Harrisburg, PA – Scott Keppler has been selected as the U.S. Harness Writers Association (USHWA) Amateur Driver of the Year for 2025 in a vote conducted by USHWA with the amateur driving clubs.
Keppler, 59, said he appreciated being chosen and that it’s a great honor.
“There are a lot of great drivers that are in that [amateur] division that I race against on a regular basis on the East Coast, so it’s important to me,” Keppler said. “I mean, it’s historic, and I think it’s wonderful. I couldn’t be happier.”
Keppler, who sells consulting services for a software company, began driving with the North American Amateur Drivers Association (NAADA) in 2020 with just three starts.
In 2024, Keppler went over 100 starts for the first time and this year, with a month still to go, he’s more than tripled that number.
As of Dec. 2, he had hit the board on 115 occasions from 316 starts, for a solid top-three percentage of 36.
As with many amateurs, Keppler owns horses, currently six, which he also drives, so his yearly numbers reflect not just his starts with other amateurs, but those against the pros as well.
When considering just his 70 starts in amateur races, his on-the-board percentage is an outstanding 44.
Of his 37 wins so far this season, 13 were recorded in amateur events.
Keppler competes with five different amateur clubs and racked up victories this year at Monticello, Pocono Downs, and Yonkers.
A perk afforded the winner of the USHWA Amateur Driver of the Year is the honor of being the U.S. representative at the World Championship for Amateur Drivers (World Cup), which will be held in Malta in 2026.
Since the Amateur World Cup only takes place every other year, Keppler wasn’t sure if 2026 was one of those years, and said he is happy that it is.
“I’m looking forward to that,” he said. “That would be an incredible experience; a lifetime event.”
Keppler will be feted at the Dan Patch Awards Banquet, presented by Caesars Entertainment, at Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Fla., on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026.
The United States Harness Writers Association is the leading group of communicators about the Standardbred horse. USHWA conducts the official annual balloting for the sport’s most prestigious honors: induction to the Hall of Fame and Communicators Hall of Fame, along with the selection of the Horse of the Year, Trotter and Pacer of the Year, and the leading divisional horses of each season. Each year USHWA hosts the Dan Patch Awards Banquet, honoring the best and brightest performers in North American harness racing. This banquet is the Association’s principal source of funding, and with generous financial support from the harness racing and breeding industry, USHWA is able to host the banquet at a world-class facility in a world-class manner.