08-16-05

STARS’ CHRIS KELLER IMPRESSES AT THE RED BULL DRIVER SEARCH

Seattle, Washington — Over the past month many of the top racers in the Snap-on Stars of Karting have competed in the Karting Runoffs phase of the 2005 Red Bull Driver Search in the hopes of landing a place on the Red Bull Junior Team which prepares young drivers for a career in Formula One. It has been at these Runoffs that the superiority of competition in the Snap-on Stars of Karting presented by the Indy Racing League has been affirmed with seven of the ten advancing drivers being regular competitors on the Snap-on Stars of Karting circuit.

Chris Keller told us all about his journey to the Red Bull Driver Search Semi-Finals: “The first day they let the people that haven’t really run outdoor karts have some laps, so we all just kind of relaxed. The facilities were amazing and it was all very organized. I was amazed at how equal! things were. There was about 2 tenths between all of the top drivers in the first few practice sessions.” And unlike most karting events, any overzealous parents were kept at bay at a distance from the drivers, “They kept the parents pretty much separated from us off in their own viewing area so you really had a lot less distractions and pressure for some of the kids.”

Things started out well for the New Jersey based Keller in qualifying, “I qualified on pole, then we went out for the heat and I dropped to second at the start, but got the lead back. We pulled out to a pretty good lead, then the fuel line came off with j! t a few laps to go and that dropped me all the way back.” One trend was prevalent throughout the sessions though, the fastest kids all seemed to come from the same series, “It pretty much was all the fast Stars kids in the Final 16,” noted Keller.

It wasn’t just Keller’s outright speed, but his strategy and tire management that really allowed him to overcome his bad luck in the heat race. “I think what set everything apart was the fact I really saved my set of tires during the practice sessions. Even though they were pretty hard tires the heat cycle made a huge difference, and I was only using about three laps per session knowing how important it would be later in the day. So even though I started at the back in the final I was able to work my way up to second, finishing behind my teammate and friend (and fellow Stars karter) Casey Neal.”

With his sights set on a career in car racing, Keller is ultra appreciative of the opportunity Red Bull has extended to driver like himself and the effort that it takes to put on a showcase like the Red Bull Karting Runoffs. “This is pretty much the only way I know of to get somewhere on raw talent alone. Red Bull did an awesome job in having everything set up well, they really put a lot of money into it you can tell. They had Alex and Mike Speed there that really worked hard all weekend just to dial in the karts. The team of mechanics worked non-stop all day, with 50 karts it was amazing how much they got done with the number of people they had.”

Chris knows that this is just the beginning if he is to make it to the finals in Europe and is doing everything he can to ready himself for the next step. “I’ve been training every day for this Runoff in Sebring. I even got a video game so I can learn the track so hopefully I’ll be as prepared as possible and can keep some of this momentum going.’

The Snap-on Stars of Karting presented by the IRL would like to congratulate Casey Neal, Chris Keller, Logan Gomez, Justin Larson, Timmy Megenbier, Ryan Phinny, and Alexander Rossi for their advancement in the Red Bull Driver Search. Those that would like to learn more about the program can go to www.redbulldriversearch.com. To learn more about the Snap-on Stars of Karting presented by the IRL visit www.starsofkarting.com.

Photos courtesy of www.redbulldriversearch.com.