FreeGameDev

We obviously need the keyboard for non-racing, but I can find no way to tell STK that the 1st player is using a gamepad. I can't remove the keyboard, I can't remap the player to a gamepad...I can't change it at all.

Is the keyboard hard-wired into the game so we're stuck with a keyboard whether we want it or not? Does this require a new fame feature so we can play STK without a keyboard?

Which version of STK are you using? In recent versions, when clicking 'multiplayer', the game asks you to press the Select button to join the game. Just make sure to be using the gamepad and not the keyboard at that time, the device you are using on that menu will be assigned to the first player

After you set the dpad to the menu & set select/cancel buttons, everything con be navigated with the gamepad. The game uses whatever started the race for player 1