“There a lot of great things about the Lone Star Le Mans weekend,” Keating said.

 

First, it’s his home race, as he lives in Victoria, Texas – less than two hours south of the facility.

 

Second, it’s good for his business. Keating operates the largest Viper dealership in the nation, located just outside Houston. Viper Exchange is 

the nation’s top-selling Viper dealership housing two massive warehouses filled with both new and used Dodge Vipers for sale in Tomball, Texas. In all, he owns the Keating Auto Group, which includes nine dealerships representing 10 different brands.

 

He’s also enjoyed success at the 20-turn, 3.4-mile circuit, with a pair of major victories the last two years. Keating won his first American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón race at Circuit of The Americas in 2013, joining Damien Faulkner in winning the GTC 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 as well. 

 

Last year, Keating earned another home-state victory, taking GT Daytona (GTD) honors in the inaugural TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race at Circuit of The Americas, joining Jeroen Bleekemolen in the No. 33 Viper Exchange Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R. It was their second triumph of the season, after a victory at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

 

“It’s close to home for me, and I consider it my home track,” Keating said. “Even though I’m not from Austin, I’m close – and I spend enough time at the track – including driving there with the local Viper club – to feel like I’ve got a leg up. So I go there with such great history and such great hometown knowledge. It’s nice to have friends and family come watch, and to be running in my home state where I have a lot of Viper customers.”

 

This season, Keating has shared in two of Viper’s three victories in TUDOR Championship competition. He drove the first stint in the No. 93 Viper’s GTD victory in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, and joined Bleekemolen in winning the class at Road America in the No. 33 Riley Motorsports/ViperExchange.com Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R. Viper teammates Al Carter, Cameron Lawrence and Marc Goossens took the third GTD honors in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.

 

In addition to his TUDOR Championship exploits, Keating raced in the  24 Hours of Le Mans in June, with Bleekemolen and Marc Miller in a Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R fielded by Riley Motorsports. The team led the GTE Am class and was in position for a podium finish when the transmission failed with five hours remaining. Le Mans pays points toward the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), which conducts a six-hour race on Saturday evening at COTA, following the two hour, 40 minute TUDOR Championship race that starts at 11:35 a.m. CT.

 

“It’s going to be nice to be running at COTA with the WEC,” Keating said. “That gives us the opportunity to be able to see some of the guys we raced with at Le Mans. 

 

As a final reason for liking Circuit of The Americas, Keating is a big fan of the track itself.

 

“It’s awesome,” he said. “It’s a typical Formula One circuit. Some people love that, some people don’t. It may have less character and history than some of the older tracks – like Watkins Glen or Road America – but it’s an extremely safe track, which I appreciate very much. It’s designed for F1, with lots of run-off, and even the run-off is not grass. 

 

“It’s a wide track, it’s designed for racing. You can run side by side with plenty of passing opportunities. There are two different lines through lots of corners, so you’re not stuck running single file. It makes for an exciting race for the fans.”

 

The Lone Star Le Mans, Round 11 of the 2015 TUDOR Championship, will be televised live on FOX Sports 2, beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 19. The race will be rebroadcast on FOX Sports 1 on Sunday, Sept. 20, beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET.