Kelly Denton (born March 10, 1973) is an American former professional stock car racing driver who competed in NASCAR between 1996 and 2002.

Kelly Denton
Denton in 1997
Born (1973-03-10) March 10, 1973 (age 51)
Bristol, Virginia
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
36 races run over 5 years
Best finish30th (2001)
First race1998 Moore's Snacks 250 (Bristol)
Last race2002 1-866RBCTerm.com 200 (Rockingham)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
10 races run over 2 years
Best finish35th (1997)
First race1996 Hanes 250 (Martinsville)
Last race1997 Dodge California Truckstop 300 (Bakersfield)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0

Racing career

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Craftsman Truck Series

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Denton drove a second Grier Lackey Dodge in two races in 1996. He piloted the No. 03 Mopar Dodge in his first career race at Martinsville Speedway, starting in 8th place, but finished last (36th) after mechanical woes. He also ran the next race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, starting 7th and finishing 18th.

Denton would make eight starts in 1997, driving for Lackey in the first five of those starts. Denton started 5th at Walt Disney World Speedway before finishing 23rd. Denton had his best run for Lackley with a 16th at Phoenix International Speedway in April, and then bettered that with a 12th-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway. Denton switched over to the No. 35 Charles Hardy-owned car and completed three races for the team. His best run was an 18th at Martinsville.

Busch Series

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Denton ran the majority of his early Busch Series career for Henderson Motorsports, beginning in 1998. He made his first career start by starting 18th at Bristol and coming home 33rd in the No. 75 for Henderson. Denton also made the fall race, but finished 43rd after an early engine expiration.

In 1999, Denton hoped to run for NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year honors for Henderson with sponsorship from Big Daddy's BBQ Sauce. Unfortunately, the sponsorship deal was canceled, forcing Denton to make only four starts. He started the season off with a finish of 20th at Talladega Superspeedway and that ended up being his best career finish. He was also 22nd at Rockingham in addition to the two Bristol races. Denton finished 41st and 34th in those Bristol races.

Denton would make four starts in 2000, as he finished 38th in the season opening race at Daytona International Speedway. He also went on to once again compete the season races at Bristol. He recorded his best career finish in the spring, as he ended up 15th. However, he only managed 34th in the fall event. Denton also ran for Moy Racing, who hired Denton to drive their No. 77 Ford at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he finished 30th.

Denton ran 24 of 33 races in 2001. He completed the first six races for Moy, recording a pair of 18ths at Bristol and Daytona. Denton then jumped ship and moved to the No. 54 General Creation Chevy for Team Bristol Motorsports. Denton made most of the races for that team. His finishes were solid, as he recorded a pair of 13ths at the Milwaukee Mile and Kentucky Speedway along with a finish of 16th at Dover International Speedway, but lost his ride when the team shut down at the end of the year.

Denton made only two starts in 2002. Despite finishes of 16th at Daytona and 27th at Rockingham, Denton was released in favor of Kevin Grubb after qualifying for the third race at Las Vegas.[1] Denton has not raced in major NASCAR since.

Motorsports career results

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NASCAR

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Busch Series

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NASCAR Busch Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 NBSC Pts Ref
1998 Henderson Motorsports 75 Chevy DAY CAR LVS NSV DAR BRI
33
TEX HCY TAL NHA NZH CLT
DNQ
DOV RCH PPR GLN MLW MYB CAL SBO
DNQ
IRP MCH BRI
43
DAR
DNQ
RCH DOV CLT
DNQ
GTY CAR ATL HOM 103th 98 [2]
1999 DAY
DNQ
CAR LVS ATL DAR TEX NSV BRI
DNQ
TAL
20
CAL NHA RCH NZH CLT
41
DOV SBO GLN MLW MYB PPR GTY IRP MCH BRI
DNQ
DAR
34
RCH DOV
DNQ
CLT
DNQ
CAR
22
MEM
DNQ
PHO HOM 75th 306 [3]
2000 DAY
38
CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI
15
TEX NSV
DNQ
TAL
DNQ
CAL RCH NHA CLT DOV SBO MYB GLN MLW NZH PPR GTY IRP MCH BRI
34
DAR RCH DOV CLT CAR MEM PHO 71st 301 [4]
PRW Racing 77 Ford HOM
30
2001 DAY
18
CAR
27
LVS
26
ATL
37
DAR
33
BRI
18
TEX
28
NSH TAL 30th 1863 [5]
Team Bristol Motorsports 54 Chevy CAL
34
RCH
41
NHA NZH
24
CLT
42
DOV
16
KEN
13
MLW
13
GLN
25
CHI
40
GTY
21
PPR
25
IRP MCH
38
BRI
37
DAR
27
RCH
42
DOV
30
KAN CLT MEM PHO CAR
28
HOM
2002 DAY
16
CAR
27
LVS
QL
DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL CAR PHO HOM 84th 197 [6]
- Qualified but replaced by Kevin Grubb

Craftsman Truck Series

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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 NCTC Pts Ref
1996 Grandaddy Racing 30 Dodge HOM PHO POR EVG TUS CNS HPT BRI NZH MLW LVL I70 IRP FLM GLN NSV RCH NHA MAR
36
NWS
18
SON MMR PHO LVS 82nd 164 [7]
1997 Chevy WDW
23
TUS
27
HOM
24
PHO
16
POR EVG I70 NHA TEX BRI
12
NZH MLW LVL CNS HPT IRP FLM NSV GLN 35th 764 [8]
Charles Hardy Racing 35 Chevy RCH
31
MAR
18
SON MMR
29
CAL PHO LVS
1998 Sasser-Fogleman & Associates 30 Chevy WDW
DNQ
HOM PHO POR EVG I70 GLN TEX BRI MLW NZH CAL PPR IRP NHA FLM NSV HPT LVL RCH MEM GTY MAR SON MMR PHO LVS 136th - [9]

Winston West Series

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NASCAR Winston West Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos. Pts Ref
1997 Olson Technology Racing 31 Ford TUS AMP SON TUS MMR LVS CAL EVG POR PPR
25
AMP SON MMR LVS 76th 88 [10]

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ABMSC Pts Ref
1996 R.S. Jones & Associates 86 Ford DAY
12
ATL
14
SLM TAL
10
FIF LVL CLT
19
CLT
5
KIL FRS POC MCH
2*
FRS TOL POC MCH
13
IND SBS ISF DSF KIL SLM WIN CLT ATL 32nd - [11]

References

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  1. ^ "Grubb To Stay In 54 Car". Motor Racing Network. March 13, 2002. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  2. ^ "Kelly Denton – 1998 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  3. ^ "Kelly Denton – 1999 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  4. ^ "Kelly Denton – 2000 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  5. ^ "Kelly Denton – 2001 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  6. ^ "Kelly Denton – 2002 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  7. ^ "Kelly Denton – 1996 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  8. ^ "Kelly Denton – 1997 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  9. ^ "Kelly Denton – 1998 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  10. ^ "Kelly Denton – 1997 NASCAR Winston West Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  11. ^ "Kelly Denton – 1996 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
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