Regional Racing Series (RRS) Interview
with Todd Andrews
by Walt Sherwood
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| Todd Andrews after win at
Little Valley Speedway July 22, 2004...Matt Gleason Photo |
At the bequest of RRS series coordinator
Dennis Shutt, I was asked to do an in-depth interview with the current RRS
points leader and veteran super late model driver Todd Andrews on the 7th of
August at McKean County Raceway in E.Smethport, Pa.
Andrews is on a torrid pace this season to win
the inaugural version of the RRS $ 18,000 to win " Triple Crown
" which consists of the McKean County and Little Valley, N.Y. overall
track point titles along with the overall RRS championship which consisted
of five events that have already been run at MCR, four races at Little
Valley; with one other race that was rained out but unlikely
to be made up, and finally a lone race that was run in July at Raceway 7 out
in Conneaut, Ohio. Of the five RRS races that was run at MCR, Andrews won
three of those main events while winning one of the two that has been run so
far at Little Valley. By the way, Little Valley has the final two
RRS races for 2004 with two dates in September; on the 11th and 25th. He
also won the lone event at Raceway 7 to give him five wins out of the
eight RRS features that have been run in 2004.
Currently, Andrews leads the MCR point standings
by 26 points over second place Rick Isadore (182-156) with one race
remaining, the double point Hazon Jordan Memorial race on August 28th.
He needs only to place 10th or better at MCR on the 28th to win the overall
track title. At Little Valley, it's going to be a dogfight for Andrews to
win this version for the " Triple Crown " because he's
only leading
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| Andrrews in action at
Little Valley Speedway July 22, 2004...Jay Pees Photo |
by three points over Ron Davies (73-70)
with Ron's brother Dutch a single point behind, and Bob Close another three
points back with 66. Little Valley's two races left are the
aforementioned September 11th and 25th RRS races. And finally; in the
overall RRS total points format, Andrews is comfortably ahead of second
place Close by a margin of 49 (259-210) with only the two Little
Valley RRS races to go. Andrews needs to finish 11th or better in the
Sept 11th race to complete this portion of the Triple Crown.
When it comes to actual sponsorship in
his racing endeavors, Andrews basically runs under his salvage business
name which is Andrews Sales and Service / Auto Salvage located on Route
446 in Eldred, Pa. The racing publication Dirt Late Model Magazine also
provides him with his racing suits along with Turbo Blue Race Fuels and
Malcuit Racing Engines as his associate sponsors.
Below is the our actual interview with Andrews:
RRS: Good afternoon Todd, glad to have finally
met ya' after all these years, tell us, what was it that attracted you to
race the entire 2004 RRS schedule this year ?
TA: Well I guess the money aspect of it, I
mean, plus I guess the job or my business got busier and busier so its been
harder and harder for me to travel, so this was enticing plus the way the
transistion from Hav-A-Tampa to the Extreme and WoO and with all the
traveling and without STARS having the schedule they had, that kinda' lost
all the races that I used to go to, so in essence, that was the reason
and the feeling.
RRS: In your opinion, what do you feel it
will take to make the RRS a viable series and an attraction in the next few
years ?
TA: Well ya' know, defintely more guys
supporting it is defintely going to help, just the same aspect as the WoO,
when the fans know what drivers are going to be at every race, the fans will
be attracted to those races, if they know 12 to 15 of the real good cars and
drivers are going to be there, that's going to bring the fans. Perhaps maybe
a couple more Conneaut or even Stateline races, I mean something like that,
make it more of a regional, say, five track deal of something like that.
RRS: What have been the determining
factors in your results this season compared to last year ?
TA: Probably the biggest factor is the car
that I bought, the car that I bought the last race of last year. I took it
to Hagerstown, a new Rayburn car, that's probably made the biggest
difference of all. I had a Mastersbilt car a year ago, I mean, and they're
good cars by all means, but I just thought there was something better out
there, so I just kept searching. That's why I bought one late in the year
(2003), just to, ya' know, try it. I ran second with it right out of the box.
So I thought to myself, whoa' this defintely has potential !
RRS: Where do you think the future of
local dirt late model racing is headed ? Will it continue to be weekly
races at local tracks (or) will it eventually become more " special
races " oriented ?
TA: That is very true, I mean I guess it
is hard for me to understand how they can continue to pay the purses weekly
to some of these late model race tracks without the fans support, so I mean,
this might be the future, it very well could be.
RRS: When you first get to the track, I've
seen you on your ATV checking out the surface. What exactly are you looking
for, and with your years of racing experience, can you pretty much tell
what direction you're going that night as for tires, setup, gears, etc. ?
TA: I'm sure that a lot of people wonder
about that, those who haven't ever been here at MCR for instance. Well, its
just like tonight, I mean, its very overcast, no sun, minimal wind, and
I mean it looks wet, but I have not been out there yet, but that's what
you're going to do, is go out there early and look to see how deep that
moisture is and from this standpoint, I mean, it looks like its going to
stay pretty wet, pretty heavy all night long, probably going to be able to
run a pretty loose race car tonight. Yeah, that's what we're looking for is
to see what we got to do for the rest of the night. I'll look at the track
2,3, some 4 times through the course of the night.
Note: Andrews would finish second on this night,
right on the back bumper of eventual winner Rick Isadore in the MCR main
event.
RRS: Have you determined perhaps what your
Sept. and Oct, schedule will consist of yet ? The 11th and 25th of September
will most certainly be Little Valley for the RRS, any other races you're
looking at ?
TA: I've truthfully been looking week to
week right now, just focusing on what we've got to get next week and
after the RRS deal is over with, then I'll look further, but at this point
its just week to week.
RRS: Whose idea was it for the wildly
exotic paint design on your car this season ? It's quite an
eye-catcher. Was it your father-in-law, or did you happen to notice a scheme
that appealed to you from somewhere ?
TA: My wife Brandi and I saw the
number on a dirt modified and that's where the number configuration came
from, could have been Pete Bicknell, now that you mention it. It's just that
design, I like that number, its something different. Mark Weitzel (Andrews
father-in-law) came up with the whole scheme, he usually gives us two or
three ideas in January and then we'll lay it all out. It's all his ideas.
RRS: If you're fortunate enough to
accomplish this next month, what will winning the initial RRS / MCR / LV
" Triple Crown " mean to you ?
TA: Maybe 10 to 15 years from now I'll
think of things differently, today its just another accomplishment, and then
we'll go on to the next one. Maybe someday when I can sit down and
think back I'll say to myself, yeah; that was all right. It's all
great, yeah, don't get me wrong, but I just keep looking forward all
the time.
RRS: Given any thought to perhaps what you
might want to be doing five years from now; do you see yourself still in
racing ?
TA: I just don't even think that far
ahead, I mean, life changes so fast.
RRS: You've won numerous races in your
career, is there a particular victory over the years that really made you
feel extremely proud of winning ?
TA: Probably one of the toughest races
that I won was the " Pittsburgher ". It was one of those deals
that I had a different right rear tire on than from the entire field, ya'
know, I made a gamble and it paid off, I mean, it was a very " mental
" race, not physical. The track changed just dramatically from the last
time we ran the race track during the night, say hot lapping or whatever, to
when we hit feature time, it dropped off three seconds and that was only
like in a course of thirty minutes, it dropped that fast. So that's why the
sun changed the race track that much and that's why I made the tire
choice that I did and that kind of goes back in hand with what I'm referring
to by looking at the race tracks 2,3 times during the night. That is why I
made the tire choice that I did that day and it obviously paid off very
good.
RRS: With the advant of all kinds of new
technology and modern communications out there today, why isn't there a
toddandrews.com website out there yet ?
TA: Probably " time " as much as
anything. I'm not a real self-promotor, I'm not much of a computer
person to start with. I couldn't tell you what was going on in internet
land. People come into my shop every day and tell me this and that, its
probably for the best that I don't know what's going on because it really
doesn't interest me.
RRS: Since this going to be sent out to a
great deal of media outlets, is there anything special you'd like to say to
the numerous racing fans you have accumulated over your 21 years of racing ?
TA: I really do appreciate all of the fans
support I've gotten over the years I've been racing. But some fail to
realize at times, its not like you can just snap your fingers and success
will be there. There is a great deal more to it than that, and its like the
previous question you asked about modern technology always progressing and
things changing. For example; like I said before concerning the Rayburn
car, with " that " technology it probably fits my style more than
what the Mastersbilt car did for me. Who's to say someone else can't get in
this car and might not run any good at all, but he might get into a
Mastersbilt and go like hell. It's just something that fits one's preferred
style. Surprisingly enough, in 1987 I believe, when I raced here at MCR full
time I had what they called like a " full tilt chassis " and all
that was was a Rayburn copy at that time. I won a ton of races in that car
that year, I won 14 or 15 in that car between MCR and Genesee County in
Batavia, NY. Perhaps that's the answer you asked me earlier about the "
Northern Speedway " comment being on that racing card you
mentioned. That speedway was in Batavia, NY
RRS: Have you ever compiled how many
wins you have had in your 21 years of racing ? It no doubt has to be
over 200.
TA: Yeah, without a doubt. The number of
them don't really mean that much to me as much as like those big ones such
as the Hillbilly, a couple Hub Citys, Pittsburgher, the Winchester 200, I
won the $ 12,000 Mansfield race twice. I'd much rather keep track of those
wins.
RRS: Any final remarks you'd like to
finish this interview with ?
TA: Well yeah. If I'm lucky enough to win
this RRS series it would be good for the publicity that it would generate.
Just like Dick (Barton); I was very surprised he didn't go for this and I
actually didn't get to thinking about the RRS series that much until like
May, and I'm leading the points here at this place (MCR), and then another,
and I get to thinkin' 'geez; this isn't such a bad deal, I mean, I need to
look at this a little further, the schedules didn't come out for a such a
long time, it held everybody in limbo, and that probably had as much of an effect
even on the RRS in early spring as anything, because we didn't have all
those previous Rengade races that we had, or previous MACS races that we had
before. It seems like the MACS series is all over God's creation now a long
ways from home, well that makes no physical sense to me for what position
I'm in today, so I've basically stayed home and enjoyed the RRS format
for this season and its been quite successful.
RRS: Well, that concludes the interview
Todd. We appreciate your time, and continued success for the rest of 2004.
Below is the RRS " Triple Crown "
format that was established for 2004
RRS title (if 10 races are officially run
).....$ 4,000.00
MCR Track
Title...........................................$ 2,000.00
RRS / MCR
Bonus.......................................$ 6,000.00
Little Valley Track
Title.................................$ 3,000.00
RRS / LV
Bonus...........................................$ 3,000.00
Total to Win " The RRS Triple Crown
".....$ 18,000.00
