Story, questions and photos © 2004 Dwight Drum
Web work by Gary Larsen

“I don’t have a job, I get paid to play.”

Andy Belmont is as solid as his Pennsylvania roots and his voice is sometimes as active and smooth as the pistons in his Verizon ARCA racecar. Andy knows what to do and what to say.

On and off the track Belmont has been performing for decades and still has the enthusiasm for his speedy sport. Zoomster.com caught up with the busy Belmont at DAYTONA International Speedway and recorded a few fast words.

“If we can do well at Daytona we’ll be fine, but at this place we’ve spent the most amount of money and preparation that we’ve ever spent and we just can’t get out of our own way. It’s difficult Daytona for Andy Belmont. You bring the best stuff you can and you ride around the back.”

“Hell, yeah. You don’t come and do this if you don’t have the fire. I mean, my rookie driver, is 57. He’s got the fire too. That’s the way it goes.”

“I don’t have a job, I get paid to play. I love what I do. I love every part of it. I love making the deals and obviously driving the car is the most important, but the people you get to meet along the way and being in corporate boardrooms at Fortune 500 companies and making deals is great. I like working on cars and I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t love working on them. It gets to be a long day when you spend half your day on a computer and cell phone and then by mid-afternoon get out in the shop, but that’s the way it goes.”

”Find something else to do. (laughs) It’s so hard today. From when I came up to now has changed so much. When I came up a young guy working his butt off could still earn his way into a decent ride and today the way to earn a decent ride is to bring a suitcase full of money. That’s unfortunate, because there is a lot of talent in short-track drivers all across this country. The next Jeff Gordon may never get discovered because he doesn’t have the right politics or the right amount of money in his checkbook. That’s not right but that’s the way it is.”

“My comment is real simple. If you need to switch your phone lines use Verizon. If you need clothing buy it from All Trail. If you’re going to the races, have a good time, be safe when you drive home. Use Chasers before you drink. Drink responsibly.”