Reflections of Junior Kelly, a Friend – by Ken MacIsaac

Junior Kelly will be laid to rest today after passing away last Friday (March 25). Ken MacIsaac, long-time Maritime motorsports photographer and a good friend of Junior’s, has been reflecting on times with and stories told by his friend and is sharing some of those personal moments with us, along with a large collection of photos, many of which are previously unpublished.

By Ken MacIsaac

A few days have gone by since I heard the news of Junior’s passing, and it’s given me time to reflect on what a great racer he was, and what a great friend he was to me. We all know his stats and accomplishments, but here are some others and a few stories that help to chronicle Juniors racing career.

He started racing in Nine Mile River in the mid 60s with a 49 Chev that he and his dad built. It wasn’t much of a car, I remember him saying. But once Drag City was built, Junior started to take it a little more serious. Crashed a lot, broke a lot, but I liked that track, I remember him saying.

In the early 70’s, he raced for the Roache Brothers at Atlantic Speedway. The Roache Brothers always had beautiful equipment and one of my personal favorite cars of that era was the red Chevelle they campaigned in the 74 season. Originally built by Tommy Harmes, Junior and the Roaches never had the success they were hoping for with the car. But in 1976, Junior bought a Howe Camaro in Ontario and ran it in the Modified class at Atlantic Speedway. The wins started coming that year.

Junior was spending more time on the car, working longer nights in the garage. At one point in the 76 season, Junior announced that he was stepping back from racing in order to spend time with his family and business. That didn’t last long though. In 1977 he joined forces with Bob Riley. That partnership would prove to be one of the most successful in Maritime racing. In 79, Bob hung one of the sleekest bodies ever seen on a stock car. They ran that Firebird body from 1979 to 1982, winning the Modified points championship at Atlantic Speedway in 79. When MASCAR formed in 83, Junior and team were at the very first race in Riverside and continued to run together up until the early 90s, winning the 1985 MASCAR Championship.

In September of 1984 Oxford Plains Speedway held a Twin 100’s race. It was a pleasant surprise for me to see the #50 car pull through the pit gate that day. That was my only time running Oxford, other than with Scott. They gave us such a hard time in tech. They didn’t like the roofline. Said we had to raise it. We found a block of wood and wedged it between the roll bar and the roof, Junior said.

One of Juniors proudest moments in racing was winning the very first MASCAR race at Scotia Speedworld in 1988. That may have been the only bragging he’s ever done with me, other than Scott’s accomplishments. In 87, Junior built a street stock for Scott to drive at Onslow, and then Scotia. Scott had a pretty bad wreck with the street stock in 89. Then we decided to build him an open wheel modified, Junior said.

Junior and Bob Riley would continue to race together up until late 1992. Junior was dedicating more and more time to Scott’s racing and would unofficially retire from driving.

1993 was a busy year for the Kelly’s. Scott was running strong at Scotia in the open wheel modified, Junior bought a MASCAR race car for Scott to run a few times and Junior himself got back behind the wheel in a spare open wheel car at Scotia.

In 1994 Junior and Scott ran MASCAR full time. Scott finished eighth in points and won the Rookie Of The Year.

In 1995, Junior added another car to Scott’s fleet. It was an important car too. Rewind to the summer of 94. At the Oxford 250 in Maine that year, the last car to pull though the pit gates that afternoon was Junior Hanley. I remember thinking to myself.. he missed half a day of practice, he must’ve broken down on the way here. But no, Hanley had built a brand new car at Port City Racing in Michigan and drove directly from there to Oxford. Impressive. Hanley won the pole for the 250 that day, and was the odds on favorite in winning the 250 as well before getting caught up in a wreck. Anyway, Junior Kelly bought this car in the off season for Scott to run in 95. In June of that year Scott won his very first MASCAR feature at Petty Raceway.

Another one of the Kelly’s proudest moments was at the 1996 Oxford 250 in Maine where Scott finished an impressive third. Winning the 1998 I.P.S.C. championship would be Scott’s final racing accomplishment. Scott would battle cancer for several years before finally passing on May 2, 1999. Two days before that, Junior’s dad Lewis had died. Unimaginable grief that Junior and Brenda endured.

Junior even attempted a few MASCAR races in 99 with the cars that were already prepared for Scott to run, but his heart wasn’t in it.

I remember driving in his yard a year or so later, and seeing a truck and trailer backed up to his garage. There were people loading race car parts in it. They (Dearborn family from Maine) bought the Hanley car, Junior said. I even sold them the floor plate. They’re coming back for that. I knew Junior was selling off the equipment. Donald Chisholm had bought his first car from Junior shortly before this, so it really wasn’t a surprise. Just sad to see.

I always made a point of stopping in to see him when I was in his area. We’d always talk racing. Old racing stories, current racing. Almost every conversation we had, he’d always say… you remember that car? And I’d say which car?. He’d say I’ll show you, and we’d head to his basement, and tell even more stories. Stories he’d already told me a dozen times. But they were equally as interesting.

One time he and Brenda gave me a bunch of Scott’s trophies. I said you can’t give me these, they’re Scotts!. He said why not? They’re only collecting dust. I know you’ll appreciate them. I never forgot that. I told him years later that I still have those trophies and most are on display. All he said was…. I know.

In late 2009 I suffered my own personal loss, losing my fiance in a car accident. I opened up to Junior about it and told him all the details and how hard it was on me. I wasn’t looking for any kind of sympathy but knowing the grief they’ve gone through with losing Scott, I figured that of all people, he could relate to me. He did. He said sometimes life isn’t fair, but we just have to keep going. Then he slapped me on my shoulder and said come and look at the pool. That was it. Subject changed. As simple and quick as that was, it made a lot of sense to me. That was Junior.

The longer I type, the more stories I come up with. So I’ll stop.

As we get older, more of our racing heroes retire from the sport and eventually pass on. It hurts. It’s like when an extended family member dies. Whenever I run into a former racer, I always make a point of reminiscing with them about their racing days. Deep down, they really appreciate it. It makes them feel good and it makes me feel good.

I’m glad I shared all the time and tales that I did with Junior Kelly, and I’ll miss him.

Rest in peace, my friend.