Andy Lally

Andrew Lally (born on February 11, 1975, in Northport, New York) is an American race car driver and Street Luge racer. Although Lally won the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year, he is best known for his road racing expertise in the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series as well as the American Le Mans Series. In May 2010 Andy became only the second driver in the history of the Grand Am Rolex Series to make 100 starts, winning at Virginia International Raceway on April 24, 2010. In January 2012 Andy extended and broke records in the Grand Am Rolex Series by winning his fourth Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in the GT class. Andy owns Grand Am records for most GT wins, most podiums and most top 5 finishes in Rolex Series history. With the Daytona win Lally has broken a tie with Scott Pruett for consecutive years with a race win (9) in Grand Am and the only driver in Grand Am history to win the 24 Hours of Daytona with three different teams.

Early career

Lally began his career in karting, culminating with 2 WKA National Gold Cup Championships. Andy first got into sports cars in 1993 with his first sponsor Tyrolean Motors with car owner Walter Simendinger running SCCA regional events. In 1997 Lally won the US F2000 Rookie of the Year in his first full year in a professional series.

Road Racing

This section requires expansion.

Lally is a 3 time Grand Am Rolex Series Champion. He holds series records for most all time top 3 and top 5 finishes and leads the all time GT class win list with 24 victories. In January 2011 Andy won the 24 Hours of Daytona in the GT class, giving him the record for most consecutive Grand Am Rolex seasons with at least one victory(8)2004-2011.^{[citation needed]}In January 2011 Andy finished first place in the GT class in the 24 Hours of Daytona giving him the most podium finishes of any driver at the famed 24 race (7) since the Grand Am Rolex series started in 2000. His victory at Daytona International Speedway on Jan 29, 2011 made him the all time winningest GT driver in the Grand Am Series.

On May 13, 2012, racing with the Magnus Racing team in the #44, Andy Lally yet again made history in sports car racing as he achieved his 100th podium finish at New Jersey Motorsports Park as he and his teammate John Potter finished the race in 3rd place.

Lally's prototype results include a 1st in class at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, 2nd in class at the Petit Le Mans, 3rd in Class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and a 2nd overall and in class at the 2008 12 Hours of Sebring.

NASCAR

In 2007, Lally made his NASCAR debut in both the Busch Series (now Nationwide Series) and the Craftsman Truck Series (now Camping World Truck Series). Lally had one top ten finish in two starts with the #47 Wood Brothers/JTG Racing Ford Fusion and made three starts in the Craftsman Truck Series with TRG Motorsports, driving the #00 Toyota Tundra.^[1]

Lally also raced in the Inaugural ARCA New Jersey 150 at New Jersey Motorsports Park in September 2008. He was fastest in every practice session, started on the pole and led the most laps, but lost the race on pit strategy when the race was called due to weather with eventual series champion Justin Allgaier winning the race.

In 2009, he started 15th driving the #71 Chevrolet for TRG at Watkins Glen International. He ran as a teammate to David Gilliland, the usual driver of the #71, who unsuccessfully attempted to qualify in the #70. Lally finished a respectable 27th in his first Cup start after being involved in a crash with Sam Hornish Jr., Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton.

In 2010, Lally ran seven races for TRG, finishing 18th at Watkins Glen. On February 17, 2011, he filed paperwork to run the full Sprint Cup season and campaign for series Rookie of the Year honors (A driver may maintain his rookie eligibility provided he runs seven or fewer races in a season before declaring).^[2]

Running the full 2011 season for TRG Motorsports in the #71 and #77 cars, Lally clinched the 2011 Rookie of the Year honor in early September, his competitors for the honor, Brian Keselowski and T.J. Bell, having failed to make the minimum number of starts in the series to be eligible for the award.^[3]

2012

After winning Sunoco Rookie of the Year in the Sprint Cup Series, Lally will return to sports car racing for the 2012 season with 30 races planned across three series. He will be driving in the Grand Am Rolex Series for Magnus Racing in the GT class. As well as a partial schedule in the ALMS and full schedule in the Continental Tire Series. ^[4]

Lally won the 2012 24 Hours of Daytona GT division in a Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup with co-drivers Richard Lietz, Rene Rast and team owner John Potter. It marked Lally's fourth Rolex 24 class win and second consecutive.

Personal Life

Outside of Auto Racing, Lally also competes in cross-country mountain bike racing. In 2009 he was part of a four man team that won the 24 Hours of Big Bear in the Men's Sport division. Andy is also a Championship Streetluge racer and in 2009 he was #1 qualifier for both luge classes at the IGSA World Championships in Bathurst, Australia and went on to his win the World Championship in Classic luge and finish 2nd in Unlimited Luge. Lally also trains in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and is currently a Blue Belt.

Complete Sprint Cup Series results

Note:This list does not include exhibition races. (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

• ¹ – Post entry, driver and owner did not score points.

References

External links

• Official website
• Andy Lally at Racing Reference
• Andy Lally on Twitter