When you grow up on a farm, there is good chance that you will become a farmer. When your father owns an Insurance agency, you might end up selling insurance as a career. If your Dad is a plumber, your vocation could be to follow in those footsteps. So when your father, mother and grandfather are all racers who have won countless events and championships between them, it stands to reason that you might just become a winning race car driver. In the case of Dan McKeage, Jr., that is true…and then some. McKeage was voted as the Maine Racing Hall of Fame Driver of the Year for 2024. The accomplishments that earned him that honor were amazing.
Wiscasset Speedway in coastal Maine was McKeage’s racing home in 2024. His family had their roots planted firmly at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, but when that facility closed in 2021, his family adopted Wiscasset as their new place to race. This season, McKeage was the class of Wiscasset. He doubled up by winning both the Pro Stock and Strictly Street championships driving the family’s familiar “Naughty 40” machines that his father Dan and his grandfather Lyman both previously wheeled to much success. Dan’s Mom Laura is also an accomplished driver.
While McKeage was the victor, all four finalists for the 2024 Driver of the Year award were very accomplished. Jordan Russell was also a double champion in 2024. At Oxford Plains Speedway, he won both the Limited Sportsman and Street Stock championships. Trevor Sanborn was the track champion at Oxford in 2024 with a title in the Pro Late Model/Pro Stock division to his credit. He also won a PASS North event at Speed Speedway in Caribou. Bobby Timmons might have had the toughest season of all four nominees. He overcame a devastating wreck with a push truck early in the season and a late season blown engine to capture the 2024 New England Supermodified Series championship. The guiding force behind the Driver of the Year award, longtime Beech Ridge track official Dan Walker also got to share in the limelight on the night of the Maine Racing Hall of Fame induction ceremony where McKeage received his award.
Walker and Andy Jones were presented with the Maine Vintage Race Car Association President’s Award. The two gentlemen were the driving forces behind this summer’s Beech Ridge Car Show which brough former competitors and fans back to Beech Ridge for the first time since it closed. The packed car show attracted over 4,000 attendees and raised over $16,000.
The inductees for the Maine Racing Hall of Fame Class of 2024 were Marty Butler, Glenn Cusack, Edward Jaynes, Rae Jean Knowles, Chuck LaChance, Don Letarte and Andy Santerre.
