September 30, 2008 Blakesley Sports Media

McKeefery earns valuable experience in Altamont debut
Successful practice session despite not qualifying for field
Steven Blakesley / McKeefery Racing

Milpitas, Calif. – Martin McKeefery, the 21 year-old racing talent from Milpitas, Calif., took to the NASCAR Camping World Series West September 13 at Altamont Raceway Park. McKeefery attempted to qualify the #09 Milpitas Health & Fitness Chevrolet for the 200 lap feature at Altamont Raceway. McKeefery gained valuable seat time in his first stint in the Dick Midgley-owned stock car.

The talented world champion driver was up against several hurdles. McKeefery has gained most of his experience in Legends and Super Modified cars, which are light-weight and drive drastically different than a NASCAR stock car. “The biggest disadvantage was limited track time,” the 2007 Western Super Modified champion said. “It took a few laps to learn the car and I was thrown out there with guys who had run thousands of laps.” McKeefery was also making his first ever drive at the tricky Altamont half-mile oval. Lastly, McKeefery was competing in one of only two races on the entire schedule in 2008 where the field was large enough to have qualifying as a factor. 33 cars took times for 28 positions.

After only recording approximately 50 laps in practice, and having to end early with battery and alternator problems, McKeefery turned his attention towards qualifying. McKeefery qualified 27th and was only two tenths shy of making the starting grid. Even though Martin was out of the main event, he still, as any good race car driver would, went up to the grandstands to sign hero cards for the fans. “I was thoroughly disappointed and thought we missed our opportunity to shine,” McKeefery said. “But it was still a good learning experience.” “We were really close to making that race,” he said. “It was just everything puttogether that made it difficult.”

Next up for Martin McKeefery is a tentative test-session at All American Speedway in Roseville, Calif. on October 16.

McKeefery hopes to gain more experience in the NASCAR Camping World equipment with an eye on possibly competing in the October 25 event at All American.

McKeefery Racing is online at www.mckeeferyracing.com

Driver Martin McKeefery would like to thank: Milpitas Health and Fitness, AngelBodyandPaint.com, Precision Transmission and Pacific Tire; all of Milpitas; TopLineApplications.com, Bayshore Driveline and Truck Equipment of San Jose; Martha’s All Natural Mixes, MysteryPartyGames.com, SimpliFun.com, McKeefery Engineering (408 472-3522 team@MckeeferyRacing.com)

By McKeefery Racing Publicity

When Martin McKeefery straps into his supermodified race car, his mind will be on one thing — performance.

A resident of Milpitas, Calif., 20-year-old McKeefery is the 2007 champion of the ASA/WSSRL supermodified series. In just his second season of his supermodified career, Martin won the championship following his 2006 Rookie of the Year honors.

The league, now called Supermodifed Racing Association, SMRA, starts its season April 5th at Madera Speedway in Madera, Calf. The series will also travel to Oregon, Utah and Idaho.

McKeefery’s biggest challenge this winter was to repair the car. A broken rear axle sent him into the wall at 140 mph while racing in the first East West Shootout in Concord, NC last November while running third in the main event. An accident of that magnitude can do a lot of damage, luckily Martin was not injured. McKeefery has rebuilt the green Riddler #27 from the frame up. “I have worked many long hours on this car to get to a level I consider raceable, I feel the car has never been as stoutly built as it is now”.

“I’ve done most of the repairs myself. I am fortunate that several businesses in Milpitas were able to help me with the sheet metal and painting.” McKeefery looks to perform better than ever at the first race and feels confident he has prepared the car to his satisfaction. “I just can’t wait to “fire-off” for the 2008 season!”

In the off season, McKeefery attended Toastmasters meetings to develop his public speaking, and classes at Ohlone Jr. College in Fremont where he is scheduled to graduate in June.

When asked if he feels some pressure on him now that he’s won a championship, he said “The pressure is on the car for this first race. I won’t feel comfortable until I take my first practice and I’m up to speed. I have a great crew lined up for this race and I won’t have to worry about setup.”

McKeefery plans to use this season to learn a bit more from the supermodified. “The super is an amazing race machine with so much to learn. I know there are still a few more lessons for me. My next goal is to race in the NASCAR Camping World development series and that’s where I’ll be putting my energy.”

This season’s sponsors include: Top Line Industrial Finishing, Angel Body and Paint auto painting, Bayshore Driveline, Hope Custom Paint, Nichols Manufacturing, Uni-Fab Industries, Milpitas Health and Fitness, WorkOut.com, MysteryPartyGames.com; ChildrensPartyGames.com; McKeefery Engineering; Hurricane Electric Internet Provider and Milpitas Precision Transmission. For information on Martin McKeefery, go to www.McKeeferyRacing.com; and on the SMRA www.SMRARacing.com.

Speedy Milpitan zooms to televised circuit

Milpitas Post Staff
Article Launched:10/13/2006
Martin McKeefery, a 19-year-old Milpitas native, began car racing at age 13 and has continued to raise his competitive level. The 2005 world champion in the Legends division strapped himself into an 800 horsepower Supermodified for 2006. The 1,900-pound cars are the fastest cars to run on the asphalt short tracks, reaching 160 miles per hour on the half mile.

In his rookie year, he has already won a main event.

The Western States Supermodified Racing League's races will be featured on Versus, (previously Outdoor Life Network). The schedule for the next five weeks is Thursdays at 2 p.m. with repeats Saturdays at 1 p.m. and Tuesdays at 11 p.m. starting Oct. 12.