Choquette and Gresham failed post-race tech, Kelley was awarded the win, making him the first four time winner of the event and solidifying his status as “King of the World Crown.”
“It’s almost unreal to be a four-time champion of the World Crown 300,” Kelley said. “Just winning this race once would be saying a lot. To be on the same list as guys like Darrell Waltrip, Dick Trickle and a lot of other great racers is really special. To be a four-time winner is beyond belief.”
This year, Kelley will be looking for a win during the World Crown weekend, but not from behind the wheel. He will instead be working as crew chief for R.S. Senter in the Nov. 12 running of the Beau Slocumb Memorial as part of Saturday night’s events during the World Crown weekend.
For more information on the 28th annual Rheem World Crown 300, visit Gresham Motorsports Park’s website at www.greshammotorsportspark.com.
