Andy Lee knows about sacrifice. Six years ago his mother sold her house to help him start his career in racing. Since then, Lee has taken that same level of dedication to the track. When he’s not searching for sponsorship money, he walks the tracks and does his homework to get an edge over the competition. His hard work finally paid off as he tore up the track at the Autobahn Country Club and took home first place.

When I’m about to have an impact with something I feel more disappointed then scared. All I can think about during a crash is how much it’s going to cost to fix everything. I have never worried too much about getting hurt.

The TDI Cup cars are so evenly matched that you almost always end up running in close quarters with someone. It’s very easy to misjudge what the guys around you are going to do all the time and sometimes you get it wrong. The other reason people touch is out of frustration. It’s so difficult to pass in this series and some drivers get what we call the “red mist” where they basically try to move someone out of their way and hope no one notices.

There have been tracks that I felt connected to right from the beginning. The Autobahn is one of those tracks. Mid-Ohio felt the same also but I lacked one crucial ingredient there: LUCK. You can do everything right some weekends but the results just aren’t in the cards.There are a lot of drivers in this series that can win on any given weekend but they don’t do enough pre-race prep to ready themselves.

In the TDI Cup we’re not allowed to practice on the tracks where we race, so I study on-board videos and track maps before an event. I try to talk to drivers who have raced there before, and I check the weather forecast. I also try to get into town a day early to walk the track and watch other series run to get an idea of how I want to plan my strategy. Homework is crucial and some of the drivers don’t do enough of this and that’s why they aren’t winning.

All and all I have been impressed with the performance of the rookies this year. They are certainly racing cleaner than we did last year. The vets, myself included, thought we were going to show the rookies who’s boss, but then at VIR the rookies won both races. I think the vets decided we needed to even the score and since then the vets have won the last three races. It’s all in good fun. I respect everyone on the track but it’s always fun to bust each other’s chops here and there.

My first instinct after crossing the line was to call my mom. Throughout my life she has always backed me up 100% when it came to my dreams of being a professional racecar driver, no matter how far fetched it seemed.

After the win I called her and she screamed into the phone so loud I nearly went deaf! It was nice to give her the good news.

Of course there is life after the TDI Cup but what exactly I have no idea. I have to be able to raise sponsor money over the off-season and that will determine everything. I would like to compete in Grand-Am if possible.

I’m not better than most, I just want it more than most!

When I was growing up I had a lot of people telling me I wouldn’t amount to much. I was a horrible student and I got into trouble here and there in high school. I eventually dropped out of high school to pursue my racing career and that made a lot of people think I was going to be a complete failure. When people doubt me it makes me want to prove them wrong. Doubt has always provided me with a great deal of motivation.

I’m not looking to beat one driver… I want to beat all of them!!!

Racing will continue to get greener, it’s inevitable. The sport needs to act more responsible if it wants to survive. There are always going to be people that will dislike racing because of all the oil problems this country is having. I think racing should have been making bigger strides to be more fuel-efficient a long time ago.

Racing technology always finds its way into consumer cars, and I think Volkswagen recognizes this and is making an effort to move the sport in the right direction. It’s only a matter of time before we are racing hybrids and electric cars.

I tell people it’s like a reality show on wheels. If you have never watched racing before, this is the perfect series to start with. You have 25-30 young drivers battling each other for success. Anyone who follows the series will associate themselves with a driver and want them to win.

Where we differ from reality shows is we’re not doing it for the money, because we’re not making much if any. We are doing it for the love of the sport and we all want to be the best.

Racing on a budget teaches you self control. If you let your emotions get the best of you on track, then you better have a lot of sponsor money to fix your car afterwards. Up to this point I have never been able to afford to act out on the track. That’s not to say I don’t have moments where I want to move somebody out of my way, but I just can’t.

If I could have anything I wanted, I’d like to get a phone call from Penske, Roush, or Ganassi at the end of the year. In a perfect world you want someone to notice your abilities and give you a shot at a higher level. Who knows, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. At least not to me, but I’m a dreamer.

The night before every race I watch one my favorite movies. It inspires me and reminds me how hard I’ve worked to get where I am. The week leading up to an event I try to relax and surround myself with friends and family. This helps me start the event with a positive mindset.

Lots of jabbering goes on inside my helmet. If people could hear it they would probably die laughing. I talk all the time during the race to motivate myself or to calm myself down.

This year, nobody really makes me nervous. At least not like Chris Castagna did last year. He is an extremely solid racer but he had a way of passing you that always seemed on the ragged edge. He would wait till the last possible moment before pulling out to pass and there was really nothing you could do to defend it. I miss that kid this year.

If I won the Jetta TDI Cup, I’d like to sponsor an aspiring driver, someone who is in the same place as I was growing up. Unfortunately I will have to use the prize money to race next year.

If I could add an 11th race, it would be Pikes Peak International Raceway. I am originally from Colorado Springs, and that’s where a lot of my family and friends live. It would be nice to race in front of the home crowd.

In the beginning of the season our cultural differences seemed to divide us into little groups off the track. You tend to gravitate towards people who are from the same places. Now that we have raced together for half of a season, the groups are breaking up a bit. We are all getting more comfortable with each other.

On track we are all the same. We all want to win.

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