PORT ROYAL, Pa. — We’re supposed to have one more weekend of racing at Port Royal and Lincoln Speedway, but those two races are rescheduled in 2024.
One driver raced the entire 2023 season with a very special paint scheme. All the history the Keens have in sprint car racing—starting in the 1970s—begins with Kyle Keen’s grandfather, then his dad, Shawn.
The paint scheme Kyle ran during the 2023 racing season was a tribute to his grandfather after he passed away in May of the 2012 racing season and never got to see that car race a full season.
“It was so sudden for us, and we weren’t expecting it at all, and we were really excited for that year because we had Brian Leppo behind the wheel and Steve Suchski was on the wrenches," Kyle Keen said. "I just think it was really making to be a good season. They had a win pretty early in the year and just kind of fell apart with my grandpa passing and we weren’t able to keep the team going. My thought process, behind the whole scheme this year was, that car really didn’t get to make it through past May. So, I’d like to get a full season under its belt and actually be able to get it for what it’s worth.”
Kyle ended jumping into the driver's seat.
“It’s pretty unbelievable that I was able to jump in a sprint car, because I remember when Tyler Walker raced my grandpa’s car, back in 2010-2011, I kind of looked at him one day when we were sitting at Port Royal," said Keen. "Waiting for him to go our for time trials, and said I would never hop in one of these things, these guys are nuts.”
Nearly 10 years later, Kyle Keen put a seat in a 305 sprint car before moving up to a 358 in 2021.
“The older I got the more I went to the races," said Keen. "The more I had a drive to hop in behind the wheel.”
Although he was surrounded by racing, how he got involved was quite different.
He started iRacing, and that’s what drove him try out the Pennsylvania red clay.
Keen Motorsports has had a few notable drivers jump behind the wheel with Pat Cannon, Daryn Pittman, Tyler Walker, Todd Shaffer and Brian Leppo.
Winning the Kings Royal with Walker was a huge highlight for the No. 17.
It brings back some heavy emotions and couldn’t be complete without his grandfather’s picture in the number on the car.
“There’s not much that can explain what my grandpa has done for my dad and I; to be able to put something on the track that he would be proud of is very emotional for us," said Keen. "I wanted to cry the first time I fired the car off at BAPS just because the last time the car idled around the track was before he passed. It brought back a lot of good memories even though my childhood with him, and I’m sure it did for my dad, as well," said Keen.
Kyle has plans to keep and race the same paint scheme in the 2024 season.
News at BAPS
There was also some breaking news this weekend for the small track behind Baps Motor Speedway. It will soon be home to micro racing.
The Susquehanna Quarter Midget Racing Association is now on the search for a new track.