Somehow, Keith Dorton always knew his talent lay as an engine builder. At the age of 12 he had finished a 1932 Ford Coupe powered by a flathead Ford. By 15 he was racing regularly at the local drag strip. And at 20 Keith began his professional apprenticeship as an engine builder working for the legendary Holman-Moody Racing in the engine shop.
By 1965 Keith struck out on his own as an engine builder when he opened the doors to Automotive Specialists, Inc. The goal then, as now, was to build race-winning engines no matter what class the customer was racing. Interestingly, Keith’s very first customer was Ralph Earnhardt, patriarch of the famous Earnhardt racing family. That was the beginning of a very successful racing relationship. Seven-time Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) Series champion Dale Earnhardt was one of the driver’s that raced Keith’s stock cars early in his career. When Dale Earnhardt was dominating the NASCAR Bush (now Nationwide) Series, Automotive Specialists provided him with many of the engines powering those race cars. And later, when Dale Earnhardt Jr. formed his own race team, JR Motorsports, he too turned to Keith to help produce race-winning horsepower for his teams.
In addition to his connection to the Earnhardts, Keith also worked with Chrysler to improve its Cup program and was one of the first to work with Chrysler’s famous W-2 racing heads. Automotive Specialists was also the cylinder head supplier for Junior Johnson in his heyday when he was fielding winning cars for Bobby Allison and Cale Yarborough.
Over the years, Automotive Specialists has developed and prepared engines that have won races at every level. Racers running Automotive Specialists’ engines have won in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Truck Series as well as the USAR Pro Cup Series, the ASA and many other racing series. Automotive Specialists has also claimed many of the country’s most prestigious races, including the Daytona 500, the Snowball Derby and the Copper Classic.
By refusing to specialize with one single class of engine, Keith and Automotive Specialists have developed a unique expertise that few engine shops can match. Constant R&D work and experience with many different types of engines allows Automotive Specialists to regularly bring innovations to the table to make its engines both more powerful and more durable.
A testimony to Keith’s inventiveness is the fact that many parts manufacturers, race series and even research organizations have sought out Automotive Specialists to spearhead R&D/development programs. Automotive Specialists had a longstanding relationship with Holley which produced a signature line of carburetors and intake manifolds. Edelbrock is another development partner, as is Fel-Pro Gaskets, which asked Automotive Specialists to perform failure testing on its newest gaskets. There are others, including the United States Department of Energy, but confidentiality agreements keep Keith from sharing the details.
Currently, Automotive Specialists is the dominant engine builder in the USAR Pro Cup Series with numerous Engine Builder of the Year awards and operates a strong engine lease program for the NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Series as well as ARCA. Keith and Automotive Specialists have also recently stepped into the world of land speed racing. In just its second year of participation, Automotive Specialists’ powered cars have broken three SCTA records at the world famous Bonneville Salt Flats.
Keith and Automotive Specialists are celebrating 45 years of business in 2010.
