Weekly Notebook presented by FK Rod Ends
Notes: Indiana rookie experiences highs, lows
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt managing editor
Braiden Keller (Rocky Ragusa photos)
Within his first few months as a Super Late Model driver, it didn’t take long for Braiden Keller to discover the highs and lows of a competitive sport.
One night the 19-year-old from West Lebanon, Ind., is soaking up victory lane at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway after capturing his first checkered flag in just his sixth start in the division. And one night later his No. K67 Rocket Chassis is being hauled away by a pair of tow trucks after a backstretch collision while leading at Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway with a lap and a half to go.
An up-and-down weekend on June 20-21 that’s part of the learning process for the curly-headed youngster whose prowess in lower divisions drew the interest of Super Late Model owner John Gummere of Danville, Ill., a team owner who previously fielded a car for former DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion Kevin Weaver.
“John gave my dad a phone call and he said he wanted to give me a shot in a Late Model,” Keller said. “And really, here we are. We’re just still learning and trying to get as good as I can. Just learning as I go.”
Keller’s following the tire tracks of his grandfather Martin Keller and father Ian Keller, who captured 2022’s street stock title at Fairbury during Braiden’s rookie season in the division. Braiden took center stage in 2023 and posted 13 victories, then capturing DIRTcar’s overall street stock title in 2024 with 24 division victories, along with another five in factory stocks.
He’s running (and winning) modified and factory stock races, but Gummere’s promotion into the high-profile Late Model division has been exciting. Along with his victory at Farmer City, Keller has a pair of top-five finishes in other events, topped his 29-car qualifying group in Summer Nationals action at Fairbury and posted a seventh-place Summer Nationals feature finish at Kankakee County Speedway in Kankakee, Ill.
“This is what my dad's really been trying to get me to since I started racing,” Keller said. “He worked his ass off to get me to where I am today.”
Keller, atop DirtonDirt's Weekly Notebook presented by FK Rod Ends, is enjoying the learning process.
“They're a lot faster than really anything else I've ever drove, so it's pretty cool,” Keller said. “The biggest challenge for me is probably all the power, just trying to figure out how to control it, and just the tire game when you can actually start going. Do you wanna go later in the race or early in the race? It’s just a big tire game. … I've had a lot of fun with it. Definitely a learning curve for me and I think it'll make me better in the end and we've already been running really, really good in it.”
Keller added that he “expected to run decent. I didn't expect to already be winning in it this early. My whole goal, these first couple of races was just make consistent laps and just learn the car and learn what everything does. That's really about it. It's just learn and be smart and figure out how to drive these things.”
Keller has shown potential in virtually every start, but his first glory came June 20 at Farmer City when he outdueled fellow front-row starter Blaze Burwell early and cruised to a 25-lap victory at the quarter-mile oval. He climbed atop his car in victory lane — steering wheel and checkered flag in hand — then came back to earth for a tearful celebration.
“It was definitely very emotional,” Keller said. “My dad was crying. My mom was crying. My girlfriend was crying. It's very, very emotional for me.”
The next night at Fairbury, another victory lane celebration was at hand with Keller again taking the early lead and lapped all but five competitors in a 30-lap FALS Cup feature. But a collision knocked him out of the race.
"I was coming to the white flag going down the backstretch and a lapped car kind of slid up from the bottom and we hit and it flattened the left rear tire and broke a shock mount,” Keller said. "I mean, he didn't really see me there. It was just a racing deal.”
It was a tough ending to what might've been a double-victory weekend, something standout drivers like Weaver, McKay Wenger and Mike Spatola have accomplished for years.
"I was definitely upset,” Keller said. “Disappointed for sure.”
Spatola, who inherited the lead and the victory after two tow trucks were required to remove Keller’s car, was impressed.
"Keller is a hell of a talent. He is going to be tough to beat here for many years,” the former track champion said. “You hate to win them that way. That was Keller's race to lose, but we needed a win real bad.”
Keller’s team quickly made repairs on the car and has a lot of season left, including this weekend’s Summer Nationals race at Farmer City. Making occasional appearances on the tour that includes not only some of the Midwest’s top racers but interlopers from the South has been an eye opener for Keller.
“Them boys are pretty tough,” he said. “It's definitely helped me out. Just following those guys and to see what they do and how they maneuver on the racetrack is really crazy. It's pretty cool. It's fun to be behind. Just try to learn from those guys and see what they do at certain tracks.”
If Keller’s progression continues, he might be a Summer Nationals regular in the coming seasons.
"I'd love to travel the country and race that, that's really my, it's my dream,” he said. “That’s really my goal. That's really what I wanna do. I think I’m good enough I can do it. I just You just gotta get the right people and maybe somebody who could give me a shot.”
Weekly highlights
• Kyle Moore of Mansfield, Ohio, captured June 20-21 Super Late Model events at Hilltop Speedway in Millersburg, Ohio, and Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio.
• Winning three features in one night, Shane Sabraski of Rice, Minn., topped the Late Model division June 21 at Ogilvie (Minn.) Raceway in addition to winning in the modified and super stock divisions.
• Scoring a two-victory weekend in the Crate Late Model division, Brent McMillan of North Vernon, Ind., won June 20 at Circle City Raceway in Indianapolis, Ind., and June 22 at I-65 Speedway in Scottsburg, Ind.
• Wendell Pinckney of Albion, Pa., won June 21 at Stateline Speedway in Busti, N.Y., for his first Super Late Model victory since 2003 at Eriez Speedway in nearby Hammett, Pa. He’d won a number of Crate and Limited Late Model features in the intervening seasons.
First things first
Recent first-time occurrences at the dirt track:
• Winning in Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway’s Limited Late Model division for the first time, Ryan Zook of Mifflintown, Pa., earned $3,500 in June 21’s Free State 35.
• Leading every lap of June 21’s 602 Crate Late Model feature at Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway, hometown driver Trey Davenport scored his first victory of any kind. He’s the 24-year-old son of former western Kentucky racer Tait Davenport.
• Grabbing his first Late Model victory, 23-year-old Cruz Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, earned $2,000 in Davenport (Iowa) Speedway’s Sheet Metal Showdown. Birkhofer, the son of Hall of Fame racer Brian Birkhofer, led flag-to-flag in June 21’s 25-lapper.
• Chris Loney of Naples, Fla., notched his first Crate Late Model victory June 21 at Hendry County Motorsports Park in Clewiston, Fla.
• Driving the Wing Racing entry, Brenten DeYoung of Crystal, Mich., notched his first Super Late Model victory in June 19’s Thirlby Throwdown for non-winners at his hometown Crystal Motor Speedway.
Weekly news briefs
• The winner of July 3’s Super Late Model special at Potomac Speedway in Budds Creek, Md., gets a guaranteed starting spot in July 19’s Junior Boone Memorial at Winchester (Va.) Speedway. The Boone family also added $515 to the winner’s purse of Potomac’s $4,000-to-win event. Additionally, Potomac is seeking individuals interested in joining the track’s scoring crew.
• Longtime track sponsor 24/7 and West Wisconsin Telcom is installing fiber internet at Red Cedar Speedway in Menomonie, Wis., that will allow the track to offer electronic payment for ticketing and concessions, the track announced.
The Ronnie Powell-owned Little River Speedway in Modoc, S.C., remains closed during what the track calls a “complete rebuild of the entire facility.” Powell began renovations more than three years ago and "has spent a ton of money and wants to have everything exactly how he wants it” before reopening. The track plans to reveal more progress photos soon on the Facebook page. The track last operated in 2021.
• Mansfield (Ohio) Speedway has named Brad McCown general manager and Robbie Devore as announcer. McCown, who previously promoted Atomic Speedway near Chillicothe, Ohio, was among hires for new track owner Matt Tifft, who hopes to reopen the dirt oval next season.
• To get refunds for June 19-20’s rained out Firecracker 100 preliminaries, check the Facebook page of Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., for details regarding online or in-person purchases.
• Longdale (Okla.) Speedway had to cancel June 21’s event the morning before the Nutrien Ag Solutions POWRi Revival Super Dirt Series action because the track’s insurance lapsed. The track plans to be back in action by the July 19 event for the Ross Foundation Sooner Late Model Series.
• 201 Speedway in Sitka, Ky., reopening for the first time since 2018, has scheduled practice for June 28. Practice was postponed a week because of rain and wet conditions that prevented continued renovations. The track’s first 2025 event is scheduled for July 5 with the $3,000-to-win Hatfield and McCoy, a 30-lapper for Super Late Models. The track will pay tribute to Leo Hopson, a former staff member who died in April.
• Dacotah Speedway in Mandan, N.D., will host a pair of $2,000-to-win events for WISSOTA Late Models in the July 25-26 Governors Cup.
• Ponderosa Speedway in Junction City, Ky., has again moved the date of its $25,000-to-win Crate Late Model special event. The event was rescheduled for Nov. 7-8.
• Big South Fork Raceway in Huntsville, Tenn., has added 604 Crate Late Models to the card for June 27’s program (following the rules of Tazewell Speedway).
Weekly points
IMCA (Limiteds): Curtis Glover of Knoxville, Iowa, has 711 points to lead Kale Kosiski (615) and Zach Zeitner (601).
USRA (Limiteds): Lucas Peterson of Stockholm, Wis., has 2,163 points to lead Cade Nelson (2,012) and Jason McFadden (1,822).
WISSOTA (Limiteds): Tyler Peterson of Hickson, N.D., has 993 points to lead Chad Becker (819) and Devin Fouquette (745).
American All-Stars (Crates): Justin Williams of Concord, Va., has 347 points to lead Ronnie Martin Jr. (308) and Braeson Fulton (294).
Crate Racin’ USA (602 Crates): Brett White of Kosciusko, Miss., has 644 points to lead Devin Whatley (577) and Brandon Lunsford (547).
Crate Racin’ USA (604 Crates): Ben Davis of Poplarville, Miss., has 592 points to lead Shannon Lee (558) and Sid Scarbrough (546).
RUSH (Crates): Tom Snyder Jr. of Mayport, Pa., has 1,005 points to lead Davin Kaiser (971) and Brian Nethers (921).
Ultimate (Crates): Chandi Currence of Clarksburg, W.Va., has 224 points to lead Garret Paugh (137) and Kolbe Kimbrew (132).
(Weekly points for DIRTcar, POWRi and RUSH haven’t been released)
Upcoming weekly specials
Among non-touring and independent special events coming up for Late Models at dirt tracks around the country:
Outagamie Speedway, Seymour, Wis. (June 27): The Thunder at the Fair event includes a Late Model special with double the usual purse, but no details were revealed early in the week.
Winchester (Va.) Speedway (June 28): The Jimmy Spence Memorial for Super Late Models pays $5,091-to-win with bonuses for fast time, heat winners and more. Crate Late Models are among undercard divisions.
Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway (June 28): The third annual Ron Zimmerman Tribute pays $6,000-to-win for Limited Late Models in a makeup of last month’s rainout.
Silver Bullet Speedway, Owendale, Mich. (June 28): DIRTcar-sanctioned Super Late Models chase a $3,000 winner’s prize in the first of two such events at the track that runs weekly Crate Late Model (no Crates on this night).
191 Speedway, Campton, Ky. (June 28): The J.C. “Mousie” Stone Memorial pays $3,000-to-win for the Super Late Model division with Crate Late Models among undercard divisions.
Merritt Speedway, Lake City, Mich. (June 28): Super Late Models will race for a $2,000-to-win purse with weekly divisions also in action.
Fort Payne Motor Speedway, Fyffe, Ala. (June 28): The 16th annual Firecracker 40 pays $2,500-to-win for Crate Late Models with Limited Late Models and 602 Crates among eight undercard divisions with fireworks part of the festivities; practice is scheduled for June 28.
Wartburg (Tenn.) Speedway (June 28): The makeup of the Ducky Jones Memorial pays $2,000-to-win for the Limited Late Model division on Cancer Awareness Night.
