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Keith
Barbara is undoubtedly one
of the most competitive racers in the northeastern region.
His racing career began in his early years when he won
numerous karting championships in the late 1980’s and early
1990’s. Keith then moved on to the micro-sprint division
throughout the mid-90’s where he was again a multi-time
champion. At the turn of the century the Barbara family
decided to put Keith in a full blown Super Late Model.
Barbara raced full time at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor
Speedway en-route to finishing fifth in the season ending
point standings as well as winning the Rookie of the Year
crown. Keith used the momentum of his rookie campaign to
catapult him to his first Super Late Model Championship in
2001 at “Dirt’s Monster Half Mile”. Barbara picked up
another championship at Latrobe (PA) Speedway in 2002 and decided
it was time to hit the road.
In 2003, Forbes Field
Motorsports jumped on tour with the Mid-Atlantic
Championship Series (MACS). The race team traveled into
unknown territory for the first time but came out
unblemished and finished second in the season ending
championship standings and was named the 2003 MACS Rookie of
the Year. The 2004 season was much of the same as Keith was
on the road for the rigorous 23-race MACS tour. Barbara
continued to gain national exposure as he used patience and
consistency to once again finish second in the series final
point standings.
Keith’s 2005 season got off to a
fast start as he won his first MACS A-Main event at the
McKean County Speedway in Smethport, PA. The team decided to
stay closer to home in 2005 despite their first MACS
triumph. Keith picked up a few notable wins that season
including the ‘Summer Fest’ at Challenger (PA) Raceway and a
40-lap ‘Topless’ event at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor
Speedway.
The 2006 and 2007 season’s tested
the team’s integrity. Bad luck haunted the team during these
two seasons but Keith and the Forbes Field Motorsports team
fought through the adversity to still register a few notches
in the victory column at Cannonball (OH) Speedway and
Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway.
The 2008 season looks to be
promising for the 30-year old throttle jockey as Comcast,
the largest cable television company, the second largest
Internet service provider and the fourth largest telephone
company in the United States has signed on as a marketing
partner for Keith and team in 2008.
The
team has decided to run an ‘outlaw’ type schedule for this
year with hopes of making more noise on the national dirt
late model scene.
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