The Allure of Speed
By DENNIS GIST - For The Herald-Palladium
Published: Monday, June 8, 2009 1:06 PM EDT

SOUTH HAVEN - The cars speeding around the track at Gingerman Raceway near South Haven can be an impressive sight from the bleachers.

But what about from the finely tuned, high-performance sports cars?

To find out, driver-owner Ben Keating of Port Lavaca, Texas, let me ride along on a practice run Sunday

before afternoon races on the 2-mile track, which features left and right turns.

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First, his crew strapped me into the passenger seat until I felt like I was harnessed to an overgrown child seat while I sat on what felt like a rumbling volcano ready to blow. The crew told me how to get out quickly "just in case something goes wrong."

Soon Keating let out the clutch and stepped on the accelerator. Within seconds the Dodge Viper reached speeds of 135 mph on the short, 2,000-foot, straightaway. He broke and shifted down to as low as 20 mph in the hairpin turns - where most of the passing takes place during races.

Even with just four cars on the track - races usually have 10 - there were thrills to be found. One car passed Keating on the right with a right turn coming up fast. My breath gained a new urgency, like it could have been my last.

Then I wanted Keating to pass the other car so badly that I could taste it.

After finishing the run it was very difficult driving home at 55 mph instead of stomping on the gas and passing everything in sight.

Keating is a member of the North American Road Racing Association, which sponsored the weekend racing events at Gingerman. All the races featured Vipers built for racing by Dodge.

In addition, NARRA hosted classes and on-the-track instruction for new drivers and individual time trials - though those drivers didn't need Vipers.

Kathy Stout of Alliance, Ohio, was the only female driver at the track Sunday. "It's addictive," she said of her 8-9 years racing.

Racing Vipers are not for bargain hunters. New models range from $140,000 to $160,000, though some owners at Gingerman did buy used Vipers. Keating owns three Dodge dealerships in Texas, where he sells Vipers.

"I sold two this weekend," he said. "It doesn't cover all the expenses, but it helps."

Used racers can be "found all the way down to $40,000," said Skip Thomas, a NARRA organizer.

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