ARCA RE/MAX Series
Photos and story © 2006 Dwight Drum

Web work by Gary Larsen

Driver, No. 1 Year One Ford

Andy Belmont has been around the track countless times as a stock car driver and he’s probably been around the block more often judging from his cogent comments and spirited dialogue. Belmont likes to drive fast and talk quickly. The honest, bold and sometimes blunt Belmont is as willing to share his thoughts as he is to snare a victory with hard driving and timely maneuvering.

Past interviews on Zoomster.com with Belmont have been sincere and entertaining as he drives viewers into his mind and world. Belmont’s column appears frequently in our ARCA section. His diverse and focused words give colorful background to the fast and sometimes crazy arena of motorsports.

We have learned to approach him with eager questions as we know we will get worthy answers. When you listen to Belmont you will hear something good.

“Most people think I’m a powder keg. I’m probably hungrier now than I’ve ever been.”

Place: Daytona International Speedway
Event: 2006 ARCA RE/MAX Series Daytona 200

“Most people think I’m a powder keg. I’m really short-fused. No patience. I’m fiercely loyal and dedicated to what I do.”

“My dad I guess. It was bred into me. My dad was in Grand National a long time ago. He was quote-unquote crew chief back then. My uncle Charlie was a sprint car driver in the 40’s. It’s kind of in me.”

“You know that’s a really hard question. I’m probably hungrier now than I’ve ever been. I don’t know why or how or why that is. Sometimes I go, ‘You really want to go through all this bull.’ And man you get in the car. When will you know when I’m ready to retire? “When I lift first getting into turn three at Salem.’ ”

“I’ve been trying to be smarter as I get older, but I still manage every now and then. I just try to take care of the equipment.”

“Finding the money to support it. It just puts a strain on everything in your life, family, personnel. It’s just difficult.”

“I think for anybody who plays an Intendo or whatever them games are. I see my kids playing them, PlayStation. Smooth is fast. It’s hard to train people, especially when you’re driving a 3400 pound car. I end up having bruises on my left side at the end of practices and races cause I hold my elbow down so hard to hold the wheel in one position so when the car bounces you don’t want to put the input in. So that’s probably the hardest thing.”

“I’ve seen all three of my boys win races already. It don’t get no better than that.”

“Keeping people. We get em’ young and aggressive out of different schools and stuff. Sometimes they’re really green. The moment we get em’ broke in they get gone to the Cup or the Busch or the Trucks. So it’s really tough. That’s the hardest challenge is keeping people. ”

“Every now and then you think the money on this deal dominates people. We had a manifold issue over there that wasn’t legal. I went over to Scott Maxim at Hendrick Motorsports. Them guys don’t know me from Adam and they loaned me a manifold I’m sure is worth a lot of money so we could be out there. They wouldn’t do that if they weren’t racers. It’s restored my faith in people. Even though there’s a lot of money around here, we still do it because we love racing.”