Paul Andrews (born May 25 1957 in
Bangor, MaineBangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine. It is also the principal city of the Bangor, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses Bangor and all of Penobscot County...
) is an American
crew chiefCrew chief may refer to:*In auto racing, a crew chief is the head person on a pit stop*In baseball, a crew chief is usually the most experienced or senior Umpire in a game...
known for his work in the
NASCARThe National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947-48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
Sprint Cup Series. He was the crew chief for
Bobby LabonteRobert Alan Labonte is an American race car driver in the Nascar Sprint Cup Series. He currently drives the #96 Ask.com/Texas Instruments DLP HDTV/Academy Sports + Outdoors Ford Fusion for Hall of Fame Racing, in an association with Yates Racing and the #71 TaxSlayer.com car for The Racer's Group....
's #43 team for
Petty EnterprisesPetty Enterprises was a NASCAR racing team based in Randleman, North Carolina. The team was owned by Richard Petty, his son Kyle Petty, and Boston Ventures. At the time of its folding the team operated the #43 and #45 Dodge Chargers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Petty Enterprises ran from 1949...
until August 2007. He was the crew chief for
Alan KulwickiAlan Dennis Kulwicki , nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series racecar driver. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional stock car touring series...
's 1992 Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) championship. He had 12 victories and 30 pole positions in his career as a NASCAR Cup crew chief.
Andrews was born in Bangor, Maine.
Paul Andrews (born May 25 1957 in
Bangor, MaineBangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine. It is also the principal city of the Bangor, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses Bangor and all of Penobscot County...
) is an American
crew chiefCrew chief may refer to:*In auto racing, a crew chief is the head person on a pit stop*In baseball, a crew chief is usually the most experienced or senior Umpire in a game...
known for his work in the
NASCARThe National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947-48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
Sprint Cup Series. He was the crew chief for
Bobby LabonteRobert Alan Labonte is an American race car driver in the Nascar Sprint Cup Series. He currently drives the #96 Ask.com/Texas Instruments DLP HDTV/Academy Sports + Outdoors Ford Fusion for Hall of Fame Racing, in an association with Yates Racing and the #71 TaxSlayer.com car for The Racer's Group....
's #43 team for
Petty EnterprisesPetty Enterprises was a NASCAR racing team based in Randleman, North Carolina. The team was owned by Richard Petty, his son Kyle Petty, and Boston Ventures. At the time of its folding the team operated the #43 and #45 Dodge Chargers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Petty Enterprises ran from 1949...
until August 2007. He was the crew chief for
Alan KulwickiAlan Dennis Kulwicki , nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series racecar driver. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional stock car touring series...
's 1992 Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) championship. He had 12 victories and 30 pole positions in his career as a NASCAR Cup crew chief.
Biography
Andrews was born in Bangor, Maine. His parents divorced when he was 12 months old. He was raised by his mother's parents in
Pineville, LouisianaPineville is a city in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is adjacent to the city of Alexandria, and is part of that city's Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. They moved to
Monroe, LouisianaMonroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208...
when he was ten years old. After he graduated from high school in Monroe, he decided to live with his mother in St. Louis. They didn't get along very well. He said, "I was young and set in my ways and thought I knew everything like every child does." He worked for his stepfather as a maintenance guy at the motel that his stepfather managed. Andrews needed parts to repair a broken vacuum cleaner, so he went to the O.K. Vacuum repair shop co-owned by
Rusty WallaceRussell William Wallace, Jr. is a former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, NASCAR Nationwide Series car owner, and television broadcaster with ESPN and ESPN on ABC and co-host of NASCAR Angels. Wallace had his first live broadcast of the Indy 500 on May 28, 2006...
's father and uncle. Gary Wallace, Rusty's uncle, had a conversation with Andrews about vacuum cleaners and other topics. Gary Wallace offered Andrews a job. Andrews helped move the vacuum cleaner repair shop to a larger facility. Andrews worked closely with Rusty Wallace and the two got to know each other well. After work, he helped fix Wallace's
USACThe United States Auto Club is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, the USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500...
stock car, starting in 1979. He moved with Wallace to the
ASAThe American Speed Association is a sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States formed in 1968. The Association was based in Pendleton, Indiana and currently is headquarters in Daytona Beach, Florida. ASA was most famous for a national touring series which began in 1973 but was...
in 1983 when the team won the championship. Wallace moved from USAC to NASCAR in 1984, and Andrews moved to
LouisianaThe State of Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state divided into parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
to run Wallace's Sportsman for his driver Nicki Fraisson. Andrews quit in 1986.
Independent NASCAR driver
Alan KulwickiAlan Dennis Kulwicki , nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series racecar driver. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional stock car touring series...
was talking with his friend Wallace at the 1986 NASCAR Awards banquet, and he asked Wallace for some advice on who to hire as his new crew chief. Rusty suggested Andrews. Andrews was ready to return to racing. He moved to NASCAR in 1988 as Kulwicki's crew chief, and he remained Kulwicki's crew chief until Kulwicki died in an airplane crash April 1 1993. Andrews was scheduled to be on the airplane, but remained with the pit crew to work on improving pit stop times. He remained with the team after it was purchased by Geoffrey Bodine.
HootersHooters is the trade name of two privately held American restaurant chains: Hooters of America, Incorporated, based in Atlanta, Georgia, and Hooters, Incorporated, based in Clearwater, Florida....
wanted the team to hire driver Loy Allen, Jr. and sell the team to Alley's father.
In 1999 he joined
Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is a NASCAR team based in Concord, North Carolina, United States, owned by Dale Earnhardt's widow Teresa Earnhardt, Chip Ganassi, and Felix Sabates...
with driver
Steve ParkStephen Park is a professional race car driver. Park is currently racing in the #35 Waste Management Recycle America Monte Carlo in the NASCAR Camping World East Series 2009....
Earning the #1 Pennzoil Chevrolet team two wins. He was named Labonte's crew chief in 2006.
He was seriously injured in a fall in his shop on August 15 2007, several days after he was released as Labonte's crew chief. He fell approximately 30 feet off a ladder while changing a light bulb. He was airlifted to
Carolinas Medical CenterCarolinas Medical Center is a large, public, non-profit hospital located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The hospital was organized in 1940 as Charlotte Memorial Hospital on Blythe Boulevard in the Dilworth neighborhood. Since that time, the hospital has undergone several major expansions to...
. Andrews suffered a compression fracture of his spine, a crushed left ankle, and some broken bones in his right ankle.
He was hired by Michael Waltrip Racing to be Michael Waltrip's crew chief for the 2008 season.
Personal life
His son Tim Andrews is a
developmental driverA Driver development program is a program used by racing teams to develop younger drivers. It is widely used in NASCAR and usually consists of a team signing a driver to a multi-year contract in which they run in minor-league racing divisions, and gradually work up to the higher ranks of NASCAR...
for Petty Enterprises. Tim is scheduled to race in an
ARCAAutomobile Racing Club of America is an auto racing sanctioning body in the United States, founded in 1953 by John Marcum. The current president of ARCA is Ron Drager. The ARCA RE/MAX Series races stock cars similar to those seen in past years in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and indeed most cars...
race in October 2007.