One on one moment

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

"The determination to win now is intense."

Andy Hillenburg has the fire to drive and the drive to win. He always has. So as this venerated teacher of Fast Track Driving School, open wheel expert, ARCA standout and NASCAR driver too, looks ahead to days behind the wheel he has to know his experience is a tool to thrive. He sees new tracks. He shares old skills. He talks. He works. Hillenburg is simply a motorsports motor.

The last interview I conducted with Andy was via cell phone as he was driving his racing rig from Florida to North Carolina. This interview occurred at a slower pace in the garage at DAYTONA International Speedway, but the response is all about speed. I suspect few know circle speed better than Hillenburg and his words and deeds are proof of that. Look for his deeds on the track and in the classroom, but look below for a few more good words from a dedicated guy.

Dwight asked Andy Hillenburg:

"Well, for the year I feel great about having AJ Fike to drive for us. He's a talented driver with a similar background as me. So that's going to make it a lot of fun. As far as my personal driving, I'll probably run two or three more ARCA races throughout the year and might dab a little bit into the open wheel stuff for a race or two just to have fun and get methanol fumes again. "

"You know there's a downside to starting racing early. I started professionally racing when I was 16 years old, so I've been around such a long time everybody thinks I'm 50 or 60 years old. That's the downside to starting early. I still get that urge to win. The feeling of going out and trying to win a race, that still keeps me going. As far as just going out and driving in circles, I've lost some of that now. It's not as exciting to go out and do five laps of practice any more, but the thrill of trying to win a race is greater than ever."

"I don't know, but it's growing stronger and stronger. That's fortunate for me. A lot of people stop losing that desire. Maybe I didn't have enough of that earlier in my career or something. I'm getting where I'm supposed to be. The determination to win now is intense. It keeps growing. Just to go out and run four or five laps to make circles, I don't really care for that any more."

"The first thing is having somebody that they can relate with. A lot of people can stand over and be the armchair quarterback of the situation, but unless you've actually done it and know the emotions that go with it, you don't know. The emotions are probably the toughest part of learning. You're nervous. It's Daytona. Is the wind going to mess me up, or at an Indy race, it's cold, or whatever. It's the emotions and having somebody there who has been through all the gambits to say look…I know you're feeling this, but don't worry about it. This is not a big deal. That is not a big deal. There are only three things you need to pay attention to. And it gives them an extra vote of confidence to go out there and do a great job."

"I'm just happy to be back at Daytona. Daytona in February and Indianapolis in May are my two favorite times of the year. I'm just happy to see another one."

Zoomster.com is just happy to talk with Andy Hillenburg again.