Home Sweet Home for Keating in Lone Star Le Mans

Subtitle:Texan Scored 2013 Victory in Austin

Ben Keating knows he will have a strong cheering section for his No. 33 Viper Exchange Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R in Saturday’s Lone Star Le Mans.

“I’m pretty sure I’m the No. 1 ticket purchaser for the event,” said Keating, who lives in Victoria, Texas – less than two hours south of Circuit of The Americas. “I think I have a couple hundred guests coming to the event, so it’s a big deal for us. Austin is not just the closest track to my home, it’s the only thing close.”

Keating scored a breakthrough victory at Circuit of The Americas last year, winning the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón class in the No. 66 TRG Viper Exchange/Port Lavaca Group Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. He and co-driver Damien Faulkner went on to win the next race at Virginia International Raceway.

“Racing what he sells,” Keating operates the largest Viper dealership in the nation, located on the outskirts of Houston. ViperExchange.com is the conglomerate of Keating’s four Dodge Chrysler Jeep dealerships in Texas, centered at Tomball Dodge Chrysler Jeep near Houston. In all, he owns the Keating Auto Group, which includes nine dealerships representing 10 different brands.

Last year was the first time that Keating regularly raced a car other than a Viper in his career – that includes five championships in Vipers – including the 2011 and 2012 SRT Viper Cup. The reason he drove that car was to grease the skids to race a Viper in the TUDOR Championship – a goal that began almost immediately after he saw the introduction of the Viper GT3-R at the 2011 New York Auto Show.

Keating stepped up to help develop and race the car for famed constructor Bill Riley, who also runs SRT Motorsports’ team in the GT Le Mans class.

“There had to be someone willing to take the first leap of faith – to jump off the cliff – buy the first car, help develop the car and show off what the car could do,” Keating explained. “I was eager to be the hand raiser. So early on I agreed to buy the first car and help Bill Riley develop it into one of the top cars.”

Driving for Riley Motorsports, Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen teamed to give Viper its first TUDOR Championship victory at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Bleekemolen passed Park Place Motorsports driver Kevin Estre two laps from the finish and won by 1.038 seconds. Keating started the race and led twice during his stint, turning the car over to Bleekemolen in the lead.

Since winning in Canada, Keating finished third at Indianapolis and fourth at Road America before placing 13th in the most recent race at Virginia International Raceway. Now, he’s eager to compete close to home.

“I am incredibly excited about Austin,” Keating said. “I love that track. Last year in ALMS it was a green-flag, no caution period event, and to me that speaks to me how safe the track is. It’s a technical track, it’s a fast track, but it’s a safe track, and I really enjoy going there.

“I always love trying to win, and I feel I have the advantage of being the home town guy – even though I’m not from Austin, I’m close – and I spend enough time at the track to feel like I’ve got a leg up. The first race that we won ever in ALMS was there, and we’re going to work hard to go for a repeat.”