IN THE NEWS

3 October 2009...Andrew wrapped up his first full year of running superstock late-models, by competing in the Yakima Fall Classic on the 1/2 mile track. In the Saturday night Limited late model race, there were 31 of the best drivers competing from the Northwest and Canada. Andrew was up to 14th at the end of the race, when he ran out of gas, so that put him in 19th overall for the race.

20 September 2009...Andrew won "Rookie of the Year" honors in the Inland Northwest Superstock Association, and placed 5th overall in the Series that saw 27 car competing during the year. Excellent results in the first year of the Series.

5 September 2009...after a 5 month lay-off from karting, Andrew went to the Region 6 IKF Gold Cup in Spokane, and qualified on pole with his new Top Kart chassis, in the highly competitive Rotax International Class.

1 August 2009...Andrew has moved up to 5th place overall in the Inland Northwest Superstock Associations' point standings, with just a few points separating him from 4th place. He is firmly in the lead for "Rookie of the Year" in the Series. Soon he will be leaving for his freshman year at Washington State University, entering the engineering department, but will be continuing his racing throughout the Fall.

18 June 2009...an announcement was made today that Andrew will be sponsored in a TopKart chassis, provided by Kart Sport Northwest, to run a part-time schedule in the Northwest Rotax Senior class, in between his busy stock car racing schedule. Special thanks go out to Art and Artie Carpenter of Kart Sport Northwest in Kennewick Washington.

8 June 2009...Andrew has competed in 3 of the Inland Northwest Super Stock Association races so far this Spring, and he has progressed very fast. In the first race, he finished a respectable 9th, a month later he finished 5th, and last weekend, on the fast 1/2 mile oval at Spokane Raceway Park, he finished 4th. Andrew will race in 5 more INSSA races, and then travel this Fall to hit some bigger races.

3 March 2009...Andrews' team owner, Trevor Boys, has announced that he is going to go back to Nascar Cup, starting with the Phoenix race. Although Andrew won't be traveling to Canada to race for Trevor this year (since Trevor will be on the Sprint Cup circuit), Trevor has brought down his "Port City" late model, built and raced by David Gilliland, for Andrew to get valuable seat time racing in the Northwest.

23 November 2008....Andrew stood on the podium in 4th place at the Las Vegas Supernationals, having battled with 28 other drivers in the highly contested Semi-Pro S1 ICC shifter class. After qualifying 8th in the field, Andrew battled his way up to 4th in the Finals, and proudly represently the Champion Intrepid Team out of Oklahoma. The Supernationals turned out to be the largest karting race in the world and drew competitors from Europe, Brazil, New Zealand, Bermuda, and more. There were 7 countries represented in Andrews' class, and he was the 2nd best U.S. finisher.

26 October 2008...with car racing over for the 2008 season, Andrew jumped back in a shifter kart, to compete in the Northwest Gold Cup race in Tri-Cities. After qualifying on pole, Andrew proceeded to win all 4 races in an Intrepid Shifter Kart Chassis, which he will be running at the Las Vegas Supernationals in November.

1 October 2008....the car racing season is over for Andrew and 2008 proved to be a great developmental year for the young 17 year old....he and fellow driver, Jack Morse, finished 3rd overall in the INSSA (Inland Northwest Super Stock Association) points standings, each having driven 4 races each in the late model Monte Carlo. With 9 races in the Canadian Modified Series, with Trevor Boys' Team, Andrew developed quickly. The highlights were breaking the track record in Saskatoon during qualifying, and standing on the podium in Medicine Hat, with a 3rd place finish.

21 September 2008...the Canadian Modified Supernationals were held at Race City in Calgary, Alberta over the weekend.....out of a stacked 20-car field, Andrew qualified an impressive 6th on Saturday.....unfortunately, he only finished in 10th place in the Main after some car issues.

30 August 2008....the IMCA modifieds travelled to Medicine Hat, Alberta, where Andrew got his first podium of the year by finishing 3rd in the ultra-competitive 16 car field.

20 July 2008....racing in the IMCA modified stock car series in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada, Andrew broke the existing track record during qualifying by 4-thousandths of a second.

11 July 2008...Andrew completed the Competitive Edge Advanced Stock Car Racing School, at Stateline, Idaho....school director, Randy Kuhn, was impressed by Andrews' ability to comprehend feed-back and applying it into changes on the track.

28 June 2008...the IMCA Modifieds moved to Calgary for a 2-day event at the 1/2 mile oval, and Andrew impressed everyone by placing 5th on Saturday and 7th on Sunday, out of a talented field of drivers.

21 June 2008....Andrew began his Modified IMCA racing season, for former Winston Cup driver, Trevor Boys, up in Hythe, Alberta, in a 2 day race on the 1/4 mile banked track. The weekend proved successful as he grew more confident with the new feel of the Modifieds.

11 June 2008....Andrew travelled to Buttonwillow California for another test day in a Formula F2000 for Team DFR...the test day included 7 sessions of 30 minutes each, so a few hundred miles were logged...Andrews' times were impressive as coach Robert Podlesni worked with Andrew on each session.

31 May 2008...in Andrews' fourth day ever in a stock car, he competed in the INSSA late-model race at Stateline, Idaho, winning the Trophy Dash, getting 3rd in the 'B' heat race, and moving from 12th up to 7th in the 100-lap Main, out of 14 entries.

8 April 2008...the Laguna-Seca Skip Barber Race was a bittersweet weekend for Andrew. He qualified on the pole by 7-tenths Saturday morning in a field of 13 in his Sportsman Class. Unfortunately on the 2nd warm-up lap, he clipped the curbing going up the hill in turn 6 and did some front end damage, so he had a DNS on Saturday. The field gridded on Sunday as to how they finished Saturdays' race, so Andrew had to start last (13th). When the green flag dropped, he moved through the field and finished 4th, which drew a lot of attention from everyone watching the race.

4 March 2008...Andrew just completed the Cory Krusemans 2-day Sprint Car dirt oval racing school in Ventura, California. The first day was spent in the Ford Focus Midget car learning the lines and building speed. The second day was split between getting laps in the 650hp Sprint Car and the Ford Focus Midget. By the time Andrews' last session of the day in the Midget car, Cory said that his speed was impressive and that he would be running in the top 12 out of a field of 20 cars if he was in a race there.

13 February 2008...Andrew has enrolled in Cory Krusemans' Sprint Car racing school in Ventura, California. The purpose of this school is to learn car control on a dirt oval, which will be invaluable when he gets into a Stock Car on asphalt. The school takes place on March 2nd and 3rd. Once a year, the Hendrick and Ganassi stock car teams send their drivers to this school for a refresher course.

19 January 2008....the race schedules have been set and Andrew will be running in 4 different race car series this year, starting with his first SCCA race in Portland in his Formula Continental.....then the following weekend he will race at Laguna-Seca in a Skip Barber Formula Car Race... followed by his first race in a Modified Stock Car in Calgary in May...followed by his first race in a 2007 late-model Stock Car in Idaho...on top of these series, Andrew will be running some road course races in the Allison Legacy Series in North Carolina....Andrew will also be developing with DFR Racing in a Pacific F2000 Formula Car down in California, getting ready for a full time ride in 2009 and will most likely race in the Pacific F2000 race in Las Vegas in October.

17 December 2007.....Andrew has been offered a ride in a 2007 Chevrolet Late-model stock car to run the local Northwest races, with a team owned by Spokanes' Jack Morse...

8 December 2007...Pacific F2000 test for DFR Racing at Buttonwillow, California.....see Press Release below

18 November 2007.....Andrew competed in the Supernational Kart Event in Vegas and finished 7th in a field of 30 entries in the Semi-Pro S 1 class competing for the Italian Motors Team.

12 November 2007...Andrew tested for a stock car team at the "Bullring" at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in a 550hp Modified Stock Car. The team owner, former Winston Cup driver Trevor Boys, was very impressed and invited Andrew to join the team for the 2008 season in both their modifieds and their Allison Legacy cars, which will run in Canada for the modifieds with North Carolina and Georgia being the venues for the Allison Legacy cars.
Andrew was consistent in his lap times, which is what they were looking for, and was just 3-tenths off the pace of their long-time team driver.

10 November 2007....Andrew finished out the Formula Renault (TR) Series at Buttonwillow, California with his first win in the 1600 class, followed by Josh Goshen from California and Ryan Booth from Florida.

December 17, 2007

Pacific F2000: Zimmer Tests with Dave Freitas Racing

Andrew Zimmer enjoyed a successful test with Dave Freitas Racing at Buttonwillow
(Photo: Vince Zimmer)

FULLERTON, CALIF. (December 16, 2007) - Italian Motors ICC Pilot Andrew Zimmer was recently invited by Pacific F2000 team owner, Dave Frietas of DFR Racing, to take part in a two-day test at Buttonwillow Raceway Park in Southern California.

Getting his first chance to drive a FF2000 Zetec car, Zimmer was joined at the test by 2006 series champion Robert Podlesni, Dave Freitas Racing engineers Ricky and Matt. Although DFR does not currently have any seats open for the 2008 season, they still wanted to evaluate Zimmer for its driver development program.

With the help of Podlesni and Frietas, along with the new Pi data system, Zimmer came up to speed quickly and was very impressed with the handling of the Van Dieman chassis and the power of the Ford Zetec engine. After the first two sessions on the track, Frietas said that they didn't think that Zimmer would be that advanced going into the test, and he was very impressed by his car control, speed, and down-shifting skills.

Testing on Saturday ended with Zimmer getting in five productive 30-minute sessions, dropping his times in every session. At the start of the Sunday test day, Frietas insisted on a new tires to see exactly how fast the youngster could go. New tires yielded times that were only two seconds slower than Podlesni's, which impressed everyone. When Sunday concluded, Zimmer got in six sessions that saw his times drop as the sessions concluded.

The teams' conclusion is that they want Zimmer as part of the driver development program, being coached by Podlesni.

Of note, sharing track time at Buttonwillow during the test the Ganassi Racing IPS team, with Indy Pro Series champion Alex Lloyd and Chris Festa behind the wheel.

As the weekend ended, coach Podlesni came up to Andrews' Dad and said "you have one talented kid there".