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GRAND-AM
IN THE COCKPIT: Andy Lally, New Jersey
For the race at New Jersey Motorsports Park, I had the added pressure to grab my 100th GRAND-AM podium with my Mom there...
Andy Lally scored his 100th GRAND-AM podium in last weekend's Rolex Sports Car Series race at New Jersey. (Photo: Brian Cleary/GRAND-AM)
My Mom is awesome. Seriously. When I was growing up in Long Island, I did a lot of stupid stuff. I can’t tell you about 90% of it, but let’s just say I was really good at getting in trouble.
My Mom always knew when to be supportive, and when to punish me for my antics. I got in trouble a lot. If it weren’t for racing, I don’t know where I’d be today. My Mom was able to use my love of sports as a way to get me to behave, and it worked. Through my career, my Mom came to as many races as she could, and that continues today.
These days, she never misses a race on the East Coast. Daytona, Watkins Glen, Lime Rock, and this weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park, my Mom always does her best to come out.
For the race at New Jersey Motorsports Park, I had the added pressure to grab my 100th GRAND-AM podium with my Mom there.
Speaking of pressure, wow what a weekend. This “99 podiums” thing was starting to get annoying. Between my Rolex team in Magnus Racing and Continental team in Kinetic Motorsports, everyone thought I would have earned my 100th at Homestead, but luck, rain, and GRAND-AM seemed to think different. Magnus and Kinetic had a bet with each other to get my 100th podium first, and this would now move on to New Jersey.
The championship was also starting to get very tight in both series. We lost the lead in Rolex at Homestead, and our lead in Continental was starting to shrink. Some may not know this, but I'm always thinking about championships. Even on a bad day, I’m always thinking about how to get the best finish possible, and I don't like big risks. This year we have a good shot at both, and I don’t like seeing things slip.
Also, Magnus Racing ran a special program for the weekend in honor of Susan G. Komen for the Cure- Central and South Jersey. They’re a great charity, and it was really humbling that our team would work in partnership with them and everyone at New Jersey Motorsports Park. We took care of auction winners for a VIP experience, and hosted several guests in our paddock. The big thing was the team rolled out with an all pink car! I’d never driven a pink car before, and to be honest… it looked awesome! It was really cool to see 44 in the pink.
In Continental, GRAND-AM decided to make some “changes” to the rulebook headed in to New Jersey. These changes all favored cars that weren’t Kia’s, so headed in to the race, we just weren’t sure how competitive we’d be.
Time to get behind the wheel…
I actually like the track at New Jersey, Thunderbolt Raceway. It’s a good mix of third and fourth gear corners- and the decreasing radius corners in the back really force you to be patient. The track really makes for good racing, and to make a pass you can really trick a guy in to a mistake if you’re clever. I actually won the first race in 2008, and have always enjoyed the racing.
Practice was fairly average. No one was showing their cards, and we were somewhere in the middle with both cars.
Both the Porsche and the Kia weren’t super fast, but I felt like I had two good race cars if I could save the tires. Continental has been working on some new specs, and tires were going to be everything… save what you have at the beginning of a stint to catch everyone at the end.
For Saturday’s Continental race, we were crushed in qualifying, hooray for the new rules (note sarcasm)! We rolled off seventh. Luckily I had a good start, and had a really scrappy stint driving up to the front. The re-starts were a bit strange (you’ll have to see the SPEED TV coverage to understand), but somehow I managed to get our Kia to first in ST by time I had to pull it in. Nic took the car over with us in the lead, and did his normal great job. On our last set of stops, we took four new tires instead of two, which we knew would set us back, but also meant we could push hard during the final part of the race.
My Mom always knew when to be supportive, and when to punish me for my antics. I got in trouble a lot. If it weren’t for racing, I don’t know where I’d be today. My Mom was able to use my love of sports as a way to get me to behave, and it worked. Through my career, my Mom came to as many races as she could, and that continues today.
These days, she never misses a race on the East Coast. Daytona, Watkins Glen, Lime Rock, and this weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park, my Mom always does her best to come out.
For the race at New Jersey Motorsports Park, I had the added pressure to grab my 100th GRAND-AM podium with my Mom there.
Speaking of pressure, wow what a weekend. This “99 podiums” thing was starting to get annoying. Between my Rolex team in Magnus Racing and Continental team in Kinetic Motorsports, everyone thought I would have earned my 100th at Homestead, but luck, rain, and GRAND-AM seemed to think different. Magnus and Kinetic had a bet with each other to get my 100th podium first, and this would now move on to New Jersey.
The championship was also starting to get very tight in both series. We lost the lead in Rolex at Homestead, and our lead in Continental was starting to shrink. Some may not know this, but I'm always thinking about championships. Even on a bad day, I’m always thinking about how to get the best finish possible, and I don't like big risks. This year we have a good shot at both, and I don’t like seeing things slip.
Also, Magnus Racing ran a special program for the weekend in honor of Susan G. Komen for the Cure- Central and South Jersey. They’re a great charity, and it was really humbling that our team would work in partnership with them and everyone at New Jersey Motorsports Park. We took care of auction winners for a VIP experience, and hosted several guests in our paddock. The big thing was the team rolled out with an all pink car! I’d never driven a pink car before, and to be honest… it looked awesome! It was really cool to see 44 in the pink.
In Continental, GRAND-AM decided to make some “changes” to the rulebook headed in to New Jersey. These changes all favored cars that weren’t Kia’s, so headed in to the race, we just weren’t sure how competitive we’d be.
Time to get behind the wheel…
I actually like the track at New Jersey, Thunderbolt Raceway. It’s a good mix of third and fourth gear corners- and the decreasing radius corners in the back really force you to be patient. The track really makes for good racing, and to make a pass you can really trick a guy in to a mistake if you’re clever. I actually won the first race in 2008, and have always enjoyed the racing.
Practice was fairly average. No one was showing their cards, and we were somewhere in the middle with both cars.
Both the Porsche and the Kia weren’t super fast, but I felt like I had two good race cars if I could save the tires. Continental has been working on some new specs, and tires were going to be everything… save what you have at the beginning of a stint to catch everyone at the end.
For Saturday’s Continental race, we were crushed in qualifying, hooray for the new rules (note sarcasm)! We rolled off seventh. Luckily I had a good start, and had a really scrappy stint driving up to the front. The re-starts were a bit strange (you’ll have to see the SPEED TV coverage to understand), but somehow I managed to get our Kia to first in ST by time I had to pull it in. Nic took the car over with us in the lead, and did his normal great job. On our last set of stops, we took four new tires instead of two, which we knew would set us back, but also meant we could push hard during the final part of the race.
Road Atlanta
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