The GRM pair were involved in a fierce battle for the lead with Nash Morris during the second of three National Trans Am Series races at the Island earlier today.
The trio ultimately came to blows on the exit of MG, Morris and Kelly making contact and checking up before Thornborrow got into the back of Kelly and turned him around.
Kelly ended up in the wall, his car damaged enough to rule him out of making the finish.
Despite TV cameras showing Thornborrow did brake once part of the concertina, Kelly was adamant his teammate had put him in the fence.
"It's pretty disappointing when your own teammate just sends you," he told Stan Sport. "He just didn't lift, just stayed in it, stayed in it, and just sent me.
"I'll talk to him.
"I guess he's never been that close to the front and didn't know what to do.
"Jack Hewitt said the only way to get them to remember is a black eye. Who knows."
Thornborrow, who finished the race second, was more measured in his response, claiming there was little he could do to avoid an incident that had started ahead of him.
"Look, myself, Nash and Owen were battling hard all race," he said.
"From my point of view, him and Nash looked like they came together, checked up, and I gassed it up and didn't expect them to be so slow out of the corner.
"We hit, our toe bars connected and it turned him around. You never want to do that to your own teammate, but in the same respect, that sort of crap happens.
"From my point of view, there wasn't much I could do."
OWEN KELLY IS TURNED AROUND! 🥊🤯#SpeedSeriesAU #TransAmAUS #PhillipIsland #StanSportAU #Shannons pic.twitter.com/q41H678Lsx
— Shannons SpeedSeries (@SpeedSeriesAU) May 14, 2023
