The Man Everyone Calls Keith
If there were a Mt Rushmore of drag and drive, Keith Turk’s face would be on there. His influence on drag and drive across his 20-year involvement has been unmatched.
Keith has made countless decisions on rules and tech as the race director for Hot Rod Drag Week and later for Sick’s range of events. At the tough end, it is sometimes actual cheating he has caught, but more often than not his position is one of guidance, not enforcement.
A former Apache helicopter pilot and instructor, Keith is more than capable of providing a confident hand on the shoulder when needed. He can take a nervous first-time driver and turn them into a complete drag racing addict by the end of an event. It’s a skill not only reserved for drag and drive, as he has also given the better part of a dozen people the chance to set Bonneville records in his land speed Camaro.
Keith announced this week that he will be winding back his role as race director for Sick, seeking to free up time for his other passions. The good news is that he will still be race director for Hot Rod Drag Week, the event where he carved out many of the rules and regulations that inspire us all today.
There’s a lot of stories about Keith Turk. Some myth and some legend to be sure, but mostly ones of a man who has taken a lot of pride in the friendly way he introduces people to the sport and ensures fair competition. He won’t take anyone calling him Mr Turk. Drag and drive veteran Dan Nissen remembers meeting Keith for the first time.
“Way back in 2011, I was on my first Drag Week,” he said. “I had noticed at the time that most people were simply calling this guy ‘Turk.’ I had a question for him, and I blurted out, ‘Hey, Turk!’ Keith looked at me with the meanest scowl anyone in history has seen and said, ‘Listen, my friends call me Keith.’ I was pretty much dumbfounded and turned bright red.”
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One of Keith’s favorite pranks is to roll up to someone with his most serious face and demand they report to impound/quarantine. Rajveer Ahuja recalled just such a moment.
“At my first Drag Week I made it to the last day at St Louis,” he said. “Being first in line at the gates, I hurried to the regular pit area and who do I see come and cut me off? It’s a Ford Ranger and Keith is hanging out the window with a stern face. Pointing at me with authority he says, ‘Hey, get over here and follow me — now!’
“I didn’t know what I did to piss him off. I was waiting for my tongue lashing when he proceeded to tell me since I was first through the gates I got to help set up impound, and I got to be in it. He wasn't mad, he was just goofing around!
“Over the years hanging out with Keith and Tonya, I can honestly say they are the nicest two people in the world that do everything they can to make you feel part of the community.”
Keith did the same thing to Sick’s number one subscriber Robert Williams.
“At Sick Week 2023, I was halfway through changing over to race mode when I get a couple of people com,e by and tell me Turk is looking for me,” he explained. “They said he was pissed. I called him, and the demanded to know why I was not in quarantine. I wasn’t quicker than 8.50 and I wasn’t top three, but then he told me I was ‘randomly’ chosen to park there because I had been chasing an impound decal since 2015. Yes, the decal is still on the car!”
Of course, impound could also be serious as a place for the quickest cars. Alex Taylor said it was a scary place in her early days of competition.
“They were all very intense and everyone was watched like a hawk,” she said. “I remember thinking that was a place I wanted to stay as far away from as I could. Mom and I had rolled into the Tulsa pits in the Camaro, parked, unpacked everything from the car and set up our spot. As soon as I had sat the last thing down, Keith walked up and told me to move to impound. I was terrified and annoyed at the less-than-stellar timing. I dragged my jack all the way from my pit to impound on the walk of shame. Long story short, I survived it and impound is now one of my favorite spots to be in! Keith and Tonya are great people who make the events what they are, and he’s a whole lot less scary now.”
It’s a tough environment to be the referee. But Keith has a way of being able to address infractions, even when it’s with people he would count as friends. Drag and drive legend Joe Barry said Keith has earned the respect of competitors.
“I have the upmost respect for Keith, even though we kinda got off on the wrong foot in 2011,” he said. “ However, I can say he made me a better competitor, all while becoming a friend. He did not put up with my gray areas of impound, and I would expect nothing less from a man of his integrity. Anybody who has been fortunate enough to interact with Keith has met a wonderful human.”
There were even times when Keith would help competitors make their cars legal, through whatever means necessary. Eric Yost’s story is a good one.
“The first time I met Keith was Drag Week 2007,” he said. “Going through tech with Dirty Bird, I had no clue what we were doing or what was expected. At that time, wipers were required. I worked in NASCAR and I had a single road course car wiper that worked perfectly. Then Keith informed us that if the car came with two wipers, it needed two wipers. We were last in tech, and I didn’t know what to do. Keith said, ‘You see that F150 over there? Go take the passenger wiper off and make something work.’ With a unibit, a bolt, and a metal clothes hanger, we had two wipers. I still owe Keith a passenger side wiper for his F150.”
Australia’s Ross Gault had a similar story.
“In 2014, Brenton and I went to U-Haul for a trailer but they did not have the size I ordered, so they gave me the next size up. Keith said we were infringing the rules and needed to comply or we were out. We bought 50 flat-pack cardboard boxes and tape to fill our cheating empty space. Keith Turk is the reason I cannot eat cereal, because it comes in cardboard boxes!”
Keith’s assistance would also arrive for less serious matters. A very recent example was from this year’s Mickey Thompson Turn & Burn, where Mike Wiles was itching for a coffee.
“There was no concession stand open at the track yet,” he said. “The race truck was in full race mode and my Winnebago’s batteries were dead. I’m telling Keith my story, when he says to take the van! The next thing I know, we are driving the one and only Falcon van to Dunkin’ Donuts. We bought a dozen doughnuts and shared them with some other racers when we returned. Keith is a great guy and it absolutely made our day.”
Most of all, Keith has developed respect among both big name drivers and complete rookies. Canada’s Dave Schroeder, who fits firmly in the former category, said Keith’s character is beyond reproach.
“A general characteristic of Keith that I have a great deal of respect for is that he does not gossip,” Dave said. “I am not sure if everyone realizes how much drama he deals with at the average event, but he makes his decisions on issues and only the people directly involved are aware.”
But Keith’s time is available for everyone, not just those setting records. Greg Hurlbutt probably summed it up best.
“At my first Drag Week, I met Keith because I wanted to change classes on day one,” he said. “Keith sat down with me and explained some of the procedures and how things worked at the event. We went over why I wanted to change classes, and then Keith walked around my car to explain what classes I had the option of going into. Keith gave us the time like he had known us for decades, and that spoke volumes as a newbie to all of this.
“Over the last 13 years, Keith and I have talked about 4000 billion times and one thing about him is he is always very open to discussion. He’s very firm on how the rules work, but also very fair with how he handles any situation put in front of him. He reminds me a ton of my dad as he is a military man, and runs it by the book day in and out. Without question, he is one of the most highly respected people I’ve met in life.”
Keith is calm and level-headed in almost every scenario. He understands the pressure of competition, but he’s not immune to it. Last year, I was lucky enough to be alongside Keith when he helped Tom Bailey and Dave Schroeder set some land speed records in his Camaro. As we towed to the staging lanes, I had never seen a man chug so many Diet Cokes. It was the equivalent of watching a chain-smoker go through a box of cigarettes. When word came through on the radio that the speed was fast enough to set a record, he shouted ‘F*** yes!’ in the truck. This from a man who takes pride in not cursing. But it was raw passion from someone in their absolute element, and a moment I felt privileged for witnessing.
Thank you Keith Turk for everything you have given us at Sick, not just as a race director, but as a friend. I hope our paths continue to cross.
Luke Nieuwhof
Editor, Sick The Magazine
