DeWayne Keeter (October 15, 1944 – May 3, 1975) was an American dirt-track and

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

rider. Involved in motorcycle racing since the mid-1960s, Keeter had raced in speedway in the United States for only around six months before signing for Leicester Lions in 1969, becoming the first American rider to compete in the British League.Berry, John (2009) "California Dreamin'", ''Backtrack'', Issue 32 (May-June 2009), p. 3-5 Shortly before making his debut for Lions he was seriously injured in a crash that resulted in five broken ribs, a punctured lung, and concussion, but despite this he

averaged In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean ( ) or arithmetic average, or just the ''mean'' or the ''average'' (when the context is clear), is the sum of a collection of numbers divided by the count of numbers in the collection. The colle ...

close to five points per match, including a paid maximum score.Jones, Alan (2010) ''Speedway in Leicester: The Lions Roar'', Automedia, p. 157 After the 1969 season he returned to the United States where he continued to compete in

dirt track racing Dirt track racing is a form of motorsport held on clay or dirt surfaced oval race tracks often used for thoroughbred horse racing. Dirt track racing started in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 1930s ...

, also riding in speedway in Australia in the early 1970s. Keeter was critically injured in a crash at

Ascot Park Ascot Park can refer to: * Ascot Park (speedway) – dirt racing track in Gardena, California * Ascot Park, New Zealand – suburb in Porirua, New Zealand * Ascot Park, South Australia Ascot Park is a suburb in the south-western part of Adelaid ...

in California on May 1, 1975, dying two days later aged 30.

References

1944 births 1975 deaths American speedway riders Leicester Lions riders {{US-sport-bio-stub