Your friendly neighborhood Driver/Coach

• Let’s talk about your petrol-head origin story? The who/what/where/when/how of Andy Lee? Did you come from a racing family? Was there a car, driver or race that inspired you? What was that poster-car on your bedroom wall as a kid? 
• What led to getting a job at Bondurant? You started as a Mechanic? How did you transition to Coaching? 

• Let’s pause and talk about something near/dear to my heart – 2008/2009 – Volkswagen TDI Cup!
• The jump to Pro Racing – how did that happen, what was it like? What are some of the challenges?
• You’ve been with World Challenge, now SRO for over a decade. What is sportscar racing like at the Pro Level? How has it changed? How do you see it continuing to evolve? Your thoughts on BOP (Balance of Performance)
• You’re racing for the famed “Flying Lizard” team. People might recognize them from the 911s and the R8s. But there’s some other cool cars in the stables at FL. Let’s talk about “Princess Sparkle Farts” (and it’s return). Let’s talk about driving the Aston. 
• You’ve also worked with OpenTrack (the HPDE / Track Day insurance group); What did you do there?

• Doing some digging, we also came to find out you’re behind the group TRACK REKORD – for those that are unfamiliar what is that all about
• What’s next for Andy Lee?

and much, much more!

Crew Chief Brad: [00:00:00] BreakFix podcast is all about capturing the living history of people from all over the autosphere, from wrench turners and racers to artists, authors, designers, and everything in between. Our goal is to inspire a new generation of petrolheads that wonder what’s How did they get that job or become that person?

The road to success is paved by all of us because everyone has a story.

Crew Chief Eric: The following episode is brought to you by SRO motor sports, America, and their partners at AWS CrowdStrike, Fanatec, Pirelli, and the Skip Barber Racing School. Be sure to follow all the racing action by visiting www.sromotorsports.comortakeashortcuttogtamerica.us And be sure to follow them on social at GT America, on Twitter and Instagram at SRO GT America on Facebook and catch live coverage of the races on their YouTube channel.

At GT World. [00:01:00] With over a decade of coaching experience at the Bondurant Racing School, our guest has worked with thousands of drivers. During every coaching session, his goal is to make you a faster and ultimately safer driver, with a variety of techniques that he’s picked up throughout his racing career.

With over 100 professional starts, 29 podium finishes, competing in Trans Am, IMSA, and SRO World Challenge. Coming up through the ranks at Bondurant, driver and coach Andy Lee made his move to pro racing in 2012 with the support from Chevrolet, Bondurant, and a Phoenix based IT company called Best IT. And he’s here to share his story with us.

On break fix. So welcome.

Andy Lee: Thank you, Eric. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.

Crew Chief Eric: So like all good break fix stories, they start with an origin. So let’s talk about the who, the, what, the, when, the, where, and the, why of Andy Lee, the petrol head. Did you come from a racing family?

Andy Lee: Definitely didn’t come from a racing background.

I grew up in Colorado, [00:02:00] mostly in the town of Colorado Springs. I grew up there with my mom, single mom, had a little sister. We grew up with her brother, my uncle, and he was, he was, uh, It’s kind of like my father figure of sorts growing up. He was a huge motorcycle enthusiast, motorcycle racing enthusiast, and car racing too, but I grew up watching MotoGP, World Superbike, AMA Superbike, you know, Isle of Man, like to me those guys were gods, you know, and that was the dream when I was a really young kid to race motorcycles.

Everybody in my family drove for a living now. My mom, a lot of the jobs she had were driving jobs. She drove heavy equipment and dump trucks and school buses and stuff like that. My uncle drove heavy equipment. So I was always around people that did it for a living, just not racing.

Crew Chief Eric: Growing up in Colorado Springs, that’s home to the famous Pike’s Peak Hill Climb.

That was probably in your backyard. Did that have an influence on you wanting to be in motorsports?

Andy Lee: Yeah, I mean, that was one of my earliest. Motorsports memories. I’d say just sitting on the side, go up there with my uncle. I’d just be covered in dirt from head to toe, you know, cause [00:03:00] as a little kid, you got nothing to do while you’re waiting for cars to come and go by, you know, so you’re playing in the dirt the whole time that was certainly an influence for sure.

I haven’t done that race. That’s high on the bucket list of races. I’d like to do.

Crew Chief Eric: So were you more interested in the bikes going up to the summit or the cars? Both,

Andy Lee: everything that went by at that speed to me was awesome. I was like, Yeah, this is great. So back then it was all dirt, you know, they hadn’t paved any of it.

My uncle actually worked on Pike’s Peak. He plowed the road and maintained the road that went to the top. So we would always be on that mountain all the time as a kid, you know, up in dump trucks, riding with them and stuff. It was, it was awesome. It was a great place.

Crew Chief Eric: So what do you think of it now that they’ve paved it?

Andy Lee: I get the arguments to a degree why they paved it. To me, it just kind of changed the nature of it. It demanded a lot more back then on dirt. The chances of just simply sliding off the thing was a real possibility. And so I kind of miss the intensity of that or cars were just sideways the whole way up. I think the pavement has brought a lot more speed to the event.

Obviously it’s faster. It’s probably makes it maybe even a [00:04:00] little more dangerous, but I kind of miss the dirt days for sure.

Crew Chief Eric: And a different variety of cars too. Cause now the front wheel drive, I mean, front wheel drive guys can participate at Pike’s Peak as well.

Andy Lee: Yeah. Yeah, man, just one of those events, you know, it was cool and a part of my childhood and, and at one point, I guess I, maybe I could be wrong, but I think.

Think it was part of the IndyCar championship at one point, wasn’t it? The hill climb. And so how cool was that? You know, that was part of the deal. Like you had to do well at Pikes Peak, you know, on top of going to all these other tracks.

Crew Chief Eric: They still do that. I believe we talked about that on a previous drive thru episode where a couple of the IndyCar drivers were going up in those open wheel cars.

Still to this day, they’re doing that. It’s pretty incredible that that’s like tradition. It is. Yeah.

Andy Lee: It’s a great event.

Crew Chief Eric: Let’s talk a little bit more about little kid, Andy, the petrol head sitting on the sidelines of Pikes Peak. So when you got home, you know, covered in dirt after you got out of the shower, what was the poster on your bedroom wall?

Andy Lee: I think when I was a little kid, I probably had a poster of a Lamborghini Countach, I bet, I bet that was probably the [00:05:00] car, you know, and as far as like racers or drivers. Of that nature, I, I remember a lot of the MotoGP riders back then, like Rainy and McDoon and those guys probably like the guys next to the Countach, you know, eventually I started to fall in love more and more with car racing too.

And my uncle would take me to racing events. So they built this track, Pikes Peak International Raceways, PPIR, when I was still a kid and Trans Am came there when Trans Am was still kind of at the tail end of that heyday, where it was like Tommy Kendall and Dorsey Schrader and all those guys. We went there for that race and just came down to the last lap, last couple of corners.

I remember rooting for Tommy Kendall cause he had this bright green all sport car, you know, it was like the coolest looking car. And he got taken out like one of the last corners. One of those races where I remember being on the edge of my seat, watching till the last minute. I hadn’t been engaged in a race like that ever before.

And when we left that event, it was like, I want to do that. I mean, that’s what I want to do.

Crew Chief Eric: That had to be tough growing up in Colorado too, because just like there’s a lot of beach and not a lot of ocean in the landlocked state, there aren’t too many race tracks. PPIR [00:06:00] and High Plains are the two that come to mind.

Yeah,

Andy Lee: that was it, man. I didn’t even know High Plains existed. I don’t think it did exist back then, but there was like some podunkey sort of tracks, you know, here and there we’d go to, you know, like. their cone tracks and stuff. But, uh, yeah, PPR just kind of brought the real guys pros to the state for the first time, but that didn’t last very long.

You know, that track held a handful of pro races and kind of deteriorated after that.

Crew Chief Eric: So Lamborghini Countach, we joke that that is the car for petrol heads of a certain age, right? If you grew up in a certain era and everybody had a Countach or a Testarossa up on their wall, and then there were the nerds.

like me that had a 930 turbo, right? Cause it was right there kind of along with those cars. But I wonder in your mind and in your imagination, or even today, is there still that car that you reach for that you go, man, that is the top of the summit. That’s at the top of Pike’s peak for me as a car that you’d like to own or drive.

What is that bucket list car or what is that sexiest car of all time?

Andy Lee: Oh, well, now you’re talking about nerd cars for sure. Because. You know, the car that I would love to own is very different than the car, [00:07:00] like, that I’d like to race or be on track. And you know, that car I’ve always wanted is like a Datsun 510 station wagon.

I just, I’ve always loved that basic 510 body style. It’s just, I love it. So that’d probably be the car I’d have, but that’d be very different. Few laps of driving that on track. I’d be like,

Crew Chief Eric: Yeah, the hundred horsepower that it makes, it doesn’t quite compare to what you drive on the weekends, right?

Andy Lee: No, no, I remember a little kid too, one of my uncle’s buddies had like a 240z with the sunken headlights and he had like racing harnesses in the thing.

And I just thought that was one of the coolest cars too. I wouldn’t mind, you know, one of those. Yeah, I guess closet dots and fan, I suppose.

Crew Chief Eric: So that money is no object car. What’s that

Andy Lee: money? No object, man. You know, it’d probably be when I think of cars from my childhood race cars, you know, like the camel GTP cars, money was no objects.

I know it’s not new. But I’d love to have like that Jaguar with the rear wheel covers. And that would be the car. Oh, the

Crew Chief Eric: XJ220. [00:08:00] Yeah.

Andy Lee: Yeah. Yeah. There’s a poster of it downstairs, actually in my garage. Love that guy.

Crew Chief Eric: Excellent choice. Excellent choice. So let’s talk about how you went from the motor sports enthusiast as a kid to landing a job at Bondurant.

What happened in between there? How did you end up at Bondurant?

Andy Lee: I had like a phase when I was growing up or I was. I was always getting in trouble. I was a really bad student, terrible grades, struggled for sure. And I kind of like fell in with a bad group of kids. I started getting into a lot of trouble.

I started getting suspended from school. Eventually, basically getting asked to leave, more or less expelled for lack of a better word, just because I had caused too many problems. And not like I was like, I wasn’t violent or anything like that. Or it just, I’d always disrupt class. A terrible class clown too.

And just, or at least I thought I was. And so I eventually just dropped out, dropped out of high school. And, you know, obviously there was no future of becoming some academic. There was no path going to college back then. I didn’t know what I was going to do. And during that summer, a buddy of mine, one of the [00:09:00] kids in that group, which wasn’t necessarily best kid in the world.

Like we were all kind of getting in trouble, but he had a garage and he was building his own car. He was building like a Fox body Mustang. And I was like, sounds fun. You know, I’m into cars and that’d be great. Let’s do that. I. Got a kind of a junkyard Fox body Mustang and we built these two cars next to each other and in his garage all summer and out of junkyard parts and scrap parts.

And when mine finally started, it burned more smoke and oil than it did gasoline, but it ran, you know, and that was kind of a cool feeling to take something. And at that time of my life, I wasn’t starting and finishing a lot of things, you know, and to take that car from nothing and build it and finish it.

And it ran and drove and. That was cool. So my buddy wanted to go to a mechanic school after high school. He also had dropped out of high school. We were both a couple of losers. And so, so I was like, Oh yeah, maybe I’ll go with you. I’ll go. So we both enrolled at the universal technical Institute in Phoenix.

That’s when we made the move to Arizona. I guess when I was younger though, even despite all that, like not doing well in school and really didn’t appear like I had [00:10:00] any kind of future, I still thought that I was going to do something in racing. I just, I love the sport so much. Yeah. Anytime I’d ever tell anybody that, obviously the state of my school and my terrible grades, they would always say, you’re not going to make it in racing.

Like, are you crazy? After a while, I just stopped saying it to people, but inside, like I knew, I don’t know, just something drew me to the sport. Something I just, I knew I was going to go, knew I was going to make it one way or another, it’s going to make it. And when I went to UTI, I did really well there actually finished that program.

And I got a job as a mechanic at Bondurant originally. And that’s how I got. Involved at the school. That’s kind of the beginning stages of how I got in just working on cars more or less.

Crew Chief Eric: So you’re there turning wrenches at Bondurant and suddenly somebody walks up and taps you on your shoulder and says, Hey kid, get your helmet.

Let’s go. Right. It can’t be that easy. So how did you work your way up through the system being there employed at Bondurant?

Andy Lee: I was broke. And I think back then when you, you were an entry level mechanic at Bondurant, I think my hourly salary was like [00:11:00] 7, 50 cents or something. An hour. Barely enough to pay my rent.

I always looked for like side job and working on people’s cars for extra money on the side. And there was a guy that was a chiropractor by trade. His name’s Barry and he had a group of racing enthusiasts. They all had their own racing go karts. It was like a little club that they had formed and he needed somebody to help him prep the cards, maintain them, get them ready for the next event.

And so I was like, yeah, I’ll help you out with that. After work, I’d go over to his house and help get cards prepped and work on them and learn about them and. And one day he was just like, Hey, you know, I can keep paying you to work on these carts. Or if you have any interest in taking one to the track and race in one, I’ll trade you, you know, your time and you can take one of the carts and go play.

Took me about a millisecond to say, absolutely. Yes. And after that, him and I just kind of formed a really close. Bond and relationship. He kind of became a mentor of mine and shepherd made from being a, just a very immature young adult and it kind of helped turn me into a full fledged, you know, functioning adult, a real person.

And when he took me under his wing, he introduced me to [00:12:00] the people in that group to the other members. And they were all mostly affluent guys, business guys own their own companies. And so when I started to do really well in the local go kart track in that go kart finishing well, some of those guys would come up and watch.

I’d hang out and next thing you know, they’re like, well, let’s see, you know, you’re doing pretty well here. Let’s see how you do at a big national event. They’d give me a little extra cash for some tires and fuel and entry fees and stuff like that. And then I do pretty well at the national event. See how you do for a whole season and just kind of kept snowballing from there.

But I really have to, Give a lot of thanks to Barry for opening that door and kind of helping me through.

Crew Chief Eric: And meanwhile, you’re still turning wrenches at Bondurant.

Andy Lee: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It’s still a mechanic at the time. It was like a dream job to me. I would call my uncle. I’d be like, you’re not going to believe I work on a car.

As soon as I’m done, I get to go test it. I get to go take it out on track and drive the thing. Like, you’re not going to believe this. I get to do that and I get paid for this. To me, it was just a dream come true.

Crew Chief Eric: And back then, what were they using for the school in terms of cars? Cause Skippy always had the Miatas and the Formula cars.

What was Bondurant using?

Andy Lee: I got there at the tail end of the Mustang [00:13:00] phase. They were just kind of transitioning from Mustangs to the Chevrolet contract at the time, to Corvettes. So, it was good times. And the Mustang days back then, because we got all those cars for free, you know, like Ford just gave them to us, hundreds of them.

The whole place was just covered in Mustangs. After hours too, things would just get out of hand. Other coaches and instructors that worked at the school and some of the mechanics, and we’d go out on track and race each other all the time. Bump each other and hit each other and then come back into the shop and try to patch it all up.

And you know, get ready for the next day so nobody would notice. I got a tremendous amount of seat time just learning from those guys playing around.

Crew Chief Eric: So at some point, somebody did tap you on the shoulder and said, Andy, we need you to coach. So how did that happen?

Andy Lee: Yeah, at the school, we’d have these big corporate events a lot.

And so companies would bring out 20, 30 employees or management teams, something like that. So those types of events, they always needed extra helpers. So there just wasn’t enough instructors to do the normal class load, and then also take care of this big group. And the type of drills that the groups would do are very basic stuff.

Autocross, [00:14:00] driving go karts. And so they’d always pull a couple of guys out of the shop to help just shepherd the guys, people around, move them around to one event to the other and, and give them little brief ground schools on how to get in and out of go karts and, you know, don’t hit cones. And this is how you buckle your seatbelt, like basic stuff.

So I started doing that a lot at the school. And eventually one of the instructors noticed that I could speak. Okay. Like I talked to a group. I wasn’t afraid to talk to people and my ability to get in front and talk to these groups of people allowed me to kind of get in the door as far as the coaching more and more and more.

We just kind of grew from that point on.

Crew Chief Eric: There’s something in this story though, before you became a pro that is near and dear to my heart. Growing up in a Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche family, I was looking at your resume and buried in there, it says Volkswagen TDI Cup. So how did you get absorbed into that?

Was that your first time, let’s say pro racing, or was there an opportunity before then?

Andy Lee: That was the gateway. Right before the series started, I just won a karting title. I’d won this, what they call the Florida winter tour, which is like this [00:15:00] big off season racing series. After I’d won that, I found out that Volkswagen was looking for people to send in videotape of yourself, kind of just explaining what you’ve done.

And they wanted kart racers and club racers, autocross racers. Like if you, as long as you didn’t have any pro racing background, they wanted you to kind of submit a video. About yourself. And if they liked you, they would invite you to do a big tryout. Eventually the faster drivers would get to compete in the series.

I did a video. And at the time, Bob at the school had this Volkswagen thing, and it was always parked in the little museum of the school. Cause the way he tells the story is he used this Volkswagen thing to lay out the track configuration for the school track when they moved the school from Sonoma to Phoenix.

So this thing’s just been sitting in this museum. I hardly ever even started. I got the thing started. Drove it up, put that in the background of my video. I was like, well, at least if I put this Volkswagen back there, maybe they’ll at least notice my tape. I guess it worked. And so they invited me out to do the tryout, which coincidentally enough ended up being right next door to Bond Run.

So there’s a couple of different tracks that are test tracks, if you [00:16:00] will, or like club racing tracks right next to the school. And they held the tryout at one of those tracks. I’ve driven that track a million times. I have. tons of laps on that track. So I was like, I couldn’t believe how much this is all just kind of falling into place.

Did the tryout of course, since I knew the track and I was quick and made it into the series. And so that’s how it all started.

Crew Chief Eric: Tell me what’s it like to drive one of these mark five based 1. 9 liter diesels on track that only turns to like 4, 000 RPM.

Andy Lee: It was actually really cool. The racing was. Very intense.

I mean, it was like spec me out of that level of competition and just super tight, always bumping each other. The cars were really quick. Actually that first 5, 000 feet out of the corner, all that diesel torque, the thing would launch off of every turn and then flatline, of course, then it just took forever to get to the next corner.

And car was so quiet. You would hear the wind noise. It’s going over the bodywork of the car, more so than the engine. So if you weren’t really paying close attention to the shift lights, you’d miss the shifts because you couldn’t hear the motor at all. So it was really unique. The other thing that was really cool about that car [00:17:00] is it had Audi R8 brakes on it and these massive slicks, which definitely didn’t need, I mean, the thing was never going that fast.

I mean, you could break so ungodly late into every corner. It was ridiculous. And the car had, you know, such a wide slick on it. Way too much tire. Instead of sliding, oftentimes it would just stand up on two wheels. You wouldn’t do a corner too fast and the thing would try to flip over. So you’d go up on two wheels and try to set the thing back down.

And so it was such a unique thing to do. To drive around. I love the series. It was great. Not too much lift

Crew Chief Eric: throttle oversteer there then.

Andy Lee: No, no, not at all.

Crew Chief Eric: But that being said, you know, that was an interesting series though, because like from the East coast, we had names like Tristan Herbert in the VWTDI Cup series, so I’m wondering, did you start to develop friendships during that time?

You know, names of folks that we now see in the paddocks almost every weekend.

Andy Lee: You know, there’s a few kids, I would say kids, uh, we were young back then. But probably about a handful of us that I still see about everywhere I go. Josh Hurley’s one kind of competes fairly regularly in like [00:18:00] IMSA and SRO. The Pombo brothers, Mark Pombo and his brother didn’t compete in it, but Mark competed in it.

You know, got used to seeing those guys around the paddock. I’m trying to think of anybody else that really rose to the top. There’s definitely a few others. I’m just blanking on some names right now, but it’s a tight little circle of People. And I guess the people that were most influential to me were the ones that were running it at the time.

It was, uh, Mark Miller was a really successful off road racer, raced the Volkswagen Touaregs with Red Bull and did like Dakar rallies and Baja and his partner, Ryan Arciero, which was another very successful off road racer. And then they hired Jan Halen, who was like our driver coach for the whole series.

So I’d see those guys still from time to time. And they really changed the course of my professional racing life. They taught me what it was to be a pro, how you handle yourself, not only, you know, when you’re out on the track, but how to look at your data and how to prep for an event and, you know, how to treat people around the paddock.

And it was just such a cool series for a lot of us. And that way,

Crew Chief Eric: well, that’s a great segue to talk about your transition into pro racing. So for those that are unfamiliar, we’re talking [00:19:00] about the TDI cup that ran from 2008 and 2009, but you didn’t hit the pro stage until about 2012. What did you do for those couple of years there?

Was it all prepped to go to the big stage where you’re already working on that? Was somebody mentoring you and bringing you up? How did that transition happen?

Andy Lee: Finished second in the championship in the TDI cup in 2009. And then It ran actually one more season in 2010, but I was too old to compete. Yeah.

I didn’t start racing go karts 20. The age range for the TDI Cup, I think it was 16 to 26. So after I finished second in 2009, I, I turned 27 and I couldn’t compete anymore. But Mark Miller and Ryan asked me to be like a coach for the series. So like a peer to some of these other guys and help them through the series.

And so I did that in 2010, but I don’t know, it was kind of a dark period because I thought, you know, I did, Really well, I almost won the championship and now I don’t have a ride. You know, I didn’t have a ride for several years and I thought maybe that was it. I thought I got a taste of it. It was great, but I thought, you know, now real life sets in and better start paying the bills.[00:20:00]

I just worked, I worked at the school and I coached and I still worked on cars from time to time and, and then, you know, right around 2011. Towards the end of 2011, the school took in a shipment of Camaros. And so there’s a good story here. So at the time I was coaching and we would do these hot lap deals for like big groups of people.

Like big corporate groups come like a hundred people. We would just do hot lap after hot lap after hot lap, just cycling people out of the passenger seat and giving them just a thrill ride around the track basically. One of the days when the new Camaros were delivery, we’re like, all right, let’s use the new cars.

Let’s get the new Camaros out there. Going into the very first turn with my very first passenger was like a 10 year old kid. I hit one of the apex curbs. And all the side curtain airbags went off in the car. Didn’t hit anything, you know, but just scared the crap out of both of us. And come to find out this became an issue with that first generation of Camaros.

If you go on YouTube, you can find guys that are drifting in parking lots and all of a sudden all the airbags go off in the car. Some sort of sensor in that safety mechanism in the car was really sensitive. And they sent out engineers. So I was the first one [00:21:00] that happened to at the school. So they thought I had done something wrong.

So they’re trying to blame me like, well, you must’ve done something. You must’ve done something. These things just don’t go off. A couple of weeks later, another one went off on one of the other coaches. And then a couple of weeks later, another one goes off and started to become a thing. So these cars just sat in the back lot of the school while they were waiting on Chevrolet to decide what they want to do with them.

And then after a while, Chevy’s like, yeah, you guys are gonna have to pay to fix them. You’re gonna have to fix them on your own. And so to replace all the airbags and replace all the interior, I mean, it was like, I don’t remember the exact cost, but you know, it wasn’t worth it really. They were going to sell them.

I was like, Hmm, I had met a gentleman that owned this it company that you mentioned in the intro. His name was Harry and he was interested in going racing. I just didn’t kind of know at what level he had bought a Baja buggy. And we went and did Baja 1000 together. And he’s like, I want to get into sports car racing.

I was like, well, there’s these cars they’re sitting out back. I think the school wants to part ways with them for pretty cheap. We could turn those into race cars. We could run them in world challenge, you know, And there was a couple other Camaros competing in the series already, so he’s like, yeah, let’s do it.

That was it. Myself and a couple other volunteer [00:22:00] guys from the shop, we stripped them down, we built them ourselves and then entered the series the next year.

Crew Chief Eric: When you got there, when you got to World Challenge, what did you realize? was different and people think, you know, that maybe they’re working through SCCA, they’re doing NASA, whatever.

I want to go pro. And when you go pro, what are the things you’re faced with right away that are maybe those culture shocks or those things you have to adjust to almost from day one?

Andy Lee: I don’t know if I was shocked as much as I was just so happy. I was so stoked, could not wait to get out on track with all these guys.

Cause I guess I was just blindly confident. And I thought if I can get out there, I think I can compete, you know? And I, and a lot of that confidence I think came from the TDI Cup. Been around a lot of guys in that series. And I’d watched what they had done in the years after that. So I was like, I think I can do this.

And I’d say the hardest part though, the part that you don’t think about is all the stuff that happens off the track. The amount of time that goes into prepping and getting the car ready and all the setup stuff and having the right people around. Cause once you start operating a team, it’s like operating a small company and trying to find the right [00:23:00] fit for everybody to get the most out of this world.

Car. Once it finally hits the track, that was probably the hardest part for sure. And really kind of not understanding how expensive it really was. You know, like I had a kind of an idea and I try to tell Harry and a couple of the other sponsors that we had at the time, you know, what I thought it was going to cost, but it’s always a lot more than that trying to raise money was I’d say the, Biggest challenge of it all.

Crew Chief Eric: You’ve been with what’s now called SRO. Many of us still refer to it more intimately as just world challenge. It’s gone through many name changes over the years, but you’ve been with SRO for, let’s say over a decade now, what’s it been like as it’s transitioned from Pirelli world challenge and speed and all these different kinds of things.

How has it changed? How do you see it continuing to evolve?

Andy Lee: In the early years when I competed, it’s still, even though it was considered pro racing, it kind of had a club feel to it, felt very modest. You go into the world challenge paddock and I’m sure you’d have real time. You’d have Cadillac, you’d have, you know, some real players in the paddock, but you had a lot of teams like us that were just [00:24:00] very low budget, single car trailer, you know, with everything set up.

Stuffed in there and a couple of easy ups, you know, and stuff. So back then it felt more of a relaxed sort of place, I guess. And it’s become a lot more serious and probably becoming more equivalent with kind of the way an emcee paddock feels as the years go along, it’s getting more professional, if you will, but also a lot more expensive to the budget that we were working on back then was a fraction of what it costs to do today.

So it was accessible back then for somebody like me, I could go out, you know, as a Bondurant coach, like I’d meet a lot of people on a weekly basis that were into it. You know, a lot of the people I would end up coaching at the school. I’d say, Hey, you know, if you pitch in 10 grand, you know, we’ll give you the side of the car for the weekend and you can come in and hang out with us.

And, and I had so many great sponsors that they just wanted to go hang out for the weekend, drink beer, smoke a cigar in the paddock and watch their car go around in circles. And it was very affordable for those kinds of guys to get in. But now it’s quite a bit more, it’s just different. The competitions I’d say is risen a level I’d say now for sure.

There’s a lot of guys. that are just [00:25:00] extremely fast. It’s getting harder. Yeah, for sure.

Crew Chief Eric: And there’s an interesting blend too, because a lot of the, let’s say bronze drivers that are in SRO or former gold and platinum drivers from other disciplines. Right. So now you’ve got this interesting mix of people in the paddock.

And I think what’s kind of funny about this is probably on both ends of the pendulum in your early days. Andy Pilgrim was there at the Cadillac and now he’s back with other cars 10 years later, but he’s still roaming around the paddock, hanging out with everybody, which is pretty cool.

Andy Lee: Yeah, it is. You know, it’s different back then.

There wasn’t any driver ranking system, the metallic ranking. It was everybody just writes against everybody, amateurs, pros. We were all in the same bag out there, all racing against each other. And it was cool. And I, I do miss that to a degree, even though now it’s kind of. More separated. It was a lot of fun.

It was a great place to be.

Crew Chief Eric: So you did some time with IMSA as well as Trans Am. So how do those compare and contrast to World Challenge?

Andy Lee: Done a little bit in IMSA. It’s weird. For whatever reason, I’ve always gotten funneled more towards SRO World Challenge. And I’ve [00:26:00] always wanted to do like 24 hours or 12 hours of Sebring and stuff.

And I’ve come so, so close. But just for whatever reason, it just never worked out. Those series are still on my Bucket list, if you will, like, I’d like to compete there more. I dabbled in Trans Am just for a short period. And those cars are a lot of fun to tested them more than I’ve raced them. But those are like hustling a big F 150 around on slicks.

They’re a blast, but I love those cars too. They’re, they’re a lot of fun to drive and I love them just for the nostalgic. Like, again, it just takes me back to my childhood and, and, you know, watching Kendall and those guys. It was fun for that reason.

Crew Chief Eric: What are your thoughts on balance of performance as a driver?

You know, I’ve heard different arguments for different people, but I always like to get people’s opinion on BOP.

Andy Lee: Yeah. You know, I don’t know. It’s gotten a lot better in recent years. I’d say in the early days when they first started back when we first entered the series in the Camaro, it seemed like it was, It’s a work in progress.

And every weekend it seemed like the scales would move drastically. [00:27:00] So you’d be super competitive and then all of a sudden you can’t even break the top 15 and then all of a sudden you’re back at the top again and you really just didn’t know what to expect. I guess the unpredictability of it in the beginning was a frustration, but it seems a lot better now.

I don’t know how you would ever make all these cars perfectly matched. There’s always going to be problems. Some car that’s going to be a little stronger somewhere. I think that’s kind of unavoidable, but at least in this year and maybe past couple of seasons, it’s not too bad. It’s not too bad now. It’s allowed some of the other manufacturers that maybe would have struggled with certain cars, enter the series and still be competitive.

It’s leveled the playing field a bit. It’s a frustrating thing, no matter what. The racer inside of you, like especially the mechanic inside of me, just wants it to be no rules. Build the fastest car you can build and let’s go line them up. And let’s see, not only who can drive them the best, but which team can build it.

The best,

Crew Chief Eric: like it was in the old days, here’s your power to weight ratio that you need to hit, you know, maximum amount of fuel and minimum weight and go build whatever you want.

Andy Lee: Yeah. Yeah. I missed that era of motorsports. I wish I had gotten a [00:28:00] chance to taste that. And

Crew Chief Eric: you know, what’s funny about that, we grew up in the same era.

So those are the old days of Can Am and IMSA and Trans Am. And you’re just seeing all the crazy stuff, the Mustangs, the Audis, the Buicks. I mean, you name it, they were all out there and everybody was building a different mousetrap. Some of the people that were competing in those series. The names alone are just in the halls of legend, right?

I mean, you’ve got Stuck and Haywood and Ribs and St. James and Pilgrim and down the line. And I mean, there’s a bunch of them and it’s just talk about an amazing time in racing.

Andy Lee: Especially the car that comes to mind of like that era is like the Audi’s. Right. They were just such an alien car compared to everything else that was out there back then.

And yeah, man, that must’ve been a pretty cool thing to be a part of back then. And maybe, you know, yeah, everything’s cyclical, maybe somewhere down the road. Maybe some of that will come back. I hope maybe during my lifespan and career and racing, but that would be the ultimate. I had my druthers, I would just say.

Here you go. Here’s your budget. I’d say maybe you have a cap on the budget. You can take any car you [00:29:00] want. We’ll see you on Sunday. Let’s go.

Crew Chief Eric: And talking about having been to so many tracks. I mean, if anybody follows you on social media, you’re somewhere and anywhere on every given Sunday. When you look at all the places you’ve been to, all the cars you’ve driven, what’s your favorite, what’s your least favorite track favorite, least favorite car so far?

Andy Lee: I don’t know if I have a least favorite. I guess maybe when I first started, I had tracks That I didn’t care to go to, but it wasn’t as much about the track. It was mostly the town they were in. Oh man, we got to go to that place again. But when it comes to the track, I find almost every track entertaining to some degree, they all have some little crux, you know, some little challenge that you try to figure out.

And mentally for me too, like anytime I go to a track, I try never to think of a corner of like, Oh man, I don’t want to go through this corner again. I always want to try to be as excited as I can about every corner. Like, what is it about this corner that I can figure out and make it better? Better and more fun to drive.

But I think sentimental wise, there’s tracks that rise to the top for me. Like Sonoma was a track that I did really well at early on. And so [00:30:00] Sonoma is one that that’s always been a sentimental favorite of mine. I like Watkins Glen a lot. It’s a great track. I always love street tracks. I always did well at street events.

So like Detroit, like Belle Isle was a fun one. Long Beach, you know, streets of St. Petersburg. I, I love those venues too. Those are. Those are great.

Crew Chief Eric: And Nashville is the newest one, right?

Andy Lee: Yeah, but they don’t let the pros go there. We don’t get to go there. It’s an AMS only. And now I’m like, come on, just let the GT4 America go there, please.

I’d love to race there, but not at the moment.

Crew Chief Eric: During this last 10 years, obviously you’ve continued to come up through the ranks and now you find yourself racing for the famed Flying Lizard Motorsports.

So

Crew Chief Eric: people might recognize Flying Lizard going back many, many years with their winning 911s and Audi R8s.

And they’ve got some other cool cars in the stable for sure. And we’ll talk about them, but how did you end up at Flying Lizard?

Andy Lee: This goes back to Bondurant either. There’s this kind of like this brotherhood of people that have been instructors at Bondurant. We’re everywhere. And every time you meet one somewhere, it’s just nothing but great stories and camaraderie.

[00:31:00] And Darren Law, one of the owners of Flying Lizard was. You know, he worked at Bondurant as an instructor and, and he actually, while I was still there as an instructor, he came back and became the general manager of the school for a short time, him and Johnny O’Connell, both I’ve always wanted to drive for flying lizard.

When I worked at the school and Darren was still racing full time for that team. I just thought that was just the coolest thing. It made it seem realistic. My dreams of becoming a race car driver. I was like. Well, Darren Law did it and you know, he worked here and he didn’t have much money and he was able to figure it out and he got to the high levels of pro racing, got to run at Le Mans and won 24 hours at Daytona.

So for me, it was always a dream to race for Flying Lizard back then. I just thought that was one of the coolest places you could ever land. My co driver Elias Sabo and I, we were just looking for a team this off season. Through my connection with the school and knowing Darren from way back in the day, I was just like, Darren, do you have any room for us?

And he’s like, yeah, I think I can make that work. And that’s how we got pulled over there.

Crew Chief Eric: So how long have you been driving for the Flying Lizard now?

Andy Lee: Just this season. [00:32:00] Yeah. Just this year. Congratulations. First year with the team. Yeah. And it’s been great. They’re a stellar operation.

Crew Chief Eric: You get to pilot a bunch of their cars.

Two in particular, we’re going to hone in on. One is the beige, I guess is the right color, Aston Martin. And the other is a. Hot pink, let’s call it magenta Lamborghini Huracan, which has a very cool nickname.

Andy Lee: Uh huh. Yeah. Yeah. We’ll talk about the Lamborghini, right? We’ll come back to the Aston. So we like to call the Aston color, like a tactical tan, right?

Cause it’s 511 tactical. So it sounds a little sexier than beige, but the other driver, I don’t get to race that car, but I’m, I’m coaching him named Slade Stewart. He’s had that livery on a few other cars he’s owned. I’ve coached him. You know, in those cars prior to joining Lamborghini Trofeo. And it’s just kind of coincidental that he ended up with Flying Lizard also.

But I don’t know where the name came from. So one day he’s just comes up to me. He’s like, we’re going to call the car Sparkle Farts. And I was like, okay, sure. I was in the room, I think when he told Darren Law this and Darren like kind of like, [00:33:00] like, I don’t know if that’s the right look for Flying Lizard, you know, like, because we’re this very classy, you know, well known team in the paddock.

Darren let him go for it. And it’s become a big fan favorite.

Crew Chief Eric: Very much is. And my daughter became an immediate fan of Flying Lizard because of Princess Sparklefart, she likes to call it. So, I mean, and it was a hit to watching her walk around the paddock with the pink tee on her. It’s like, Oh my God, you know, she’s like, She’s so cute.

She loved it and showing her other races online and stuff. And she’s hooked. And just like we were talking about with you sitting on the edge of Pike’s Peak, watching the cars go by, it’s the same for her now she’s a fan and she’s into motor sports. And sometimes it’s just that getting out over your skis that makes all the difference for the next generation.

Andy Lee: And once you have a rooting interest in any sport, once you’re attached to something, a driver, a player, whatever it is, I mean, it just changes the whole dynamic. And I mean, for your listeners that don’t know what the car looks like, it’s bright pink and it’s got unicorns on the side of it. I mean, it stands out.

The livery was designed by his [00:34:00] daughter. So Slade’s daughter came up with the look, you know, the way the story goes, like he was going to let each one of his kids design the wrap, you know, they would alternate every year. His daughter would design it one year. Then one of his sons would get to design the next season, but pretty sure that design’s not going anywhere.

I think that is going to stay. So I’ll let the kids design a wrap on something else later on. It’s a pretty popular car. The kids, I mean, they love it. And so at the last event, he did this really cool deal where he went and he bought like 40, 50 stuffed unicorns and some tiaras with unicorn horns on them and started handing those out to the kids too, and they come over to look at the car.

And he’s definitely doing his part in converting young kids to cars. to racing fans, which is what the sport needs desperately. It needs young fans to be attached to it.

Crew Chief Eric: Let’s talk about your tactical khaki beige Aston Martin. What’s it like to drive that thing? Tell us about the Aston.

Andy Lee: I love the car. I don’t know, recent years.

And this kind of goes back to our previous conversation where we were like, things have become very uniform. Like all [00:35:00] race cars are mid engine now. They’re all mid engine, Porsche’s rear engine, but everything’s got that same sort of setup. And there’s a Mercedes, I guess. There’s a few outliers. I’ve always been a huge fan of front engine cars.

I just, I love the way they drive, the way they handle. We switched from driving the Audi R8 GT4 last year, or last several seasons. To the Aston, and I was excited about that switch. I love the car. It’s probably one of the best GT4 cars I’ve ever driven. And I’ve, I’ve driven a pretty good number of them, but it’s, it’s a great car for an amateur driver also to really get comfortable the speeds that a lot of these tracks demand.

It’s cool, man. You feel like James Bond for sharing that thing. Just cool looking. Like, I just love the way it looks too.

Crew Chief Eric: And it sounds good. And it does all the things that it’s supposed to, but going back to our conversation about balance of power, let’s talk about the Austin versus the Mercedes. Cause there seems to be a pretty good rivalry there in world challenge between the two marks.

And I always feel like the Mercedes is just as massive torque monster. Like it’s got you on that low end grunt. Is that how you feel about it? Or Are they pretty close?

Andy Lee: You know, they [00:36:00] have the same motor, right? Both cars have the exact same motor, but the Mercedes has a different gearbox, different gear ratios, I believe too.

So it creates its power kind of differently. It feels like it almost feels like it doesn’t have the same engine. I’d say at least the way the World Challenge BOP is set up at the moment, it almost feels like the Aston’s a little stronger. And that just might be my perception. It feels like it’s a little torque here, but that may have more to do with the gear ratio difference in the cars than anything else.

It is a torque monster, which I love. And last year in the Audi, that thing had to be revved the limiter every gear, just had to strangle that thing to get a lap time out of it. Um, but this car, it’s a lot more fun, you know, that first 50 feet off the apex thing just lunges forward. It’s a great feeling.

Crew Chief Eric: Do you think there’s an Achilles heel or a shortcoming to the Aston?

Or you don’t want to let your rivals know what it is.

Andy Lee: I don’t know. You know, there’s cars in the series right now. Like I, I for sure feel like, you know, if you were to have like a category for horsepower or like straight line speed and a category for breaking a category for like [00:37:00] corner speed, apex speed, and you were to put everything on that chart.

I feel like the Aston is like an A minus at almost everything. There’s a few other cars that are like an A plus in a few categories where it’s a little bit stronger than us in places. We feel like the Porsche is a little better than us in a few spots. And lately the Supra has been really strong and really fast in a few places.

It feels like we just can’t quite measure up, but over the course of the whole season, it just feels like we’re pretty strong everywhere though. So it doesn’t actually have much of a weak spot, at least none, nothing that’s like, Glaring,

Crew Chief Eric: you know, I don’t see you turning wrenches in the flying lizard paddock, or although you maybe you do in the evenings, you know, behind closed doors or something, but I do want to ask about setup.

No secrets here. But, you know, nowadays you talk to a lot of drivers and everybody says, Oh, we’re driving off the front wheels of the car. Nobody likes to run them loose anymore. Like in the old days, you know, It’s kind of sliding, rotating through the corners. What’s your driving style? Do you run off the front?

Do you like it a little loose? Do you want to keep the car totally neutral? How do you tell your engineers how you [00:38:00] want the car to run?

Andy Lee: When I was moving up into racing full size cars, all of my seat time came at Bondurant. Primarily driving Mustangs and Corvettes and later on Vipers. So all front engine stuff.

And so I really got comfortable with a car that understeers and pushes. I don’t wouldn’t say that necessarily that it’s what I love. It’s just that I’ve adapted to it. I like a car that’s just slightly on that understeer side of the curve. But what that also allows you to do is really manipulate it a lot.

I want. The car to free up. If I want to rotate the car, I know what I have to do to do that. I can hold the brake a little longer. I can slow down the trail brake. I can grab the gear shift a little closer to turn in. I can get the car to rotate when it’s necessary, but I think over the span of a whole race, 60 minute race for us, just limiting mistakes is key, especially when I hand it over to Elias.

And so I think a car that’s just slightly on the pushy side can help you kind of limit making big, nasty oversteer mistakes and caused you a lot of time. Practically it works well for me, but you know, I also like going out and [00:39:00] Smoldering the tires off something to understand they’re screwing around.

Yeah, of course. Like I would love to just toss the car into a corner and just throw the wheel to the lock and just destroy tires. That’s fun too, but not as much when I’m right. To

Crew Chief Eric: your point there, it’s also a game of managing fuel and tires because you guys don’t have pit stops and world challenge. So you got to make that car survive on all of its consumables.

And sometimes I think the fans forget that, right? Well, why, why didn’t he take that pass or challenge that guy? And it’s not your age. It’s all a game, right? It’s a game of chess.

Andy Lee: It is. Yeah. And especially when you’re dealing with a co driving situation. Road America, I had a bad start. I lost a few spots and I made up a couple and I got to like fifth, you know, and I’m, I’m just kind of stuck there, guys in front of me are all pretty equal, you know, nobody’s making any mistakes, we’re all just kind of turning laps, but the cool thing now is Elias has risen to a level where I know which AMS he compares to.

And so I can look at the cars ahead of me and I can say, well, I know Elias I know Elias is faster than that guy’s co driver as well. So [00:40:00] I don’t have to take as many risks sometimes. So like you’re saying, like when somebody’s sitting there on the sideline, you’re like, why isn’t he trying to go for a move or something?

It’s like, well, I think the best bet for me is just to let Elias go out and beat some of these guys, because I know he’s better and not take the risk, you know, so it’s cool to play the strategy sometimes too.

Crew Chief Eric: Now that you’ve been with flying lizard for an entire season, why don’t we look back over the 2022 SRO world challenge season?

What are your thoughts going into next year?

Andy Lee: It was nice at the final weekend to get a win to finally get to the top, not only in our class, but to get an overall win, you know, even against some of the pro pro pairings.

Crew Chief Eric: Congratulations. Yeah.

Andy Lee: Yeah, no, it was, it was fantastic. Unfortunately, I followed it up on Sunday with one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in my career.

And turn one on the race start. That’s something I’ll learn from of course, and move forward. But I think the season as a whole, we came away with nine podiums out of 14 races. And it seemed like every weekend we became more cohesive and just everybody just started to click on all cylinders. I mean, the car just got better and better and better and better.

And a lot of [00:41:00] that’s because of our extremely talented engineer, Owen Hayes. unbelievable guy and I tell him what I need and he just always figures out a way to give it to me. So that makes a big difference. It probably took us about half a season to really develop the car and catch up to the other teams that had had the Astons for numerous seasons.

It’ll be awesome to start the season with a car that we feel is pretty well developed set up wise. That doesn’t mean it’s gonna be easy. Of course, who knows who’s going to be on the starting grid next year. So certainly not expecting anything to get handed to us, but it’ll be nice to start fighting with a great car.

Crew Chief Eric: So when you take a broader brush approach as a retrospective to your career in pro racing, you look back over the decade plus, especially with world challenge. What have you seen? What has changed? What would you like to see change?

Andy Lee: I guess that’s one of the questions I want to ask you. I suppose. You know, I have my own opinion.

Sometimes I feel like maybe I’m too close to it. People ask me that all the time and I can never really give them a solid answer, but maybe that’s because I’ve been a part of it through the evolution of where it was when I started and where it is now. But I’m curious if you were handed [00:42:00] the keys to SRO tomorrow, Stefan Rittal is like, Eric.

It’s yours. What would you change?

Crew Chief Eric: That’s a great question, Andy. And I got to tell you, the one thing I like about SRO is that it’s so accessible. There’s a lot of motorsports organizations you go to that everything’s at arm’s reach and even further. And I’ll give you a prime example. When we went to Nashville, you could go to the Trans Am paddock.

You could go to the SRO paddock, but you couldn’t go to any of those. IndyCar. When you go to F1, there’s the whole village that keeps you there, dizzy and all that kind of stuff. NASCAR is the same way, right? They keep you in the beer line long enough that you don’t have enough time to go to the paddock.

SRO is very inviting. You can walk into anybody’s paddock, talk to an engineer and talk to a driver. It’s awesome to watch. It’s awesome to be there. I think what it lacks, you know, if I had to change something, it doesn’t have the same bit of circus that let’s say the other organization also known as IMSA, the sister organization or the cousin organization has.

IMSA has just a lot more fanfare to it. It has sort of that Olympic village feel like [00:43:00] F1 has, but it’s still inviting. You can still be there in the paddock, walking up and down 24, you know, things like that. Sports car racing as a whole is one of the best places to be. The multi class racing is awesome.

There’s just so many things going on in the day. What would I change? I don’t know. Maybe I’d like to see. more booths, more things for my kids to do while I’m there, you know, to keep them distracted or something, but also to just kind of break up the day other than just races breaking up the day. I think that would be the biggest thing.

Andy Lee: I appreciate that. And I’m curious also, like, you know, that’s kind of like the interaction part of it. Would you change anything on track as far as watching the races?

Crew Chief Eric: Yeah, I’m not a big fan of the restarts. Having sat in several of the drivers meetings this season, I was confused and watching it go on, I was even more confused.

I’m like, why do we have to re grid? Why do we have to have this separation? You look at a WEC race, or you look at an IMSA race or something else. You restart wherever you were when the flag dropped and you continue on with life. That whole [00:44:00] restaging of cars to me feels like you’re stealing time from the session, but you’re also taking away at least two laps from the fans as they’re watching you guys kind of basically grid up while you’re rolling.

It’s just really weird.

Andy Lee: I’d agree with that too. There’s another rule and I know that The race directors during our meetings have talked about wanting to change it over the off season. I hope they do. The other problem with the restarts and SRO is that you’re not allowed to overtake until you cross start finish.

Crew Chief Eric: Yeah, that’s true too. It’s a little strange.

Andy Lee: And I hope they change it. I’m in the mind. So they just let the green flags out. It’s go time. Like it’s racing. The flags waving, you can pass, right? Yeah,

Crew Chief Eric: exactly. We all learned that go kart racing. Yeah. Doesn’t matter how far back you drop it. You can see that flag drop.

It’s good to go.

Andy Lee: I think the other thing I missed too, and I don’t know if you remember it or watched a lot of racing back then, but I missed the standing starts.

Crew Chief Eric: You know, I’m used to those with SCCA and NASA, where it’s just like, let them rip, watch 43 Miatas, go for it right off the bat, you know, that kind of thing.

It goes either way. I mean, it depends on, I guess, where you are, where a rolling [00:45:00] start would be a lot of fun versus a standing start. I think it depends on the, on the track, like the standing start at national would be really cool versus a rolling start coming around turn 11 and walking. Lime is pretty impressive, you know?

So I think it really depends on where you are.

Andy Lee: I’d agree with that. Yeah. You know, the other thing I was curious of, you know, ways to like spice it up. And I guess that kind of ties into the question I already asked you, but, you know, I remember when IndyCar, when Pikes Peak Hill Climb was a part of the championship, where there was these different kinds of challenges that you had to deal with throughout the course of the season.

You know, dirt track or pavement or whatever it is, I’m wondering if there’s some way sports car racing can have a little bit of flavor like that, where just a different dynamic in some events.

Crew Chief Eric: The term world challenge has this interesting connotation to it. It’s kind of preloaded and you think to yourself, well, what exactly does world challenge mean?

For me, I immediately go back to the late 70s, early 80s, international races of champions, right? They were put on with the IROC IROC Z came from, you know, that you’re more than familiar with, right? [00:46:00] So I miss those days seeing Hans Stuck run with Danny Sullivan and all these people in just basically the same car.

And then they would do oval track and road course, and they would just mix it up. And to me, that was the real world challenge because you were pulling guys from F1, from NASCAR, from Indy, from rally, and you brought them to the big stage and say, let’s see what y’all can do with this Chevy Camaro. Let’s go.

Andy Lee: I love that format too. They kind of still do that, but it’s not the same. I miss those times too, man. That was really cool. No, I think it’d be cool to have some sort of like time trial competition or points, you know, for something that’s just different, like maybe night races or.

Crew Chief Eric: Yeah,

Andy Lee: that’d

Crew Chief Eric: be fun.

Andy Lee: Something to mix it up a little bit, but.

Crew Chief Eric: Or maybe a longer format, not the full 12 hour Enduros, but maybe like a four hour or two hour or something like that. Granted you now you have to bring in pit stops and pit strategy and all that kind of thing, but still it’d be, it’d be pretty cool. Now I will say there’s one thing I think the world challenge team.

Doesn’t get enough credit for and having worked with them behind the [00:47:00] scenes, the season, the press core, people like Dean case and public relations, the social media team, and the folks that are doing the televised races, the quality of the TV coverage is really, really good. The media team. At world challenge is amazing.

And again, I think they just don’t get enough credit and I can’t say enough that people should really tune in to the races and check them out. Even after the fact, they’re really, really good to watch. They’re on par with, you know, the big league television stations.

Andy Lee: I agree with that too, man. It’s gotten a lot better for sure.

I like the fact that you could just go in and watch the races whenever you want. The accessibility of just having them up on YouTube is just awesome to be able to share them with people and you don’t have to watch them live.

Crew Chief Eric: I still watch every second of them though, so

Andy Lee: You know, on the weekend, what are you most primed up to watch as like a fan?

Like for me, it’s been MotoGP.

Crew Chief Eric: I go, I go back and forth. I grew up in the Group B era and the Trans Am era because they were at the same time. And [00:48:00] so I would flip back and forth and I followed Group B. And then you saw a lot of Group B drivers move to Trans Am like Han Stroke and Walter Rural. And then suddenly they’re there running with Willie and Lynn and Hurley Haywood and all them.

And so it just became one thing to the next. And I go back and forth and I often say on the show, I’m one of the few people in our organization that is interested in world rally. And I’m like, it’s one of the hottest, probably most dangerous motorsport that there is out there. It’s amazing. And the drivers are extremely talented.

Granted, the cars are not the cars of 30, 40 years ago. They’re not even close to, you know, the group A cars that replaced the killer B cars and stuff like the Subarus and the Evos and stuff like that. They’re just, they’re very different. I flip flop back and forth because then suddenly you want to talk about petite or Rolex or Lamar’s, you know, any of that stuff, and I’m all about it.

All right. Sports cars or rally car. That’s where I’m at.

Andy Lee: I love world rally, man. I mean, I got a tiny, tiny, tiny taste of what it’s like, you know, doing a Baja 1000 years ago and just the level of commitment, just ever changing terrain and just people [00:49:00] standing around on the sides of the track in the line of fire.

And it’s just a crazy, crazy way to race. You know, there’s nothing quite like World Rally watching those guys, especially in the snow. So cool.

Crew Chief Eric: You know, you bring up Baja. I was very fortunate last year. I was invited by one of our guests, Matt Martelli, to join them at the Mint 400. And so I got to see Trophy Trucks and all this stuff.

The Mint 400 is one of the oldest and longest running off road races, even older than Baja, out there in the deserts of Nevada. And I tell you what, I was really impressed. That’s another motorsports venue event where, you know, you’re You can get really up close to the drivers and the cars. And I had told Matt, he’s like, what do you think?

What do you think? And I said, I gotta be honest with you. This reminds me a lot of being at an SRO event or being at an INSA event. And he goes, yeah, there’s a reason for that. And he just kind of laughed. Because he took the best of what he knew from other organizations. He’s like, I want to bring this to the off road world.

And they did a masterful job. And it’s a great event to go to.

Andy Lee: Yeah. I’ve been to that once as a, as [00:50:00] a crew guy, I was just a fuel guy for one of the teams, but the beginning of the event’s cool, you know, downtown, you know, Las Vegas, yeah. And all the cars coming through. It was really quite a experience.

It’s cool. And spectator wise, it’s tough. You see about a hundred feet of the race, but outside of that, it is such a cool deal. I love it.

Crew Chief Eric: We’re going to switch gears here. So I don’t think people realize how busy drivers are. I mean, there’s so much stuff going on during the weekend, especially you with the co driver.

I mean, you could stand there and your guys paddock and you guys are buzzing around, you know, Practicing driver changes, looking at data, all this kind of stuff. But when you’re not at the racetrack, you got other things going on. You’re volunteering your time. You’re still coaching things like that. And we did an episode.

Prior to this one with your friends over at OpenTrack and you were working with them as their pro coach, talking to folks like, you know, many of our listeners that are in the HPDE and track day world. So I wanted to get an idea of what you do when you’re working with people in the grassroots motor sports world, and maybe what are [00:51:00] some of your top tips for those folks?

Andy Lee: It was a cool experience getting to work with those guys. That kind of came up around during COVID a lot of the tracks were closed. And so I was sitting around my house a lot and they were like, Hey, we’d like you to coach our, our members virtually. So I was like, yeah, that sounds fun. I started to work with a lot of people that were just getting into HPD or track the events, most of which had only maybe done one event or two events.

Like most of them are very, very new. What was surprising to me is. These people are driving five, six, seven, 800 horsepower cars with no training, nothing. A lot of them had never been to a racing school. A lot of them had never had a coach other than like the one that’s provided at a track day event that’s kind of like somebody that’s had a few more track days than you have and they’re trying to help guide you around like the basics, you know, that was shocking.

I was like, wow. Okay. It was pretty cool to get a chance to give them some of the. The really important information, the things that can really keep them safe, prevent a big accident. And a lot of that stuff is pretty simple things. But until somebody tells you, just don’t know. Yeah, I think the biggest piece of [00:52:00] advice when I’m talking to somebody that’s new to the sport, it’s not a profound thing to say, but how much this all comes down to just, Your vision, how good you are with your vision.

I know that that’s so easy to say. And a lot of times I get eye rolls when I tell people that when I’m coaching them, I’m like, well, we’re going to focus on your vision. But you know, a lot of times it’s the determining factor between getting through that corner safe, getting through that corner fast or versus not making it at all and making really poor decisions.

You really always start there. That’s the tip of the spear, if you will. And then you kind of work your way from there.

Crew Chief Eric: So what about top tips for those of us been doing this forever and we just want to go fast?

Andy Lee: Uh, give me a scenario. There’s all these

Crew Chief Eric: little tricks and things you’ve learned, you know, being a pro racer that you could pass on to those of us that are, you know, still struggling through the lower ranks.

Andy Lee: Yeah. Brand new tires. It’s always a cheap, well not a cheap way, but an easy way to go fast. You mean those

Crew Chief Eric: 25 leftover Hoosier scrubs is not a good idea?

Andy Lee: No, that’s not necessarily going to improve your time every time, but. Let me put it this

Crew Chief Eric: way. What is one of the [00:53:00] things that you find that advanced drivers have been doing this for a while, maybe still need to work on or something that they’ve taken for granted that was fundamental from the early days.

And you go in and if you just did this and it’s not vision, right? It’s something else. Yeah. That they could probably work on, which would tidy up their lap.

Andy Lee: Well, there’s a couple of things. There’s one that’s off the track and one that’s on the track. Okay. I’ll do the one that’s off the track first. So as a mechanic, kind of know my way around a car for the most part, the prep jobs that I see at track day events on some of these cars, I’m like, my God, I’m shocked that you get around the track, you know, let alone trying to go fast in this thing.

I think a lot of drivers just don’t spend nearly enough time like in the garage, you know? And obviously it’s like, you know, when you’re doing this. For fun as a hobby, you got kids, you got work, you got, it’s hard to carve out a big chunk of time to go through your car properly. But I’d say a lot of drivers that I’ve worked with, I’ve gotten in their cars, I’ve driven them and I’d said, man, okay, we’re going to have to adjust that shock.

Okay. We’re gonna have to adjust that sway bar. Like that’s way off. Where’s the brake [00:54:00] bias knob? Like that’s way off. There’s all these little things that are just. Not set right. And they just got used to driving the car that way. I’ll go through and try to mix it up and change things. And they get in the car.

They’re like, Oh my God. Like, I had no idea that this car was, could be this good. I’d say that’s one trick, have somebody that’s got a lot of experience, like a really good, it doesn’t have to be a pro driver, but just, you know, there’s a lot of, Guys around the paddock, they’re savvy on setup. Have one of those guys drive your car, man.

You know, hand the keys to one of those guys. Let them go out, play in the car for a bit. You’ll learn a lot. And obviously we do too. Like when we’re racing at our level, when we have teammates, you know, we’re always learning from each other. And so if you’re just going out there trying to do it all on your own, sometimes you’re going to miss some things.

You want to have some way to bounce your ideas off of and see what they think. The thing on the track that I run into, even with really experienced drivers, Experience guys, guys that have been going to HPD racing club for years is braking. Most of the drivers I work with struggle with braking proper, like a braking technique.

I spend a big bulk of my time when I’m working with somebody for the first time, really just trying to break habits [00:55:00] around how to brake, you know, how to break properly.

Crew Chief Eric: In addition to all the things you’re doing and you’re extremely busy schedule, we did some digging and we also came to find out that you’re behind the group track record.

And for those that are unfamiliar with that, what’s it all about?

Andy Lee: Yeah. Track record was started by a friend of mine, Kai Goddard. And I, we came up with the idea based on input from people that were going to HPD track day events that were looking for a high level of coaching, but just didn’t really understand where to find that.

Kind of driver, driver, coach, you know, whatever you want to call us, somebody that has maybe experience in GT four cars, high level GT three cars, you know, race cars, if you will. We thought it would be cool to come up with a place where people could go and they could source, you know, a coach, they could vet them, they’d see their profile, their experience, everything they need to know about somebody, and they could hire them off the website rather than through a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend to get to somebody when it comes to driver coaching, it can be expensive to hire somebody like myself.

We wanted to have coaches all over the country just so that we could [00:56:00] minimize the travel expense to have somebody come out to an event and work with you. So yeah, it was, it was a part of starting it with Kai. I’m not as involved with it as I was at the beginning. Kai’s running that company now, but it was exciting to start it with them and I help out whenever I can.

Crew Chief Eric: It’s not an HPD organization. It’s more pro coach for hire. Is that what I understand?

Andy Lee: Yeah, it’s just basically a place to find, you know, pro level coach. And I think the industry needed it for quite a while. They needed somewhere to go to find it. So yeah, it’s been doing really well.

Crew Chief Eric: If somebody asks you to convince them to come into racing, starting at the HPD level, what would you say?

You know, what’s your 32nd elevator pitch? How would you motivate them to get up off the couch, get their car and cover the track and drive it the way it was intended to be?

Andy Lee: One of the things for me that’s important when I talk to, especially younger kids, people that have an interest in getting into the sport, I think there’s this misconception that you have to be rich, have to come from money.

You have to have all this stuff. And I didn’t come from any of that. And I know a lot of drivers that didn’t come from any of that. I like [00:57:00] representing for that group. If you want to get into this, there is a way to do it. And it may be a little harder pathway, but if you want to get into the sport, like the sport wants you, we need drivers from a diverse bunch of different backgrounds.

And so I think when kids come up to me, they’re like, Yeah. You know, I raised cards now, you know, I just think my family can afford it. We can afford to go to the next level. It’s always a bummer for me to hear. I always like to tell, you know, you’ll find a way if you’re persistent enough. If you dig around this paddock enough, you stay involved, like there’s opportunities out there.

And so just even beyond like the HPD driver, somebody that’s looking maybe to go to the next level and race. That’s something I always like to say. If you’re in the HPD level, you’re at maybe that tipping point where you’re like, should I go compete or should I just continue to do this? I would say go race.

I mean, life is short, man. The thrill you’re going to get from racing exceeds HPD driving like tenfold. And you know, like you line up and you compete, it’s a whole nother ballgame. It’s addicting, but it’s also like, it just, you feel truly alive, you know, when you’re out there like that. I’d say you got to do it.

[00:58:00] You just got to do it. Any level, just do it. It’s fun.

Crew Chief Eric: Just send it.

Andy Lee: Yeah.

Crew Chief Eric: So the big question, what’s next for Andy Lee?

Andy Lee: I thought about a few different angles on it. There’s always like the what’s next after, you know, cause you can’t race forever. Like there’s always going to come a time when you have to hang the helmet up.

I don’t know how long that’s going to be. But, you know, I, I think my passion, even since I was a little kid has always been motorcycles. I have three of them in the garage downstairs, much to my wife’s dismay. I’d love to do something in the motorcycle realm. Would be like my next move. I don’t know quite what that’s going to be, but I’ve always loved it.

I still watch MotoGP. It’s just my favorite thing to pay attention to. On the track, I’d say I would love to go to, to do the big events, like 24 hours, Daytona, 12 hours of Sebring, like the Petit Le Mans. You know, get the chance to maybe one of these days go do 24 hours at Lamont. I mean, those items are on every driver’s bucket list, certainly on mine.

And from a more sentimental side, Pikes Peak Hill Climb is also on that list. So getting a chance [00:59:00] to do that event would be great.

Crew Chief Eric: And I know I bring them up a lot, but if you get a chance to go back and listen to Eddie Pilgrim’s story, you know, he got his pro seat at 40. So you’re still in time.

Andy Lee: Still got a chance, man.

Yeah. And it’s funny because. Andy Pilgrim and I, so when I was racing the Camaros and we were doing really well, like we were, we were winning a lot of races in those cars and, and we got the attention of Chevrolet and GM and they invited me to test the Cadillacs alongside a few other drivers. We were all there to replace Andy and Andy was at those tests.

Even though we were all there to take his seat. He was probably one of the most generous pro drivers I’ve ever been around. He was there. He answered any question I had. He was there helping me every step of the way. Just like the best, one of the best people I’ve ever met in the paddock. So great guy and a motorcycle guy too.

I think motorcycle guys. Just tend to be good guys. You know, I don’t know. I’m in the water. He’s a big motorcycle enthusiast too. So when him and I get around each other, that’s usually what we talk about. That’s a great guy.

Crew Chief Eric: Yeah. It’s such an interesting fraternity and sorority [01:00:00] there in any of the paddocks you go to, whether it’s at the grassroots level, you know, at world challenge or IMSA and beyond.

I mean, the world of motorsport is just so different than a lot of other sports, right? You’re competitors when you’re behind the wheel, but when the helmets come off, it’s like a big family atmosphere. So it’s always. A lot of fun. So it’s one of the things I cherish the most about being in the motor sports world.

Andy Lee: Yeah, absolutely.

Crew Chief Eric: So that said, Andy, any shout outs, promotions, or anything else you’d like to share that we didn’t cover thus far?

Andy Lee: It’s difficult for me to list off everybody that’s helped me through the years. I mean, it’s a long, long list and I just don’t want to leave anybody out. There’s probably a hundred people that have helped me get to where I am now.

I’m just unbelievable, thankful and grateful for all those people. Every time I see these people, I try to tell them how much that they mean to me, but I just don’t want to risk missing anybody. So I’ll leave it at that. You’re getting into the sport. That’s the way it goes. If you want to. Get into racing.

You do need like an army of people that are kind of helping to push you up. I’ve been very fortunate to have that. So I’m very gracious for all these opportunities and the latest one this year, just getting the chance to [01:01:00] run for flying lizard, which for me was a dream come true when I was working at Bondurant as a mechanic, Darren Law was racing for flying lizard and doing 24 hour Le Mans.

You know, I just thought. Wow. That dude is such a bad ass, you know, I’d love to, to race for that team someday. And, and I can’t believe I’ve actually gotten the opportunity. Yeah. It’s been fun and I’m looking forward to more of it. Thank you.

Crew Chief Eric: Well, we’re going to close out this episode with a quote from Bob Bondurant.

And he said. Andy came up through the demanding ranks at Bondurant to become a top instructor for the school. He was one of those rare talents that I felt had exactly what I look for when I pick a champion, a real passion for racing. I can teach anyone to be a better, faster, smoother racer, but I cannot give them the heart.

And with that, Andy will be one of those racers that will still be on the podium 25 years from now. So to learn more about Andy Lee and to keep up with his progress on and off the racetrack, be sure to log on to www. andyleeracing. com or follow [01:02:00] him on social at Andy Lee Racing. And if you have some extra time, be sure to check out his YouTube channel as well.

So Andy, I cannot thank you enough for coming on break fix and sharing your journey with all of our listeners. And I got to say, you know, coming up from that kid on the sidelines there in Colorado Springs at Pike’s Peak, picking yourself up from your bootstraps, working through as a mechanic, and now being in the pro racing for 10 years plus, I mean, I can’t wait to see where this goes.

And if you land yourself a spot in MotoGP, that would be amazing as well. So all of us here are definitely rooting for you. For you, that would

Andy Lee: be incredible.

Crew Chief Eric: Well, all of us here are definitely rooting for you. And again, I can’t thank you enough for coming on and sharing your story.

Andy Lee: Yeah. Thanks man. I appreciate it, Eric.

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Crew Chief Eric: The following episode is brought to you by SRO Motorsports America and their partners at AWS. CrowdStrike, Fanatec, Pirelli, and the Skip [01:03:00] Barber Racing School. Be sure to follow all the racing action by visiting www. sro motorsports. com or take a shortcut to gtamerica. us and be sure to follow them on social at gt underscore america on twitter and instagram at sro gt america on facebook and catch live coverage of the races on their youtube channel at gt world you

Crew Chief Brad: If you like what you’ve heard and want to learn more about GTM, be sure to check us out on www.

gtmotorsports. org. You can also find us on Motorsports. Also, if you want to get involved or have suggestions for future shows, you can call or text us at 202 630 1770. Or send us an email at crewchief at gtmotorsports. org. We’d love to hear from you.

Crew Chief Eric: Hey everybody, Crew Chief Eric here. We really hope you enjoyed this episode of Break Fix, and we wanted to remind you that GTM remains a no annual fees [01:04:00] organization, and our goal is to continue to bring you quality episodes like this one at no charge.

As a loyal listener, please consider subscribing to our Patreon for bonus and behind the scenes content, extra goodies, and GTM swag. For as little as 2 and 50 cents a month, you can keep our developers, writers, editors, casters, and other volunteers fed on their strict diet of fig Newtons, gummy bears, and monster.

Consider signing up for Patreon today at www. patreon. com forward slash GT motor sports, and remember without fans, supporters, and members like you. None of this would be possible.

Skip ahead if you must… Here’s the highlights from this episode you might be most interested in and their corresponding time stamps.

• 00:00 Introduction to Break/Fix Podcast
• 01:01 Meet Andy Lee: From Coaching to Racing
• 01:48 Andy Lee’s Early Life and Influences
• 02:38 The Impact of Pike’s Peak on Andy’s Passion
• 04:46 From Childhood Dreams to Real Racing Aspirations
• 08:06 Journey to Bondurant Racing School
• 10:39 From Mechanic to Racer: The Bondurant Experience
• 14:36 The Volkswagen TDI Cup Experience
• 18:57 Transition to Professional Racing
• 23:21 Challenges and Evolution in SRO Racing
• 25:45 Comparing Racing Series: IMSA, Trans Am, and SRO
• 30:27 Joining Flying Lizard Motorsports
• 32:01 Introduction to the Team and Cars
• 32:22 The Story Behind the Lamborghini Huracan
• 34:44 Driving the Aston Martin
• 35:44 Comparing the Aston Martin and Mercedes
• 37:26 Racing Strategies and Co-Driving
• 40:15 Reflecting on the 2022 Season
• 41:40 Changes and Improvements in Motorsports
• 50:18 Coaching and Grassroots Motorsports
• 58:04 Future Aspirations and Final Thoughts

Consider becoming a GTM Patreon Supporter and get behind the scenes content and schwag!