Andrew Wins at Lowe’s Motor Speedway

It took 10 weeks of anticipation, frustration, disappointment, and a wrecked car to get there, but Andrew Smith finally drove his way to victory lane in the final event of the 15th Annual Summer Shootout at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway outside of Charlotte, NC.

When the Summer Shootout 10-race series began back in June, Andrew had high hopes of being among the favorites to win the overall championship. But the racers in the Summer Shootout Pro Division are the best in the nation and it would be difficult to pull off such a feat in his first attempt at running the entire 10 week series.

It didn’t take long to find out just how difficult.

In the very first race, it became quickly apparent that something wasn’t quite right. Whether it was a combination of car issues and the drivers’ inexperience at this track was unclear, but the performance and results were just not there. For six long weeks, it seemed as if none of the adjustments made to the car resulted in much difference in the handling. Anticipation turned into frustration.

In the Week 7 race, Andrew and the Clay Hair Motorsports crew finally had the car driving a little better and he was able to earn a starting spot near the front of the pack in the feature event. While running 4th, he was caught up in a wreck between the top 3 runners and nearly flipped his #62 Ford coupe. The entire front end of the car would have to be replaced before Andrew could race again the following week. Frustration turned into disappointment.

Things began to change during Week 8, however. Whatever the issue had been with the handling of the car had disappeared with the wrecked and replaced front end. Andrew was able to pilot the newly-rebuilt car to a second place finish. Some bad track position in Week 9 came into play, but the car was running great and Andrew was able to drive from 18th to a 6th place finish. Disappointment was turning to anticipation.

The grueling 10 week schedule would come to an end on August 12, 2008. On the way to the track, car owner Edwin Smith commented, “I’ve got a good feeling about this week.” Everyone hoped he was right.
The night’s events started out good for Andrew as he drew the pole position for the first heat race. He would then proceed to serve notice that the #62 would be the car to beat that night as he drove off from the rest of the field for a commanding victory in the preliminary event.

After the inversion, Andrew would start 3rd in the Pro Division feature race. On lap two, Andrew grabbed the lead coming out of turn 4 and never let it go. While there were some tense moments with competitors beating on his rear bumper and an ill-timed caution on lap 17 of the 20 lap race to add to the drama, Andrew held his ground and would not be denied the victory on this night. Anticipation had finally turned into victory.

Responding to an incident where a competitor tried unsuccessfully to pass Andrew and nearly wrecked both cars, Andrew said, “I never let off the gas. I knew it was gonna be big. Either I would drive through it and win, or he was gonna wreck me. Either way, it would be big.”

During the next few weeks, Andrew will be doing some traveling as he heads to the Bethel Motor Speedway for Legendstock2008 on August 16. The Bethel Motor Speedway is near the site of the Woodstock Music Festival and this race draws its name from that historic event. On August 17th, Andrew will make his debut at the Chemung Speedrome in Chemung, NY.

Then on August 23, Andrew will return to his “home” track in Cordele, Ga. for the Frank McKinney Memorial Scholarship 50 at the Watermelon Capital Speedway. This event will surely draw the heavyweights of Legends car racing as it pays $3000.00 to win. Andrew will no doubt be considered the favorite to win as he has been to Victory Lane the last 12 times he has visited the track.

The attention will then turn the Elko Speedway in Minnesota for the 17th Annual Legends Asphalt Nationals on October 3-5, 2008. At last years’ event in Las Vegas, Andrew finished with a strong 4th place showing. He expects to improve on that this year.

Once again, the anticipation begins to build.