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Andrew Wylie Racing began about seven years ago when they moved up from
competitive go-kart racing to 3/4 scale Allison Legacy
Cars. When Andrew was 12 years old, AWR began competing
in races at local Western Pennsylvania dirt tracks.
Andrews go-karting career progressed quickly and by
their third year, the team had acquired several
sponsorships and were competing at the World Karting
Association’s (WKA) national level on asphalt. Go-kart
racing provided valuable experience and was a great
family activity. After three successful years of
national level go-kart racing, AWR decided to move up to
the Allison Legacy Series on asphalt. The Allison
Legacy car is essentially a 3/4 scale "NASCAR Sprint
Cup" car that is built by the legendary Allison family.
Running in this division was a great learning
experience given the opportunity to adjust multiple
suspension settings (shocks, springs, bars, etc.) for
optimal performance. The transition to asphalt went
very well, and within two years Andrew was racing with
the national series in states as far south as Georgia.
As the teams knowledge expanded and confidence grew, AWR made the jump
up to asphalt late models. During their first two years
in a late model, they competed at Jennerstown Speedway
and performed well by any standard. During most of
the first season Andrew held the second points position
until his main priority became his college education.
Andrew is still attending at the University of North
Carolina at Charlotte working towards a Masters of
Science degree in the field of mechanical engineering.
His success in the engineering curriculum thus far has
given him the opportunity to work with Chip Ganassi
Racing with Felix Sabates and Kennametal Corporation.
These experiences have allowed him to apply his academic
knowledge to the “real world” in both motorsports and
mechanical engineering.
After competing in the asphalt super late model division for three
years, AWR made the switch to dirt late model racing.
The primary reason for our decision was to give our
sponsors more exposure. Although asphalt racing was
enjoyable, the cost to race competitively was
exceedingly high greatly limiting their schedule. Dirt
racing has given AWR the ability to race nationwide
whereas we were limited by the rulebook in asphalt
competition. The "FASTRAK" series is a touring division
that races from Florida up to Maine. Racing with
“FASTRAK” in 2010 will provide all of AWR's sponsors
exposure across the east coast, and would put them back
on the road again around the tri-state area.
In addition to local and regional competition, AWR
(Andrew Wylie Racing) is enthusiastic about displaying
their racecar in car shows and at charity events during
the off-season. Recently the team placed their car in
the World of Wheels car show at the Pittsburgh
convention center and were leased to be awarded “Best in
Class”. Showing the car at events like this gives AWR
the opportunity to display their sponsor’s outside of
the usual race track environment. |
