Kelly Racing drop Nissan Altimas, confirm Mustangs for 2020 Supercars Championship

It's an end of an era for Nissan's campaign in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship, and the last Altima V8 cars are being pulled from the series. 

Kelly Racing, the sole team running the Japanese brand's cars in the series have confirmed the switch from the Altimas, to the more popular Mustangs, and down-sizing the four-car model that was established in 2009. 

The team has campaigned the Nissans since 2013, and two of the current cars are likely to be fielded by Kelly Racing in the Dunlop Super2 Series going forward. 

After Nissan pulled its factory support from the series last year, the move to another manufacturer has been inevitable. 

Drivers of the new Kelly Racing Mustangs are yet to be confirmed, but it is expected that Rick Kelly and Andre Heimgartner will stay on.

“We are excited for the future now we have confirmed the team will run Ford Mustangs in 2020,” said Todd Kelly.

“After 11 seasons in Supercars we step into a Ford Mustang that is a proven race winner and will provide us with our best opportunity for success in the future.

“In this competitive environment it has necessitated a reconsideration of our structure to create the optimal model for the future.

“This has resulted in our consolidation and focus on two Supercars for the 2020 season and our intention includes running two Dunlop Super2 entries from next year.”

The two new Mustangs on track will mean that there are now eight Ponies on grid, as Kelly's cars join the four Tickford Racing entries, and the two from Shell V-Power.

“We’re so glad to have Kelly Racing bringing two additional Mustang Supercars to the grid, which brings fans more great news on the back of a hugely positive 2019 season,” said Kay Hart, President and CEO, Ford Australia and New Zealand.

“Having more Mustangs racing next season is a reflection of the team’s hard work and the success of the program so far.”