Benjamin Edward Keating (born August 18, 1971) is an American racing driver and businessman. Since his racing debut in 2007, he has competed in many endurance races worldwide, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, as well as the IMSA SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship. He also owns car dealerships across the state of Texas.
Keating has won his class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times; 2022 in LMGTE Am with TF Sport in an Aston Martin Vantage AMR, 2023 in LMGTE Am with Corvette Racing in a Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, and 2026 in LMGT3 with TF Sport in a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
Business life Keating has been surrounded by the car industry his entire life. Growing up, he washed cars and parked them on the front line at the Ford dealership owned by his father, which provided Keating an inside look into the dynamics of auto dealerships. Keating eventually found himself in an internship at Service Group during his junior and senior years at Texas A&M University.
During his internship in Service Group, Keating trained staff and managers at multiple dealerships. In 1995 when he graduated from A&M with a degree in Engineering, Keating sold cars at Covert Ford in Austin, Texas. Soon after he became the Used Car Sales Manager at Tomball Ford which was owned by his father and later became a minority owner himself.
Keating purchased Port Lavaca Ford in 2002. That was followed by Port Lavaca Dodge (2002) then Port Lavaca Chevrolet (2004). As of 2024, Keating owned 30 dealerships, generating about $3 billion in annual revenue and selling over 50,000 cars annually. In 2023, the Keating Auto Group was ranked 1st as the Largest Privately Held Auto Group in Texas as well as the 9th Top Privately Held Dealership Group in the United States. Automotive News ranked the Keating Auto Group as the 15th Largest Auto Group in the Nation. In 2024, Keating was nominated for Time Magazine Dealer of the Year Award.
At each of his stores, the general manager is also a minority partner of the business.
Racing Keating began racing in 2007 after receiving a weekend track driving course as a Christmas present from his wife.
Viper Racing League and NARRA Keating began racing in 2007 after receiving a weekend track driving course as a Christmas present from his wife. In 2007, he began racing a 2000 Dodge Viper GTS in the Viper Racing League (VRL), a league that began as track days for Viper enthusiasts. Keating received a DNF in his first race, an event at Sebring International Raceway. In 2007 Keating participated in the full VRL series and in 2008, his second full year in the league, Keating won the VRL National Championship. After the 2008 season, the VRL reorganized into the North American Road Racing Association.
In 2009, Keating participated in the NARRA US GT Championship, a 13-round series at seven venues across the Continental United States. Driving a Viper Competition Coupe, Keating claimed the national championship. He would repeat this feat in 2010.
In 2010, Keating also began racing in a new Dodge SRT-sponsored event, the 5-city, 10-race Dodge Viper Cup. Driving the specially designed Viper ACR-X, Keating finished second in the inaugural Viper Cup with race wins at Virginia International Raceway and Pocono Raceway. Keating finished the series with 501 points, 106 points behind first place. During the 2011 Viper Cup, Keating would record four race wins (New Jersey Motorsports Park, Virginia International Raceway, Texas World Speedway and Daytona). Going into the final race of the season, Keating held a 58-point advantage in the Viper Cup standings (a win being worth 60), and claimed the national championship by 20 points despite being forced into 15th place by a late-race collision. In 2012, Keating would dominate the series and repeat as national champion, recording six wins (Road Atlanta (both races), Road America (both races), Monticello Motor Club, and Watkins Glen) as well as three other top-five finishes.
Rolex Sports Car Series Keating made his Rolex Sports Car Series debut at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in 2011, racing in the Viper Exchange.com No. 66 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Racing for The Racer's Group (TRG), Keating and co-drivers Dominik Farnbacher, Tim George Jr. and Lucas Luhr placed 13th in their class (27th overall), completing 612 laps with a total time of 21:40:37.038.
The following year, Keating participated in a full season of the North American Endurance Championship, a subset of the Grand-AM Rolex Sports Car Series consisting of three races: the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, the Six Hours of The Glen, and the Brickyard Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Keating drove the No. 66 Porsche in all three races. Keating pulled double-duty during the 2012 24 Hours of Daytona, also taking a shift in The Racer's Group's No. 68 Porsche GT3 Cup.
Keating would participate in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona again in 2013, driving the No. 66 car along with co-drivers Farnbacher, Kuno Wittmer, and Jorg Bergmeister. They would go on to place 20th in class (31st overall), completing 622 laps with a time of 23:57:15.712.
American Le Mans Series In 2013, Keating made the jump into the American Le Mans Series, competing in the series' final season. Keating, with co-drivers Damien Faulkner and Craig Stanton in the No. 66 Porsche, would finish 5th in the GT-challenge (GTC) class in the series' opening event, the 12 Hours of Sebring. Keating would continue to race with Faulkner for most of the series. On September 21, Keating and Faulkner would score their first victory of the season at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. In front of his friends and family from around Texas, Keating drove the first 70 minutes of the race, then handed off to Faulkner, who completed the victory with a winning margin of 12.94 seconds. Keating and Faulkner followed their first victory up with another winning effort at Virginia International Raceway. The two late-season victories would prove a boon to Keating's final position in the standings, providing him with 40 of his 84 total points and earning him an 8th-place finish in the GTC class (out of 46 drivers).
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
2023 In 2023, he started the Rolex 24 at Daytona on pole position and finished in seventh. The next race at Sebring, he once again qualified on pole position and finished in fourth. He collected podiums at Laguna Seca and Watkins Glen before winning at Road America.
2022 He started 2022 with finishing third overall in the Dpi Class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. At Sebring, he converted pole to a win with teammates Mikkel Jensen and Scott Huffaker. At Watkins Glen, he won from pole. He also won the Michelin North American Endurance Cup.
2021 The LMP2 was in the classic WYNN's livery. The team for LMP2 consisted of Ben Keating, Mikkel Jensen, and Scott Huffaker.
At Daytona, he started on the pole and finished in seventh. (Keating raced in two different cars for Rolex 24, LMP2, and Aston Martin) At Sebring he started second and won. After starting in the back at Watkins Glen he came back and finished second. He won The Glen 240 from pole. At Road America, he once again started on the pole, and finished third. He also won at Laguna Seca. At the Petit Le Mans, he started on the pole and crossed the finish line first. However due to post-race penalties, he finished second. Keating and his team won the IMSA Championship and the Michelin North American Endurance Cup for LMP2.
2019 Keating won his third consecutive IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. He finished seventh in the GTD season and had a victory at Virginia International Raceway. Also 2019, Keating became the first person to enter a Ford GT in Le Mans privately. The team placed third but was later disqualified due to a capacity issue with the car's fuel cell.
2018 Keating won his second consecutive IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup GTD title. He finished third in the GTD championship by winning a victory at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park and two third-place runs at Laguna Seca and Sebring.
2017 Keating competed in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in a Mercedes AMG. He partnered with the Riley Motorsports Team. The car is a naturally aspirated, 6.3-liter V8 Mercedes-AMG GT3 based on the Mercedes-AMG GT road cars. They competed in the IMSA GT Daytona (GTD) class. 2016 In December 2015, Viper Exchange announced they would again be sponsoring two Vipers in the 2016 running of the 24 Hours of Daytona. Keating would once again take shifts in both the No. 93 and No. 33 Vipers as he sought to defend his 2015 victory. Keating would be joined in the No. 33 by Dominik Farnbacher, who helped drive the No. 93 to Daytona victory in 2015, and Le Mans co-drivers Marc Miller and Jeroen Bleekemolen. Keating was joined in the No. 93 car by Trans-Am Series TA2 Champion Gar Robinson.
2016 Keating followed up on 2015's winning success with his most successful IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season yet in 2016. Racing the full season with Bleekemolen for the third-straight year, Keating once again kicked off the schedule with double duty in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona. He and co-drivers Jeff Mosing, Eric Foss, Gar Robinson, and Damien Faulkner put the No. 93 Viper on the GTD-class podium for the second-straight year after the 2015 Daytona victory. The No. 93 gained three positions in the race's final hour for a third-place finish. Keating and the No. 33 team in turn recovered from a Saturday night accident to finish tenth, which made ViperExchange.com the only two-car GTD team in the Rolex 24 to place both of its entries in the top-ten.
Keating scored his first win of the year in Detroit. A popular victory in the hometown of the Viper, Keating stayed in touch with the lead pack throughout his race-opening stint after qualifying sixth, racing his way into the lead as the GTD field cycled through pit stops. Bleekemolen took over and kept the No. 33 upfront to the finish.
The year's second victory followed one race after Lime Rock at Road America, where Keating and Bleekemolen co-drove to the second-year-in-a-row victory. The win moved Keating, Bleekemolen, and ViperExchange.com to third in the GTD class point standings, putting them in contention for a solid championship finish for the first time.
The No. 33 team arrived at Road Atlanta second in points for the season-ending Petit Le Mans. Again co-driving with Miller, Keating and Bleekemolen started the race from the pole and won, in what would be the final race for a Viper in IMSA GTD competition. Keating and Bleekemolen finished the season second in the team and driver GTD standings behind the No. 63 Ferrari of Scuderia Corsa.
The 2016 season also saw Keating compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the second-straight year. After debuting in a GTE-Am class Viper GTS-R in 2015 with Bleekemolen and Miller, Keating switched to the LMP2 division in 2016, co-driving an open-top Nissan Oreca 03 with Bleekemolen and Marc Goossens. Despite a race-long string of issues, Keating finished Le Mans for the first time, driving the Oreca across the finish line for a 15th-place result in class.
2015