It’s Been A Whirlwind 72 Hours For Lebanon Valley Modified Racer Mike Keeler
Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – DANBURY, CT – Saturday night looked like it was going to be one of the best evenings of Mike Keeler’s Modified career at the Lebanon Valley Speedway. He had run in the top five for almost the entire 30-lap feature, and a good finish was something the Fresh Cut Property Maintenance team really could use. Then came the 29th lap.
After point leader Brett Hearn dropped out early with a blown rear end in his #20, second-place man in the standings, Ronnie Johnson, knew this was his opportunity to make up some ground in the season long chase for the title.
Heading off of turn two and down the backstretch on the final circuit, Johnson pulled even with the Keeler #55 for the fourth position. As both cars powered off turn four coming to the checkers, RJ, on the bottom, made contact with the Danbury, CT driver, causing severe damage to Keeler’s Teo Pro Car.
However, Mike wanted the best finish he could get, so he didn’t lift and tried to cross the finish line, only to have Kenny Tremont make contact with him and both cars spun.
What resulted was even more damage to the Keeler machine as well as a severe front end damafe to Tremont’s two-race old Bicknell.
“To say I was devastated by how things turned out Saturday would be an understatement,” Keeler said Monday afternoon. “We had a good run going and Ronnie made a move that ended up tearing our car up. I ran clean the entire race wanted a good finish for my guys who have worked so hard all season for us, even with our problems.”
Keeler did cross the line in sixth place. That was a good finish for Keeler, but he wanted more. After two weeks where he didn’t run his own machine due to engine troubles, having the freshened Pettit powerplant work as well as it did was very encouraging for the team.
“It’s bittersweet, for sure,” he said. “To run so strong all night after the struggles we’ve had this season was great. I just wish we had been able to finish the deal as well as it started.”
While he was frustrated with how things went between him and Johnson on track during Saturday’s feature, Keeler kept his cool. The team had a good car, and showed it. Time to get back to work and prove it again this Saturday, but now they had a lot of work to do.
In an interesting twist to this story, as Monday morning rolled around, Keeler’s phone began to ring. It was RJ.
“I have to say, Ronnie is a class act,” Keeler said. “He called me and took responsibility for the accident and offered whatever he could to get our car fixed.”
This really surprised Keeler, who is happy with the way things transpired after the accident, rather than seeing tempers get the best of both drivers.
“I was hot Saturday night to say the least,” he said. “I’m not going to lie. I felt like Ronnie took a good finish this team deserved away from us. But, for him to call, apologize, and offer a helping hand in getting our car back together for this week means a lot to me and my guys. We are truly grateful for that and are looking for another strong run this weekend.”
Keeler’s Uncle is going to pick up the parts Johnson is giving them to get their car back together on Tuesday.
Through it all, Mike Keeler and his team are one of the true underdog stories at Lebanon Valley. Doing everything they can to race while making each dollar they put into the car stretch as far as it can go.
A good finish would have been what the doctor ordered, but what came out of this accident may be more important than the finish. Understanding … acceptance … and now, more than that, respect. Respect among two drivers who are aiming for the same goal … the goal of winning, but more than that, to race … and to race hard.
See? Racing can be more than just cars going around a track chasing the checkered flag.
