Kyle Keen Archives

Kyle Keen Motorsports Tabs Mark Smith as Crew Chief and Mentor for 2025 Season

December 3, 2024/0 Comments/in 410, Kyle Keen, prsprint2, Sprint Cars/by mraddicted2dirt

Carlisle, PA – December 3, 2024

by Addicted2Dirt PR & Media Mgmt

Photo Credit: Derick Kriner Photography

When the 2023 season opened, Kyle Keen’s plan was to race a mixed schedule of 358 and 410 sprint car races to provide himself with the opportunity to begin gaining experience at the higher level while keeping the team’s budget and resources viable.

It didn’t take long for circumstances to change his plans. By April he had revised the plan, and dove into the deep end of the pool, going 410 sprint car racing for the remainder of the season, ultimately making 24 starts in the division.

There was no shortage of learning each night he hit the track but on the highly competitive Central Pennsylvania sprint car circuit a long learning curve can be an expensive proposition for a team.

With that in mind, as Keen prepares to enter his sophomore season in the top winged sprint car class, he has made a move to help himself and his team accelerate the learning curve.

ENTER EXPERIENCE

Mark Smith, a long-time successful sprint car driver with roughly 200 career wins to his credit, has joined Kyle Keen Motorsports (KKM) as crew chief for the 2025 season.

In addition to his crew chief duties, Smith will serve as a top-notch mentor for Keen who has only been behind the wheel for a few years, beginning in 305 sprint cars in 2019. The Carlisle, PA native made the move to 358 sprint cars in 2022, then 410 sprint cars in 2024.

“Mark has a ton of experience behind the wheel, setting up these cars, fabrications, shocks, maintenance and so much more. He knows every aspect of these cars. That knowledge will benefit me behind the wheel and the entire team with understanding these cars.”, Keen said.

“Having Mark will allow me to focus on driving and improving myself behind the wheel. He will make our cars better and he will certainly make me better with his advice on making decisions behind the wheel and my approach to situations I face.”

Smith’s career has spanned many years from his beginnings in go-karts, then Super Sportsman and eventually 360 and 410 sprint cars. He has competed with nearly every high-profile organization, including the World of Outlaws (WoO), United Sprint Car Series (USCS), All Star Circuit of Champions (ASCoC), United Racing Club (URC), and more.

Smith hasn’t given up strapping into the cockpit himself. He will still compete behind the wheel in 2025 but will set his driving schedule around his new role with KKM.

GOOD FIT

“Mark is a great fit personality wise for our team. We have a relationship that goes back over 20 years to when he drove for my dad with Barry Jackson as crew chief.”, Keen said.

In addition, Keen drove Smith’s Mach 1 Chassis’ when he started in 305 sprint cars. Smith is the owner of Mach 1 Chassis and frequently competes in 360 and 410 sprint car competition with great success in his own brand.

Keen had a goal of adding experience to the team this offseason for a number of reasons on and off the track. Along with the aforementioned racing benefits of adding Smith, Keen and his wife are expecting their first child in the coming months, plus his day job keeps him hustling.

Fans can look for Keen and the Fine Line Auto Body, Hess Bid / Hess Auctioneers, Keen Parts / CorvetteParts.net, Shetron Trailers, Heishman Racing Fuels, DL Lehman Construction, Fuel Ox No.17k to campaign regularly at Port Royal Speedway in 2025, as well as the majority of the BAPS Motor Speedway shows. The team will look to add other events to their schedule as the season unfolds.

KYLE KEEN MOTORSPORTS

Kyle Keen Motorsports press releases: A2DPR.com/latest-news

Kyle’s Schedule: KyleKeenMotorsports.com/Schedule

Kyle Keen Motorsports Website: KyleKeenMotorsports.com

Kyle Keen Motorsports on Facebook: Facebook.com/KeenMotorsports

Kyle Keen on Twitter: Twitter.com/Kyle_Keen

Kyle Keen on Instagram: Instagram.com/Kyle_Keen17

THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS!

The entire team would like to express their appreciation to all their partners for their support during the 2024 racing season!

Fine Line Auto Body

Hess Bid / Hess Auctioneers

Keen Parts / CorvetteParts.net

Shetron Trailers

Heishman Racing Fuels

DL Lehman Construction, LLC

Fuel Ox

Jeremy Zarfos Photography

2B Wrapped

4 Leaf Clover Farms

Turn 2 Terribles Podcast and Media

Godfrey Racing Engines

Luke Ritz Videography

Click on any partner’s logo below to learn more about them!

Broadcast coverage of High Limit Racing events, Port Royal Speedway events and select Lincoln Speedway events is available at FloRacing.com.

Broadcast coverage of World of Outlaw events and Williams Grove Speedway events is available at DirtVision.com.

Broadcast coverage of 410 sprint car events at BAPS Motor Speedway is available at SprintCarUnlimited.tv

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Addicted2Dirt PR and Media Management provides personal and powerful dirt motorsports public relations. We are a central Pennsylvania-based business with a love of and passion for dirt racing and the people who make the sport what it is.

We keep fans engaged with your story through our personalized press releases
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Visit our website, A2DPR.com, to learn more about us and follow along with the stories of our race teams!

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Keen Overcoming Issues, Incidents and Learning Curve in Rookie 410 Sprint Season

September 6, 2024/0 Comments/in 410, Kyle Keen, prsprint1, Sprint Cars/by mraddicted2dirt

Port Royal, PA – September 6, 2024

by Addicted2Dirt PR & Media Mgmt

Photo Credit: Jeremy Zarfos / WRT Speedwerx

It’s been a tough summer for 410 sprint car rookie Kyle Keen.

His season started reasonably well for a rookie on the tough Central PA circuit. He qualified for 11 of his first 15 events and had an average finishing position of 18th. It wasn’t about the finishing position, it was about finishing. Making as many laps as possible each night to give himself the best chance to learn and improve. He was accomplishing that goal.

As summer got into full gear, there seemed to be one challenge after another. Between part failures, the learning curve, and incidents it seemed never-ending.

Keen went into 410 sprint car racing knowing it wouldn’t be easy though, so he just kept grinding it out.

QUICK RESULTS

DATE: September 2, 2024

Event: Labor Day Classic
Division: 410 Sprint Cars
Location: Port Royal Speedway, ort Royal, PA
Stats: 40 cars, Group 1 Qualifying 3rd, Heat 2nd (4), A-main 20th (9)

OFF TRACK

PA Speedweek brought on the first hurdle of the summer for Keen when he encountered an engine part failure at Hagerstown Speedway in Maryland. It was his third Speedweek race attempt and third DNQ (did not qualify) but against the stout fields that series draws, there was certainly no reason to stress over the results.

The engine issue sidelined the Fine Line Auto Body, Hess Bid / Hess Auctioneers, Keen Parts / CorvetteParts.net, Shetron Trailers, Heishman Racing Fuels, DL Lehman Construction, Fuel Ox No.17k for four weeks. Keen returned to Williams Grove Speedway on August 2nd, shook off the rust, and logged a 16th-place finish. It seemed all was normal again.

That feeling was replaced with frustration over the following two weeks. Keen raced four times, making only one feature and damaging two cars.

After showing good speed early in the evening in his first-ever venture to the track, Keen got caught up in an incident that started a few rows in front of him in the A-main at Lincoln Speedway on August 17th, then suffered a steering part issue one week later on August 23rd at Williams Grove Speedway in the B-main.

Each week he bounced back after long hours in the shop preparing to get back to the track. The labor and expense are difficult enough to overcome but the mental toughness required to soldier on through trials like these is even harder for a driver, even if sometimes the circumstances are not your fault.

Confidence wanes. Self-doubt creeps in.

Overcoming that can often be more difficult than figuring out the right setup for the race car. They say a confident driver is worth two-tenths of a second, so when the going gets tough, all focus turns to getting back to basics. The goal becomes to simply put together a full night, make the show, and get back to the shop with everything in one piece.

BACK ON TRACK

With racing action on August 30th and 31st washed out by rain, Keen shifted his attention to his first-ever Labor Day Classic at Port Royal Speedway. The event provides a unique challenge to drivers and teams on the tricky daytime surface.

Keen got his afternoon off on the right foot by spinning off the 3rd quickest lap in his group to earn the 2nd starting spot in his heat race.

The Carlisle, PA native kept the momentum going, challenging for the lead on the opening lap of the heat race. Chase Dietz fended off the surge by Keen, who settled into 2nd. He went on to maintain full control of the runner-up spot to the finish.

Keen found himself with a top-ten starting spot for the 73rd Annual Labor Day Classic, something that quickly reinstated at least some of his confidence behind the wheel.

The only thing that didn’t go right for Keen on Monday afternoon was his setup choices for the feature. The daylight surface was a new challenge and they guessed wrong, causing the No.17k to fall back in the running order.

Mired in 20th with less than ten laps remaining and nothing to gain from continuing, Keen retired from the event.

“We had the boat anchor out.”, Keen said with a good-natured grin. “We missed the setup for the feature but it’s all good, it’s part of us learning to figure out what we need to be more hooked up with a full fuel load.”

“I’m proud of our team! We’ve been getting closer and closer this season. And we haven’t quit despite some really tough challenges. I’m really proud of how well we have been qualifying the last few races, which is a super important part of being successful in these things.”

Keen has the right attitude and work ethic to weather what his rookie season throws at him. There are still a few races left and he intends to finish 2024 strong.

UP NEXT

Keen will take a break this weekend. Plans for the remainder of the season will be announced soon. Follow Kyle at the social media outlets listed below to get the latest updates!

PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

DL Lehman Construction, LLC

Dustin Lehman of D.L Lehman Construction handles all types of concrete work from foundations to slabs, sidewalks, footers, and more! You can check out some of his recent work below!

He is also highly skilled at general carpentry and provides high-quality results for his customers.

If you have any concrete construction needs in the Central Pennsylvania region, give Dustin a call at 717-226-0914! His work is top-notch!