Story By: A2DPR / KEEN MOTORSPORTS – ABBOTTSTOWN, PA – Coming into the month of May, Kyle Keen still didn’t know much about his racecar. He had a top ten in the season opener at BAPS Motor Speedway, but that was a daytime surface that took rubber. His next stop, at Williams Grove Speedway, was a DNQ thanks to electrical issues.
Then Mother Nature showed up and erased pretty much the rest of April.
Finally, it was time for back to back races Friday and Saturday under sunny skies. It was time to see what they had.
Keen’s night at Williams Grove opened with a friendly pill draw that put him on the pole of his heat race. He lost the race to turn one, settling into 2nd and working to keep pace with the leader while feeling out his Fine Line Auto Body, Keen Parts/CorvetteParts.net, Doubling Gap Ranch, Shetron, Auction & Equipment, LLC., Wicked Dog Grille, Heishman Racing Fuels, Wicked Cushion, DL Lehman Construction, Gearhead Coffee, Jeremy Zarfos Photography, Coyle’s Lawn Maintenance, 2B Wrapped, 4 Leaf Clover Farms, Turn 2 Terribles Podcast & Media, Kyle Keen Motorsports No.17.
On lap six Derek Locke slipped by Keen, dropping the Carlisle, PA native to 3rd but in the end it wasn’t important. Keen finished 3rd but the top four finishers made the redraw.
In the 20-lap A-main that closed out the night, Keen started 8th but immediately turned heads by charging into the top five by lap three. He held a firm grasp on the spot to the halfway mark. It was at that point a brake issue cropped up.
Keen fought hard to maintain his track position by altering his driving style to offset the loss of braking power. He managed to only lose two spots over the next eight laps, then one more on the final circuit, landing him in 8th at the checkers.
“Tonight was a much needed night for our team. We were up to 5th but unfortunately a brake line came loose and I had no brakes the rest of the way. It’s too bad. The car was really good. I had great speed. I’m just glad I was able to hold on and finish 8th. It’s another top 10 for us this year and a step in the right direction.”, Keen commented.
Saturday night brought a stout field of 38 teams to Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, PA for the National Fallen Firefighters “Guise-Little Memorial” race.
Keen started 5th in his heat race and blasted his way to 2nd in the early going, but before the field could be scored at the line, he got a little out of shape and slipped all the way back to 5th.
Never one to hang his head or dwell on his mistakes, Keen refocused and continued the battle. Without the aid of a caution, he managed to claw his way to a 4th place finish. A top three finish would have put Keen in the redraw with a shot to start close to the front, but instead he would take the green for the feature from 15th.
Keen was never able to build any forward momentum in the 20-lap A-main. The tires just didn’t seem to ‘fire’ as they say and he slipped back a few spots on the opening lap. He remained mired in traffic throughout and crossed the line in 20th.
“I made a mistake that derailed our night. After I drove from 5th up to 2nd in the heat the cushion bit me and it cost me two spots, so I ended up 4th and out of the redraw.“, Keen shared.
“In the feature we just missed a few small things on the setup with adapting to the new tire in the slick. The good news is we learned a lot about the new tire this weekend, so I’m really looking forward to hitting the track again soon. Just need to keep working on our small track driving and setup, but we will get there!“
Kyle Keen will take the upcoming weekend off, then return with to Williams Grove Speedway on Friday, May 19th.