Ken Jo Kelley TAPS The Wall at Redemption 8.0… The Driver Was UNINJURED!

Ken Jo Kelley has done a little bit of everything a racer can do on the drag strip. Between his two Mustangs, each of which is dedicated to a branch of the US Military, he’s been to both ends of the spectrum as far as track prep goes, running his Marines-themed Fox Body on fully-prepped radial track, while his Army-themed SN95 Mustang has been competing in the world of No Prep. He also spent some time in the NMCA/NMRA world, and has recently acquired a pro mod, which he’s hinting at running in Duck X Production’s Sweet Sixteen, the $101,000-to-win Radial vs the World shootout slated to take place next March.

Last weekend, it was the Army car’s turn to take center stage at Redemption 8.0 in Louisiana, but things didn’t go exactly as Kelley would have liked. Lined up alongside a fellow small-tire competitor in a nitrous-injected Fox Body, Ken Jo staged up the boosted small block and left hard, jumping out to a sizeable lead as his opponent had to pedal early in the run. However, as the boost built, Kelley found himself fighting to keep the car in his lane, eventually getting so out of shape that he skidded to the right and tapped the wall with the rear end.

Jumping all over the brakes, Ken Jo steered the skidding ‘Stang as best he could to try to avoid an impact with the other wall and did a pretty dang good job, ending up with just a light tap on the driver’s side rear as the car came to a stop. The damage is mostly cosmetic and Kelley will have the car back up and running in no time. Thankfully he was able to get it reigned in quickly or this could have had a much different ending for the BBQ restaurant owner, who hails from Brazoria, Texas.

We can’t wait to see this car back in action, as well as the new Pro Mod Mustang. Whether or not he bolts up radials for the Sweet Sixteen or not, that’s going to be a sweet ride that Ken Jo will have a lot of fun in!