This year Keaton Smith has taken his racing primarily on the road. He’ll travel three to four hours away from Gray Court, South Carolina, often following the schedule of the American All-Star Series Presented by PPM Racing Products.
“You can go to the same track every weekend and learn a lot about your car and what you’re doing,” said Smith. “But when it comes to different racing surfaces, you don’t learn anything [from racing the same dirt oval]. Every track is a different setup, and we learn something from that track that carries over to the next track.”
Smith likes to dive right into things. He started in the sport by picking up a 602 late model in 2020, with no prior racing experience. Smith then moved into 604s about a year ago. He said that he may not have the most talent, the most money, nor the most resources to travel with the American All-Star Series, but he enjoys it nevertheless.
“A lot of people don’t understand it,” Smith said. “But we do what we can. It’s a fun series to run, with good competition, and it makes us a better driver at the end of the day.”
This Saturday, July 20, Smith won’t have to travel hours away from home. Instead, he’ll haul just a little over 10 miles to Laurens County Speedway in South Carolina. Smith’s company, Aiken Ridge Landworx, sponsors the American All-Star Series event.
While Keaton Smith would certainly like to leverage a home-track advantage for his first top 10 in the series, he has other hopes.
“Come have a good time,” said Smith of why you should go to Laurens County Speedway. “It’s a good track, it’s fun, the people are good. The people down there work hard and deserve to see a good show. The people around there don’t get to watch many big shows, unless they drive up to Cherokee [Speedway]. I’d like to see a good show at my home track.”
Outside Groove Note of Transparency: Outside Groove is a sponsor of the American All-Star Series. The American All-Star Series paid for the production of this article. The content is not subject to the approval of the American All-Star Series.
The Outside Groove Executive Editor has covered motorsports since 2000. His many awards include the 2019 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Jim Hunter Writer of the Year and the 2013 Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism.
