Keith Armstrong
By Lois Pollard-Grant

When Keith Armstrong says he would like to be remembered in racing for a sportsmanlike attitude and for helping guys out around the track, you can be sure that he will be remembered for just that. Keith won the sportsman award for Late Model Superstocks in 1996; the same year fellow driver Jason Frost won the championship.

On the last race of the season that year, Frost had pitted with a broken steering box, and Keith had the only available spare part needed to get Frost back into the race.

Keith's crew radioed him on the track that Frost needed a steering box - "Do you want to give it to him?"

"If you don't give it to him, you can win the championship, but if you do, then he (Frost) is going to win it."

Keith said "give it to him."

Today Keith can be found behind the wheel of his '98 Monte Carlo in the NASCAR Northwest Tour Series. His first race was two weeks ago in the Southwest Tour Invitational at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe.

He qualified 15th from a field of 40 starters, with a time of 23:32. Compared to US driver, Kelly Tanner's fast time 22:97, it is indicative of the keen competitiveness of this series.

About 50 laps into the 125-lap race, a lifter and rocker broke in his engine so he had to finish the race on seven cylinders. He still managed to finish on the lead lap, in ninth, after running as high as fourth.

Even though Keith didn't win the race, he claims this particular race was the best race of his life - and the most fulfilling.

Like others of his ilk, Keith inherited his desire for racing from his father Gerry, who drag raced for many years in Hamilton, Ontario.

When the Armstrong family moved to Victoria in 1980, Keith became involved in BMX bike racing and motorcross. He also crewed on his dad's Late Model car for three years.

With only a few claimer and demo races under his belt, Keith at 18, drove his first Late Model race, in his dad's car in the Canada 200 at Saratoga Speedway in 1988.

Going stone cold into the 200 lapper and vying with seasoned veterans such as Roy Haslam and Monte English was no easy task for the 18 year old, but he finished the race an impressive seventh.

After that initiating experience, Keith was hooked, and his dad was without a ride.

"They couldn't keep me out of the car after that."

Keith ran only a limited schedule for the next few years since it wasn't in the Armstrong family's budget to be able to run a full series.

Then in 1995 he finally got to run his first full season in late models, finishing second in championship points to Roy Haslam. He also earned Rookie of the Year honors.

The following year, another second place finish, this time to Jason Frost, (and the aforementioned sportsman award).

In 1997, his car ran out of gas in the final two races of the season, yet he still finished third place in points.

When Keith broke his arm motor biking last year, his racing career was put on hold. With time to re-access which way they were going, the Armstrong's made the decision to move up to the NASCAR Northwest Tour series.

Now 28, Keith works as a fabricator at A&A Performance Chassis where he and his dad are partners.

The Armstrong's build their own cars and they build winning cars; proof of such is the stockcar driven by Sean O'Hara, the old time stock of Dan Morneau and the IMCA modified of Rob Scott.

"We have done pretty well everything ourselves," Keith said. "Stew (Young) from Alpine has helped up, and so has Eddie Eng."

Team crewmembers on the sleek, deep purple #75 racecar are dad Gerry, John Raymond, Mike Burgess and John Peace.

"And without ma and pa," Keith said, "it (racing) wouldn't have been possible."

For most drivers, racing is the most important thing in their lives. "While it's pretty much the most important thing for me," the highlands resident said, "my girlfriend (Shawna) and my daughter (Heather) are the most important thing.