Florida Speedweeks Title Puts Andy Seuss in the Spotlight

Andy Seuss always dreamed of racing wheel to wheel with the best Modified drivers in the country. He knew in his heart that he could race competitively with them and come out on top. That is exactly what he did in winning the Florida Speedweeks Modified title at New Smyrna Speedway last month.

What the 18-year-old never imagined was the attention that winning such a prestigious title would bring. Since returning home from Florida, Seuss has appeared on radio shows, made public appearances, gotten congratulatory calls from people throughout the racing community and even entertained the offer of a few product sponsorship deals.

For a young man that is still as much of a racing fan as he is a driver, the experience has been unreal.

“I really don’t know how to look at it sometimes,” said Seuss. “For the last couple of weekends, it’s been a tour of doing appearances. My family and my girlfriend have been right there with me and that has been great. It’s kind of weird to be with my buddies and have to go and talk on the radio or

talk to a reporter. I’m just a small town kid who loves to race and now I’m getting a little bit of exposure. Being on radio shows and getting mentioned on SPEED Channel is pretty unreal to me.”

After racing in Florida for nearly two weeks, Seuss didn’t get to fully appreciate his accomplishments until getting back to his hometown of Hampstead, New Hampshire.

“It didn’t sink in until I got home. Sunday night, I got on the computer and I saw my name a lot of places. On Monday, I didn’t have school because it was a holiday. I was getting plenty of phone calls. There a lot of phone calls, a lot of cards and a lot of gifts. I’ve always had a lot of support in my hometown.”

There have been some pretty sweet contingency awards for Seuss and his family as well.

“My biggest fan, Debbie Hamilton, sent me a gift basket with cookies,” said Seuss. “It was funny because a couple of the cookies were checkered flags. We were kidding that I could actually taste the victory… and it was sweet.”

Seuss hopes to be able to carve himself out a long career in racing and winning the Speedweeks title has elevated his stock.

“We’ve gotten calls from a few product manufacturers. There haven’t been any calls from Jack Roush, Rick Hendrick or Chip Ganassi yet with ride offers, but I’m still waiting.”

Seuss is a regular competitor in the True Value Modified Racing Series. He was proud to carry the banner of that New England racing tour in Florida, during a week of racing that included competitors from the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, RoC Modified Tour and several weekly tracks.

"Everyone has been really supportive,” said Seuss. “People who I have run with on the True Value Series have been phenomenal and the people who I raced with at New Smyrna have said that I have earned their respect. That’s awfully nice because those are the guys who I really look up to.”