Patrick Kelly (born September 4, 1967) is an American video game designer and racing driver who last competed in the LMP2 class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports. He was crowned champion in 2020, having notably recovered from a brain injury which sidelined him for nine years.
Alongside his racing career, Kelly works as Activision's head of creative design for the Call of Duty franchise, as well as being the co-studio head of Infinity Ward.
Kelly made his car racing debut in 2006, racing in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge for Kelly-Moss Racing. After finishing sixth in the overall standings in 2006 and making a one-off appearance at Indianapolis the following year, Kelly returned to Kelly-Moss Racing for his full season return in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge in 2008. In his second full-time season in the series, Kelly achieved his only series win in the Laguna Seca finale and eight other podiums to secure a third-place points finish in the Platinum standings.
Two years later, Kelly joined Alex Job Racing to race in the 12 Hours of Sebring, in which he finished third in the GTC class, driving a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup. That became his only race of the year, as just after purchasing an Oreca FLM09 for a possible step-up to the LMPC class, Kelly was involved in a traffic accident, which left him with multiple fractures and a brain injury.
Kelly returned to action some nine years later, joining PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports to compete in the 2019 Road Race Showcase at Road America, and won on his LMP2 debut alongside Matt McMurry. In 2020, Kelly re-signed with PR1/Mathiasen to race in the LMP2 class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship from the Sebring sprint onwards, which he won alongside Spencer Pigot. Kelly then took a clean sweep of poles and further wins at Road Atlanta, Laguna Seca and the 12 Hours of Sebring to secure the LMP2 title, the Jim Trueman award and an invitation to the following year's 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Remaining with PR1/Mathiasen as they joined forces with Tech 1 Racing, Kelly was partnered with Gabriel Aubry and Simon Trummer for a part-time FIA World Endurance Championship effort in 2021. The trio came sixth in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and retired from the 24 Hours of Le Mans with an electric issue, but didn't score points as the car wasn't a full-season entry. The following year, Kelly returned to PR1/Mathiasen for the sprint rounds of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, in which he scored a best result of fourth at Laguna Seca and qualified on pole at Mid-Ohio.
<sup>â </sup> As Kelly was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
() (Races in bold indicate pole position)
() (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
() (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
<sup>â </sup> As Kelly was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.