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.
 

Driver Interview: Wyatt Gooden

 The Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup was started in 2008 as a platform for VW to showcase their latest clean diesel technology in identically prepared Jettas and as a platform to provide a full season of professional racing for thirty of the best and brightest young racing drivers in the country. We were lucky enough to interview this years points leader, Wyatt Gooden, about his career in motorsports so far.

Photo: Bruce Lancaster

Driver Interview: Johnny O'Connell

  Corvette Racing's bright yellow C6-R's have become synonymous with the ALMS and have also built quite a name for themselves in the most important aspect of racing. Winning. Entering the 2010 season, Corvette Racing had entered 110 events and won a staggering 78 of those races. Albeit, many of these wins came in the GT1 category which was sparsely occupied in its later years, the record is still jaw dropping.
  The team decided to make the switch to the highly competitive class of GT2, midway through the 2009 season and came away with their maiden GT2 victory at Mosport the same year.
  Piloting the number three Corvette C6-R is American sports car veteran, Johnny O'Connell. O'Connell has a very impressive racing pedigree with an Indianapolis 500 start, a record eight 12 Hours of Sebring class victories, an overall victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona and four 24 Hours of Le Mans victories. Johnny was kind enough to answer some questions about his career, experiences at Corvette Racing and other aspects of racing for one of the most successful teams in sports car racing history.

Driver Interview: Lawson Aschenbach

   In any professional sport, rookies are expected to come along slowly and steadily and gradually improve as time passes. Mistakes and inconsistencies are expected with any newcomer. Apparently Lawson Aschenbach didn't get the memo.
    Lawson stormed onto the professional racing scene with a third place finish in his first professional outing in a Porsche 911 at the Denver round of the 2005 Speed World Challenge GT championship. Lawson followed his strong professional debut up with an superb 2006 season, winning the Driver's and Manufacturer's Championship, along with Rookie of the Year Honors in the highly competitive Speed GT Championship.
   Aschenbach's smooth driving style and impressive consistency on his way to his multiple championships caught the eye of General Motors and he was signed as a GM factory driver for the following season. 2007 saw Aschenbach drive for Team Cadillac in a CTS-V on route to another Speed GT Manufacturer's Championship and a third place finish in the Driver's Championship.
  These days, Lawson pilots the #74 Compass 360 Racing Honda Civic in the ST class the Grand Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge with teammate, David Thilenius. The Continental Sports Car Challenge has established itself as one of the most competitive sports car series in the world, with eight manufacturers represented in the ST class. Lawson and David currently hold a slim five point lead in the championship after four races. Lawson was kind enough to take some time out of his schedule to answer a few questions about his racing career.

Driver Interview: Team Falken driver, Bryan Sellers

  The level of competition in the ALMS GT2 category has been on the rise in recent years with more and more manufacturers joining the fray. The category boasts entries from Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, Corvette, Ford and this year, Jaguar.
  Joining such a competitive class may intimidate some teams, but Team Falken strives on high levels of competition and their D1 drifting results speak for themselves.2010

marks Falken's first full season entry into the world of sports car racing.
The company first dabbled in le mans style racing in 2008, supplying
tires and funding to a Ford GT team. 2009 saw Falken form their
own team around the proven Porsche GT3 RSR platform and
competed in 3 races. The team has committed to a full season of racing
this year and logged many miles on new tire compounds over the winter break. Their pace in the early rounds of 2010 definitely speaks very strongly for their level of commitment.
  The team also has the benefit of having two very experienced drivers in Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers. Bryan was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions.