WA SPEEDWAY: KEEN’S IMPRESSIVE DEBUT 410 SEASON

Redline Media release

Feature photo courtesy of Richard Hathaway Photography

HEADING into his 410 Sprintcar debut season with Cowara Motorsport, Michael Keen and the team had one main goal – that was to finish inside the top 10 of the Maddington Toyota Sprintcar Series point standings and that’s exactly what they did!

Stepping into the WA # 41 Cowara Motorsport Triple X car, which has successfully been driven in the past by the likes of Ken Sartori and Cameron Gessner, was always going to be a massive challenge for Keen.

Cowara Motorsport team owners, Steve and Sharron Duggan, put their faith in the untried 410 Sprintcar racer, who has a strong history in Limited and 360 Sprintcars, and he certainly rewarded them with plenty of promising performances that earned him a 10th place finish in the final Maddington Toyota Series point standings.

“The main goal for my debut 410 Sprintcar season was to try and finish inside the top 10 of the point standings and to be able to achieve that was something very satisfying not only for me but the entire Cowara Motorsport team,” the 29-year-old from Bunbury in Western Australia said.

“After a bit of a mixed run during the first half of the season, as the team and I were trying to jell with one another, the team and I enjoyed an encouraging second half of the season and it not only saw us pick up a number of solid performances, it elevated us into the top 10 of the Maddington Toyota Series.”

When it comes to season highlights for Keen and the Cowara Motorsport team, there were plenty of things to look back on with fondness.

“Although it was really tough running up against some of the world’s best Sprintcar racers during the High Limit International over the Christmas-New Year period at the Perth Motorplex, it was a fantastic experience where I narrowly missed out on qualifying into the feature races on all three nights,” commented Keen, who enjoyed one of the best ever rookie 410 Sprintcar seasons by virtue of his top 10 point standings finish in the Maddington Toyota Series.

“After the High Limit International event, my confidence grew a lot more and we started to get rolling and bring home some pleasing performances during the second half of the season, which included qualifying on pole position for the January 1 event at Bunbury Speedway up against the likes of James McFadden and Brad Sweet. Then, by round 15 of the Maddington Toyota Series, we had moved into the top 10 of the point standings and stayed there all the way through to the end of the season. Another big season highlight was finishing inside the top five in back-to-back rounds during the month of March.”

There is no question about it, Keen was mighty impressive throughout his 410 Sprintcar debut season.  Michael and the Cowara Motorsport team are already counting down the days until the 2025-26 season commences in October.

“The Cowara Motorsport team took a gamble by giving me a chance at 410 Sprintcar racing and I’m very proud that I was able to repay their faith by coming away with the results that we did,” concluded Keen.

Apart from his 410 Sprintcar commitments during the season, Keen contested a handful of the blue-ribbon events in the Limited Sprintcar class, where he won his third Western Australian Title, also collected his fifth King of Wings victory, and ran a close second in the Krikke Boys Shootout.

Keen would like to say a massive thanks to Cowara Motorsport team owners Steve and Sharron Duggan, as well as a big thanks to his older brother Daniel for all of his hard work during the season as the team’s crew chief, his parents Heather and John, crew guys Alex, Lachie and Cam, and Lisha and Courtney who did a great job looking after all of the team’s merchandise.

The final outing for the Keens Race Team is set to be the Maddington Toyota Series 2024-25 season awards night that is to be held at Perth’s Burswood on Swan on the Saturday night of June 7.

2024-25 Season Results Snapshot (23 race nights):

Feature Races

5th x 2

10th x 1

Dashes

1st x 1

4th x 2

5th x 2

6th x 1

Heat Races

1st x 1

2nd x 2

3rd x 3

Qualifying

1st x 3

2nd x 1

3rd N/A

4th x 2

5th x 2

Final Maddington Toyota Series Point Standings (after 22 completed rounds):

1 Dayne Kingshott – 3222 points

2 Callum Williamson – 3170

3 Taylor Milling – 2854

4 Kaiden Manders – 2844

5 Andrew Priolo – 2812

*10 Michael Keen – 2552

Final USA VS WA Speedweek Series Point Standings (after 9 completed rounds):

1 Dayne Kingshott – 1226 points

2 Brock Zearfoss – 1220

3 Matt Egel – 1187

4 James McFadden – 1176

5 Taylor Milling – 1146

*22 Michael Keen – 850

Final Perth Motorplex 410 Sprintcar Track Championship Point Standings:

1 Callum Williamson – 3532 points

2 Dayne Kingshott – 3502

3 Kaiden Manders – 3257

4 Taylor Milling – 3195

5 Daniel Harding – 3132

*10 Michael Keen – 2819

Final Maddington Toyota Four Crown Series Point Standings (after 4 completed rounds):

1 Callum Williamson – 592 points

2 Dayne Kingshott – 586

3 Daniel Harding – 544

4 Andrew Priolo – 540

5 Jason Pryde – 524

*6 Michael Keen – 518

Cowara Motorsport / Keens Race Team would like to thank their 2024-25 season supporters:

• MJB Industries

• Wight & Emmett Stock Feeds and Pet Store

• Cowara Contractors

• Penrite Oil

• Australind Premix

• Shepheard Vacuum Truck Services

• Anstee Demolition & Civil

• Boyanup Cellars

• Keen’s Truck Driver Training

• Maxwill Racing Engines

• J&S Drilling

• Samios Plumbing Bunbury

• Southwest Auto Detailing

• RaceClear Tear Offs

* Backyard Donuts