ARCA RE/MAX: David Keith on the move with Team CLR

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

TOLEDO, OHIO--Three-time ARCA RE/MAX Series winner David Keith is on the move again. From the Michael Kranefuss Ford in '99 to the Sadler Racing shop in '00, the Mooresville, North Carolina driver now finds himself at the helm of Ted Campbell's #57 CLR Ford team beginning with the ARCA EasyCare 100 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 19.

"Ted (Campbell) and I first talked last year," said Keith, "and we've kept in contact all along. He called right after Daytona, and offered the ride. It was a tough decision to change rides again because we had so much success with the Sadler’s. But the Team CLR shop is a lot closer to home (Mooresville) than the Sadler Racing shop in Tennessee; the opportunity seemed right, so I went for it."

"Like most drivers, I like to have input when I'm driving for someone, rather than just be a puppet in the seat, and Mr. Campbell’s assured me that he'll allow me to have that input."

In looking at Keith's impressive RE/MAX Series record, input from the talented Owensboro, Kentucky native seems like a good thing.

In just 15 RE/MAX Series starts, Keith has already won 3 times: Michigan Int'l Speedway in '99, and Daytona and Talladega in '00. Keith also has earned 4 Old Milwaukee Pole Awards at MIS, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Pocono and Kentucky Speedway, and still owns the track record at Kentucky. In addition, Keith has stacked up 6 top-5 finishes and 8 top-10s with finishes of 2nd at MIS in ’00, 3rd at Lowe’s in ’00, 3rd at Atlanta in ’00, 8th at Pocono in ‘99, 10th at Atlanta in ’99 and 12th at Lowe’s in ‘99. The new Team CLR driver is seldom away from the front in RE/MAX Series competition and has led 185 laps in 8 races. He also qualified 2nd at Pocono & Atlanta in ’99, 3rd at Lowe’s in ’99, 3rd at MIS in ’00, and 5th at Lowe’s & Talladega in ‘00.

"I've been real fortunate that's for sure," said Keith. "Since I first started running the ARCA RE/MAX Series, I've always had great equipment. We've won in the 8 car (Kranefuss Ford), and we've won for Sadler Racing; now we just need to get Team CLR in the winner's circle. I'm confident we can do it. Mr. Campbell's got the best of everything, 5 cars in all; we'll be running Robert Yates engines and Joe Cudmore will continue to crew chief the car. All that said, we've obviously got a great program. We plan to test at Charlotte at least 3 times before we go there and race in May. In fact, we plan on testing at all the superspeedways including the news ones in Kansas and Chicago. Right now, including all the testing we plan to do, we have 9 superspeedway races on our schedule so it sounds like we'll keep ourselves fairly busy. A big thanks to Mr. Campbell for having the faith in me to get the job done. I'm a lucky guy, and I think the ARCA RE/MAX Series is where I want to be right now. I feel like if we do good here, then the opportunities will come. Like a lot of drivers, I aspire to run Winston Cup before it's all said and done, and I believe the RE/MAX Series is the perfect stepping stone - same cars, same tracks; it's the right deal."

Text Provided By ARCA

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