Andy Seuss Ready to Learn and Excel at Florida Speedweeks

Racing at New Smyrna Speedway’s Speedweeks is similar to being in an all-star game. Drivers and teams from various asphalt modified divisions throughout the country head to Florida to take part in nine nights of racing. For some drivers, it is the only chance all season long when they will race against others who are there.

It’s a perfect place for a young driver to go to school as well. 18-year-old Andy Seuss sees his Speedweeks trip to race the #70 One Stop Shop/Rockingham Boat Modified as an educational experience.

“It’s definitely where everyone goes who is into Modified Racing,” said Seuss. “You have the [NASCAR Whelen Modified] Tour guys, you have Robbie Summers who is the Waterford track champion, you have Teddy Christopher who races everything and John Blewett who just won the North vs. South Shootout. It definitely helps me in April when I go back to race against the True Value Modified Racing Series guys. The racers at New Smyrna are the best ones out there and I can learn from them.”

Seuss isn’t just going to Florida to learn, though. 2006 marks his third trip to Speedweeks and he is fresh off his first career True Value Modified Racing Series victory, which came late in 2005 at Seekonk Speedway (MA).

“We definitely would like to go down there and win a race for sure. We’d like to contend to be in the top five of the points. After looking at the entry list, we know that it’s definitely going to be harder to do than in past years. There are a lot of good names that are going down who weren’t there last year, and obviously there were a lot of good names there last year when we did compete to be in the top five.”

That Seekonk victory gives Seuss and his team a boost of confidence – and that’s not all.

“It’s not just knowing that I’ve won, but it is also knowing that our car can run that well. That was a changing point in our program. We found something in our suspension that worked a lot better. Hopefully now we can notch a win [at Speedweeks] for the True Value Series.”

Not content to rest on their laurels, Seuss and his team have been hard at work over the winter to make their #70 machine even faster and better prepared.

“We’ve changed a lot of things with the car. We have a new engine, I’m a year better and the crew is a year better. New Smyrna two years ago was my first experience in a Modified. We’re still young, still learning and still growing so just running with the best people in the Modifieds is good for us.”

Seuss is looking forward to a series of racing that is unique. Speedweeks demands the most from a driver or team and rewards the fans in the stands with some great competition.

“It’s one heck of a show, especially with the way that the races are formatted,” said Seuss. “There are 25-lap features and you need to go 100% for those laps. It’s fun for me and it’s fun for the fans."