Schooling - Graduated from Pinkerton Academy, Derry NH
Attending New Hampshire Technical Institute for Mechanical Engineering
CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2007 Winner - Nashville NASCAR Whelen Southern Mod Tour Event
2006 Winner - TVMRS Monadnock Race
2006 Florida Speedweeks Modified Champion
2005 Winner - DAV Memorial, Seekonk Speedway (MA)
2004 Rookie of the Year TVMRS-Modified
2003 Rookie of the Year 350 Supermodified
2002 Driver of the Year
New England All Star 2002-Champion
TSKC-SHS 2002 Series-Champion
Sr. Champ 2002- Champion
Jr. Champ 2000-01
Tiger Sprints 1998-99
Immediately upon meeting Andy Seuss, there are a few impressions that most people have of the teenaged driver. The major one is that
this kid really wants to race. It doesn’t matter when, where or what he is driving.
Although he’s only 18 years old, Andy has built up quite a background in racing already. He might drive the #70 Manchester Urology/Rockingham Boat car in the True Value Modified Racing Series, but Seuss is no stranger of getting anything with wheels.
“This is my third year of racing cars and I’ll race anything,” said Seuss. “If there’s not a Modified race or a Late Model race and I can’t drive, I’ll go right down the Enduro schedule and see what races that my friends can run. I’ll buy them cars and pay for them to get in because I love being around racing so much. They hate it because I’m so intense.”
This season, Seuss is focusing that intensity on his Modified after running three types of cars in the 2004 season. Seuss ran a 350 Supermodified and Late Model at Lee as close to weekly at Lee USA Speedway (NH) as he could. Then he earned Rookie of the Year honors in the True Value Modified Racing Series.
Driving two very different cars every Friday night wasn’t as hard for Seuss as it might seem.
“Believe it or not, it’s like a whole different day. Once I get into a racecar, I don’t even remember how I drove the last car. You hop into the car and drive it for what it needs. The Modified has so much more power than the Late Model, it feels like it’s the slowest thing that I’ve ever driven because you can’t get on the throttle real quick. The Late Model is all about finesse because it has no bite.
“I like to finesse the car, that’s probably something that I picked up in the karts and the Supermodifed. In a kart, you are on the throttle almost all of the time at most tracks. In the Super, you don’t really use the brakes, but you can toss the car around.”
Driving the winged Super last season was a dream come true for Seuss.
“Even from the days of going racing in the go-karts, we always wanted to go Supermodified racing. It’s pretty much the ultimate.”
The thing about driving so many races is that you never know when one
event will lead to something bigger. For example, one impressive performance in the Super helped Seuss with his Late Model ride.
“The race that we won with the Super was on a night when the PASS Tour was running with us,” said Seuss. “[PASS Car Owner] Clinton Teague was there and we’ve known him for a long time. He saw me win and he became a partner in the Late Model. That’s how we got into the stock cars. It was never really part of the plan before that.”
For the time being, Seuss is concentrating on just his Modified. So far in 2005, he’s only run in the True Value Series, but you can bet that if he gets the opportunity to run an open show or NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event, he’ll jump right at it.
“I just want to race anywhere,” said Seuss. “If there’s a Southern Modified race that I can go to and we can pay the bills for it, I’ll be there.”
Another thing that stands out about Andy is that everyone associated with him has a good time at the race track. Whether it is his tight-knit crew of family and friends or any stray fan that makes their way over to the #70 hauler, nobody can help but enjoy themselves around this young man.
“We’re very family oriented,” said Seuss of his team. “We’ve got a ton of people and a ton a friends helping out. We all try and have fun.”
But Seuss isn’t all about fun and games either. That
brings up the other first impression that is common when people meet him for the first time. Seuss is intense. He takes the sport seriously and is always trying to learn something that will help him go faster.
In fact, it’s been an adjustment from his karting days when Seuss and his father Steve did almost all of the work that needed to be done, to having a pit crew working around him.
“I was probably a jerk the first time that we went Supermodified racing because when we were go-kart racing, I knew every nut and bolt on the kart. Having a crew is the weirdest thing for me. I sit back and it’s almost like I feel that I don’t do enough. I’ve always been very hands on. In the shop, I try to get the maintaince done early in the week and then learn something new when that is done.”
