Moffat and Caruso look to give Norton best possible send-off; points plan for Jack Daniel's racing

SYDNEY, Australia – James Moffat and Michael Caruso are aiming to give Norton a big send-off in the final event of the 2014 V8 Supercars Championship at Sydney Olympic Park this weekend.

Norton will end its two-year partnership with Nissan Motorsport after the Sydney street race, having confirmed in August that it is withdrawing from the sport.

Moffat has enjoyed a successful relationship with Norton for a number of years and hopes to give them a great parting gift.

Caruso is also aiming for a top result as he fights to retain his top 10 position in the championship standings.

Practice for the Sydney event kicks of on Friday, followed by two 125km races on Saturday ahead of the feature 250km race on Sunday.

James Moffat, #360 Norton Nissan Altima

"Saying goodbye to Norton at the end of this event is going to be sad," said James Moffat.

"They've been a fantastic supporter of mine, especially a couple of people within that organization, namely Matthew Drake and Trudy Wood.

"We want to go to Sydney Olympic Park and send out Norton with a good solid result. We've had a couple of highlights this year, but on the whole, it has been a difficult year for me. It wasn't what I was hoping for, but all we can do is try our best at Homebush, finish on a high and use it as a springboard into 2015."

Michael Caruso, #36 Norton Nissan Altima

"It's a huge shame that this will be our last event racing under the Norton brand," said Michael Caruso.

"They have a been fantastic company to work with and have been really motivated about the program. It has been a really great to work with them for the past two years.

"I hope we can send them off in the best way possible. It's a home event for myself in Sydney. I'll have a lot of family and friends there which hopefully gives me an edge to get on top of my rivals."

Points Plan for Jack Daniel's Racing

Jack Daniel's Racing's Rick Kelly is looking to finish the V8 Supercars Championship on a high, with a strong result in the Sydney NRMA 500 set to see the Nissan Altima driver climb up the final point standings.

With the entire Nissan Motorsport squad finding form at the tail end of the season, Kelly has elevated himself from 18th position in the rankings at Hidden Valley, to 14th following the penultimate event at Phillip Island.

The gap however to 11th placed Will Davison currently sits at only 63 points, and with 300 points on offer from the final three races, Kelly is looking to move up behind his 10th placed teammate Michael Caruso.

Kelly has form on the board from the Sydney Olympic Park Street Circuit, with a third place finish achieved in the wild opening race from 2010, while further top-ten results have been produced at the two most recent visits to the concrete canyon.

Todd Kelly meanwhile is looking to keep the ball the rolling following a late season form improvement.

After coming home seventh in the Bathurst 1000 alongside Alex Buncombe, a fifth place result came at Phillip Island, his best finish of the season to date.

The Homebush weekend will feature four 20-minute practice sessions, two 10-minute qualifying sessions for the pair of 125km races on Saturday, and a further 20 minute qualifying and top-ten shootout ahead of Sunday's 250km season finale.

JACK DANIEL'S RACING QUOTEBOARD

RICK KELLY - #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Nissan Altima

"I'm quite excited," said Rick Kelly.

"The run home after Bathurst is where you start to focus on your championship position, although I'm not in a great one, you always want to do the best you can and finish as high as possible.

"We're quite fortunate that we've moved forward towards the end of 2014, which has set us up as pretty well for the start of next year.

"Obviously with Michael (Caruso) 10th in points, at Phillip Island I closed the points gap to 11th position, but I dropped from 13th to 14th in the standings.

"So our aim is like everyone, try to finish the year on a high, and try to move ourselves up to finish near Michael.

"If we can move ourselves up to 11th in the points it will show a bit of strength moving into next year, when some further improvements we are planning will come on stream."

Todd Kelly - #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Nissan Altima

"It's gone pretty quick this year. We've tried to improve the cars throughout the whole season, and in the later part they have been quite competitive," said Todd Kelly.

"We had a great round at Phillip Island in terms of car speed, but we just now need to see what it gives us at Homebush.

"We've got a few little things that we've improved over the past few rounds, and it would certainly be good to finish the season on a high."

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