11/19/2015
Keith Haney
Keith Haney Racing ready for next year after fast close to 2015 season
There's an old adage in racing that's apropos for the 2015 season of Keith Haney and his Keith Haney Racing team: "It's not how you start, it's how you finish."
Haney's Lucas Oil/RacingJunk.com Pro Nitrous Chevrolet Camaro closed out the year with quick elapsed times and high speed, capping a second-half surge that made him a consistent contender in the Professional Drag Racers Association.
"I could not be any happier with the way things ended, other than I wish I would've won," Haney said. "I wish we would've found the last half of the year at the beginning of the season. We would've won some races then."
Early in the year, Haney struggled with an older-version engine, and his team didn't perform at a high level, but after an upgraded Reher-Morrison Racing Engines powerplant, Haney became one of the quicker Pro Nitrous drivers in the series.
"It was the worst start to a year you could ever have," Haney said. "We started the year in Dallas and had to rebuild a motor three times there, four times in Rockingham -- just stupid stuff. The first four races we thought, 'Why are we even out here?'
"But we stuck it out, and we got our new motor in St. Louis. That's where I raced Travis Harvey and went 3.76 at 201 mph -- my quickest e.t. ever -- and he goes 3.70 on me."
Despite the loss, Haney knew he had an improved race car. The following week in Martin, Mich., he made a rare mistake on the starting line that spoiled his chances of success there, but his confidence didn't wane.
"After that, we rocked and rolled," Haney said. "We came together as a team, and the little mistakes we used to make stopped. It's all about the team. One little mistake from the team can cause a big problem. The team that makes the least amount of mistakes is the most successful. I couldn't be happier with my team and my year."
The culmination of the latter stages of 2015 came in the PDRA World Finals at Virginia Motorsports Park. Haney qualified No. 3 after a career-best pass of 3.740 seconds at 200.68 mph, and he raced to the semifinals. If not for Steve Jackson's event-best run of 3.705 seconds at 202.61 mph, Haney could have raced for the victory.
Haney is quick to give credit and thanks to his longtime sponsors, Lucas Oil and RacingJunk.com, and to his race team of Brandon Pesz, Brandon Switzer, Randy Hancock, Dale Hancock, and Andrew Arnold.
Haney is excited for the future, too, with his team and with Osage Casino Tulsa Raceway Park, which hosts the 2016 PDRA season opener next March.
"The racetrack was successful, and my race team was successful the last part of the year," Haney said. "We've got some exciting news that will come out later on. We're looking forward to next year."
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