Driver Interview: Andy Lally

(Photo: CIA Photography/ TRG Motorsports)

 Back in the "good old" days of racing, drivers were known to drive in any events and car they could get the chance too. Unfortunately in today's racing world, drivers are often discouraged from competing in extra events. Somebody forgot to tell Andy Lally that.
  Andy has competed in the Grand Am Rolex Series, the American Le Mans Series, the Continental Tire Sports Car Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and even various street luging events and championships. At the end of last month, Andy completed a lifelong dream and competed in the Daytona 500. Needless to say, if it has wheels Mr. Lally will drive it!

Andy was kind enough to take time out of his extremely hectic travel schedule to answer some questions about his racing career and his future in NASCAR.
 
Joey Selmants- What was it like racing in arguably the biggest auto race in the world, the Daytona 500?

Andy Lally- It was a dream come true! I've wanted to do that since I was a little kid and even though it's a little later then when most rookies make their debut it just makes it that much sweeter.

JS- Was the two-car drafting at Daytona a bit intimidating at first?

AL- It was at first. Then it became just weird. I stood on the roof on a cold night in Daytona to watch the Bud Shoot Out and see what the racing was going to look like, I was joined there that night by my buddy Michael McDowell and a new kid that I was meeting for the first time by the name of Trevor Bayne. We were all in awe of how crazy the pushing and team car racing looked but we were all looking forward to seeing how it would play out through the next week of practice and races.

(Photo: CIA Photography/ TRG Motorsports)

JS- Are there plans to run more Sprint Cup races? Possibly at a road course?

AL- My plan is to run the full Sprint Cup schedule with TRG Motorsports. We just picked up EcoFuelSaver.com as a sponsor for 5 more races and our marketing guys are working hard to make the rest of the season a possibility.

JS- What is it like driving for a team such as TRG that is involved in so many different forms of racing?

AL- TRG is a huge organization that races in many different series, and I've been a part of almost all of it. It fits me because I like to race everything. I've been with TRG for 7 years now and very early on I started telling Kevin that the way to really expand TRG into something even bigger then it already had been was to expand into NASCAR and if anyone is up for the challenge of such huge workload it is Kevin and Debra Buckler who have been really hustling to make a small single car team survive during tough times.

(Photo: CIA Photography/ TRG Motorsports)

 JS- Do you have a specific training schedule to stay fit in between races?

AL- I do a lot of mountain biking because of the focus needed. I also train at an MMA gym with a primary focus on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I get bored jogging so i need things that need the participant to stay focused while working out. I also ride my road bike occasionally and even get my kayak out once in a while to change it up a bit.

JS- You've now raced in the Daytona 500, 24 Hours of LeMans, 12 Hours of Sebring, Petit Le Mans, the Rolex 24 at Daytona and various street luging championships. Does one event stand out as a favorite?

AL- The Daytona 24, the 500 and my street luge races have been my favorite events, all of the races that you have listed are epic and incredibly competitive and have an awesome history. I'm extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to do even one of these races,, to have run them all makes me one of the luckiest guys in the world.

JS- How do you like TRG's and Porsche's chances this year in the GT category in Grand Am?

AL- Spencer Pumpelly and Steve Berthue are leading our GT charge this year and they have a good shot at a bunch of wins. As far as a Championship goes I think the edge will go to the BMW and Camaro right now because of the versatility of the tube frame chassis that they are running. That doesn't mean Spence, Steve and TRG can't dig deep and pull it off though, it will just be tough

Andy and TRG won the GT class in this year's Rolex 24 at Daytonna (Photo: John Dagys)

JS- You've also been driving in the Continental Tire Series in the ST class for Kia, how has the Kia progressed since its debut last season?

AL- It is almost unbelievable what Kinetic Motorsports has done with the Kia Forte Koup. The Kia was new to the series last year and it took a while to get the direction we needed but they worked well with the team and this year we came out of the box for the first race of the season and finished 2nd at Daytona, it says a lot about how hard both the team and Kia are working to make that program work and how dedicated Kia is to auto racing.

JS- You seem to race anything you can get the shot to, but it seems nowadays, drivers are discouraged from taking part in other racing events besides their main series, do you feel this holds drivers back at all?

AL- I'm not sure if it holds drivers back, I just know it's not as fun! I want to race it all, experience all kinds of racing and WIN at all kinds of racing. I have a lot of drive and determination to win races but deep down in me the kid still wants to just get out on track and rash around door to door with whoever is on track at the moment. I hope I never loose that drive.

Thanks again to Andy Lally and TRG for allowing the use of their awesome photos!