Story By: ANNE FORNORO / AJ FOYT RACING – NASHVILLE, TN – IAIN KEITH joined AJ Foyt Racing in March of this year as a front end mechanic who also goes over the wall to change the inside front tire on Sting Ray Robb’s No. 41 Goodheart/Pray.com Chevrolet. Born in Chattanooga, Tenn.,
Keith was raised in Georgia and currently lives in Westfield, Ind. The 28-year-old graduated from Georgia’s Lanier Technical College with an Associate’s Degree in Motorsports Vehicle Technology. We asked him a few questions…
How did you become interested in motorsports?
IK: “My dad has been taking me to races for as long as I can remember. We would drive up every year from Georgia for the (Indy) 500 and even went to France for the 24 Hours of LeMans in 2014. I became a flag marshal in the SCCA’s Atlanta region when I turned 18 and knew I wanted to make a career in motorsports.”
What was the first race you attended?
IK: “2003 Indy 500.”
Have you ever raced cars yourself?
IK: “I have never raced myself, but I would like to do so eventually. Either Spec Miata or Formula 600 in SCCA.”
When did you start your career in racing?
IK: “My first “job” in racing was at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2015. A family friend of ours had a connection with Panoz Racing and I helped out with the Delta Wing. I didn’t do very much but it gave me my first look into the racing world. I started as a mechanic in 2016 at a local Spec Miata SCCA team and have been slowly working my way up since.”
Which major series have you worked in?
IK: “SCCA, F4, USF2000, F3, IMSA, INDYCAR.”
What is your most significant achievement to date?
IK: “Winning the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen in 2023.”
What are the biggest challenges of working in the INDYCAR Series?
IK: “The schedule…”
What do you enjoy most about working in the INDYCAR Series?
IK: “It’s a non-BOP (balance of power) series, so the racing is always good.”
What interests or hobbies do you have outside of racing?
IK: “Video games and building Legos.”
Do you have any pets?
IK: “My girlfiend Makayla and I have cocker spaniel named Theo.
What are the top three things on your Bucket List?
IK: “Win the Indy 500, win the 24 Hours of Lemans, and visit every continent.
SANTINO FERRUCCI enters the final race of the season in the top-10 in the NTT INDYCAR Series.
Should he maintain that standing, it will be a career-high standing for him and the best that AJ Foyt Racing has finished with the No. 14 since 2002 when Airton Daré finished ninth.
Since you didn’t test at Nashville or do any simulator work (other than I-Racing), when you ran NASCAR, did you run any tracks like Nashville?
SF: “Phoenix, but I’ve never run a concrete track before.”
Nashville is a 1.3 mile D shaped track with 14 degrees of banking. How does Phoenix compare?
SF: “I feel like turn one of Phoenix is very similar to Nashville, but it’s gonna be weird being on a concrete track for us, as well as a series. So, I am excited about that.”
How would the concrete change things?
SF: “It can be more abrasive on the tires. Should have less grip. We’re also going with the kind of like a road course package instead of the speedway wings which I found quite interesting. It’s the same package as Iowa. A little different from Gateway and Milwaukee where we ran the full road course package. At Nashville we won’t run the upper element on the rear wing so it’s a little less downforce than what we had at Milwaukee or Gateway.”
Looking back over the year, what factors contributed to your going from 19th in the series standings to potentially finishing in the top 10 this year?
SF: “Yeah, I think a lot has to do with our consistency this year. Obviously, having as many top 10s as we’ve had, plus now a pair of top five has been huge. You know, the car has been really, really good this year to drive and so has the team as a whole. We really just stepped it up, everything from engineering to mechanics, even myself. You know, we’ve all kind of taken a massive step forward.”
How has your driving improved?
SF: “Well I think coming back for a second year has really helped me. The only back to back seasons I thought were ’19 and ’20. I made drastic improvements from ’19 to ’20 as well. It’s just one of the things where, once you get to know the people on the engineering staff that are setting up the car every weekend, you’re still searching the car, learning the different dynamics. And when you come back for a second year, you have a much better understanding of the direction you were going and you continue to build off of that.”
What are you most looking forward to in the off season?
SF: “Going on my honeymoon with Renay. We’re going to Paris and south of France for ten days. We’ll be enjoying the wine, some shopping and museum tours, I like history. Although I’ve been to Paris, it’ll be my first time to the south of France so I can’t wait. That’ll be a lot of fun.”
STING RAY ROBB enters the final race of the season 20th in the NTT INDYCAR Series driver standings but his No. 41 Goodheart/Pray.com Chevrolet is in a tight battle for the entrants’ Leaders Circle Program. If Robb maintains the car’s current standing, he would be the first driver since 2020 (and driver Charlie Kimball) to earn a second berth in the Leaders Circle Program for AJ Foyt Racing. Robb will be tying the knot with fiancée Molly Mitchell on November 10th; the couple plan to honeymoon in Hawaii.
Did you do any simulator work for Nashville Superspeedway?
SRR: “I did a little bit of at home simulator using iRacing, Other than that, the experience is very limited. There are some trends and nuances that you can learn from this but it only gets you to about 90%. The last 10% (always the hardest to find) has to be done at the track; we are trying our best ahead of time to shorten the learning curve once we arrive in person.”
Nashville Superspeedway is a 1.33-mile D-shaped track with 14 degrees of banking. Is there any track in your past experience that compares to it or will this be a totally new experience for you?
SRR: “The closest experience I have is running at Texas Motor Speedway in 2023.”
Final race of the year, your car is currently in the entrants’ Leaders Circle Program but the margin is extremely close. How will you deal with the pressure?
SRR: “The pressure is the same as it has been every other race. Our goal remains the same, and the preparation does not change. Our job is the same as it has been, it just so happens that it is the last one on the schedule.”
Looking back over the year, what was the most valuable lesson you learned?
SRR: “Trusting my instincts. It’s easy to overthink details sometimes but keeping it simple and trusting my experience and the team around me has gotten us a lot further at times than digging too deep in search for answers that sometimes reveal themselves.”
What has been your favorite moment or highlight of the 2024 season so far?
SRR: “Absolutely, leading the Indy 500. Having a view from the front of that race for multiple laps, and seeing the hope of winning it, it’s inspiring. But that’s the beauty of that race, it picks the winners. Our job is just to put ourselves at the door of victory and wait to see if she’s willing to open it.”
What are you most looking forward to in the off-season?
SRR: “Getting married! Molly and I are very excited to be entering the off season with plans to start our forever lives together. It’ll be a great time to celebrate with friends and family.”
Sexton Properties returns as the primary sponsor of the No. 14 Chevrolet for the NTT INDYCAR Series season finale. Owned and run by Mrs. Marlyne Sexton, the Indianapolis-based real estate company has supported the team since 2014 when they entered into a business relationship with the team as an associate sponsor on Alex Tagliani’s entry in the Indianapolis 500. Mrs. Sexton’s late husband Joe Sexton had been friends with A.J. Foyt since the early ’60s. Mrs. Sexton has enhanced the program significantly since her company’s initial marketing partnership 10 years ago and has been the primary marketing partner on the car since July, 2022.
Borchetta Bourbon is honoring A.J. Foyt by featuring his 1987 Indy car as the bottle topper on the 2024 Limited Edition Borchetta Bourbon, Racecar Series. The Racecar Series is in its fourth year of production. As part of the marketing program, the Borchetta Bourbon logo is on the engine cover of the No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet for the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix.
The Big Machine Music City Grand Prix will be broadcast by NBC and streamed on Peacock on Sunday, Sept. 15th starting at 3 p.m. ET.