Australian Owen Kelly will achieve a boyhood dream when he lines up in August's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at New York's Watkins Glen road course.
Kelly will become the eighth Australian to compete at the highest level of NASCAR racing when he competes for Phoenix Racing in the August 11 event.
The 36-year-old Tasmanian was given the nod by Phoenix Racing's owner James Finch after impressing behind the wheel at a minor-category Nationwide Series event last month.
"The phrase `a dream come true' is used a lot, but there is no other way to describe this," Kelly said.
"When you look at the numbers, NASCAR is the pinnacle of world motorsports and I am humbled that an organisation with the history and depth of Phoenix Racing has provided me with this opportunity."
Kelly will join fellow Tasmanian and former V8 Supercars champion Marcos Ambrose on the grid at Watkins Glen.
Crew chief of the No.51 car Kelly will race next month, Nick Harrison, said Kelly had been the outstanding candidate to fill the seat.
"To be honest Dale (Earnhardt) Jr, Marcos (Ambrose), AJ (Allmendinger) - anyone we spoke to - was very supportive of Owen and what he could bring to our team," Harrison said.
"We are pumped to have him as part of our operation. Anyone who looks at his career and has watched him in his Nationwide qualifying and races knows he has got talent."
Kelly, no relation to owners Todd and Rick Kelly, has competed at the past three Bathurst 1000 V8 Supercar endurance races for the Holden-backed Kelly Racing outfit.
He has been racing in the United States in various categories since 2008 and will not compete in this year's V8 Supercars endurance events as he tries to secure a full-time drive in America.
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