Digital Dealer - April 2018 - 29

After graduating from Texas A&M University with an honors
degree in Engineering in 1995, Ben Keating went to work selling
cars at a Ford dealership in Austin. Shortly thereafter, he went to
work at his father's Ford dealership in 1996, where he ultimately
became general sales manager and part-owner. He bought his first
car dealership in 2002 and, thoroughly enjoying the experience,
continued to acquire dealerships, at an average rate of one
dealership a year for the next 15 years. Today, Ben is the principal
owner and chief visionary of the Keating Auto Group, a familyowned company that currently includes 17 popular automobile
dealerships across Texas, selling 17 different brands. Collectively,
the Group generates more than $1 billion in revenue and sells more
than 25,000 cars per year. Ben owns 80 percent of every business
in the Group, with the remaining 20 percent split between each
store's operator and business partners who oversee the financial
side of the business.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERICK CALDERÓN

A professional car racer in his
spare time, Ben has competed in the
American Le Mans Series, Grand
Am, and the IMSA WeatherTech
United Sportscar Championship.
In the following interview, he talks
about his racing and retailing success, and openly shares his insights,
with the hope of giving other dealers
interesting tidbits as useful takeaways from the article.

I'D LIKE TO START BY
ASKING YOU TO TALK ABOUT
YOUR LIFE AS A RACE CAR
DRIVER. IN ADDITION TO
OWNING 17 CAR DEALERSHIPS ACROSS TEXAS, YOU
OWN KEATING MOTORSPORTS. WHEN DID YOU GET
YOUR START RACING CARS?

My wife bought me a weekend at
Texas World Speedway for Christmas in 2005. In mid-2006, I took a
Dodge Viper off the showroom floor
and drove to TWS with no tools, or
helmet, or any knowledge at all. It
was the most fun I'd ever had, and

I was completely hooked. I started
racing in 2007 in the Viper Racing
League, which is a club-level, gentlemen's racing series. I found success
in 2008 by winning my class. I continued to move up to more challenging classes through the years and
continued to have success.
As a driver, I have won the 24
Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of
Sebring, Petit Le Mans, and many
other endurance events. I did 15
races in 2017, which took up about
25 percent of my year. I drove a
Mercedes Benz AMG GT3 car in
the WeatherTech IMSA championship and won the North American
Endurance Championship. I have
driven in the 24 Hours of Le Mans
for the past three years, and my goal
is to win this race in 2018.

WHAT ATTRACTS YOU TO
RACING CARS?

Believe it or not, I find racing to
be relaxing. I call it an adrenaline
flush. The focus required to perform
well behind the wheel won't allow

you to think about anything else,
and I love the way I feel after a race
weekend. I also love the teamwork
required for endurance racing. And,
of course, the competition. The fact
that I can compete in the same car,
at the same tracks, and in the same
race with the best racing drivers in
the world is still very humbling. I
imagine that it would be like playing
basketball with Michael Jordan.
I get to compete with the best of
the best, and I continue to learn
every time I go out there. Racing is
extremely time-consuming. Realistically, too time-consuming when you
factor in I have two great kids and
a lovely wife, who let me get away
and do all this fun stuff. Obviously,
I also have an incredible bunch of
guys to mind the store while I go out
and play.

HOW HAS THIS EXPERIENCE
AS A CHAMPIONSHIP-WINNING RACE CAR DRIVER
HELPED YOU IN YOUR AUTO
Continued on pg. 30

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

APRIL 2018

http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - April 2018