Andrew Hannula Motorsports

Sunday, October 26th, 2008: Susquehanna Speedway, PA

After all the rain cleared it was time for some racing. Susquehanna Speedway used their rain date and decided to run the show on Sunday instead of Saturday. Andrew Hannula and the AJH Motorsports headed out to the final race of the 2008 ARDC season and their 3rd start with the midget.

Andrew started 12th in his heat and managed to make his way up to 7th on the slick surface. The surface made it incredibly hard to pass. They only took 6 cars so Andrew would have to start the consolation. He started on the pole for the consolation event and ran off to almost a full straightaway lead to win. Andrew started 19th in the feature and made his way up to 12th at one point. The track was extremely slick and passing was rare. Andrew was not content to ride around single file and began trying to work the high side. He lost several positions before returning to the bottom. He worked his way up to 15th. It was a disappointing result for the 18 year old, but he realized that finishing 15th out of the 35 cars then showed up was not too bad for just his 2nd feature in a midget.

The team will be making a trip to Charlotte for the World finals and will be getting parts ready for the 2009 season right away. Andrew and the AJH Motorsports team are looking to be a serious threat in ARDC next season and have a lot of work to do. The team is searching for sponsorship and/or partnerships for the 2009 season so that they can run the full schedule and promise to be a top contender. If interested in a proposal please email AJHMotorsports89@aol.com or call (732)-857-0366.

Keep an eye on the site. It will be releasing updates throughout the off season on the progress of the 2009 Midget and expect to see a finished site shortly.

Saturday, September 13, 2008: Susquehanna Speedway, PA

This was the 2nd race for Andrew and the AJH Motorsports team in the midgets. With rain in the forecast the team decided to stick it out and make the long haul. Although it was steadily drizzling all night long the Susquehanna Speedway Park crew did an excellent job keeping the show moving and not losing the track. Andrew said the car was excellent in warmups and was eager to run another heat race in the midget.

It was now time to take to the track for the heat race. Andrew was starting 10th and had only 8 laps to get into the top 6 to qualify. He took to his lane of choice the daring high side and drove the car up to 5th.. When he got to 5th he knew he could just settle in because he had to start 18th no matter what.. On the last lap the car shut off unexpectedly. The crew could not find the problem and had to retire for the night.

Andrew would like to thank Frank Polimeda for all the help in correcting the problem this week after the Susquehanna event. While believed to be an ignition problem after firing the car they learned it was a fuel problem. This was a big relief for the Hannula team because they are already on a tight budget. Keep an eye on the site because it should be finished in the coming week.

Look out for the return on the AJH Motorsports #89 at Big Diamond Raceway on Saturday, September 27.

Saturday, August 16, 2008: New Egypt Speedway, NJ

Saturday night was the debut of the 2007 URC Rookie of the Year, Andrew Hannula, in his family owned midget. The AJH Motorsports team and Andrew went with one goal and that was to just qualify and come home in one piece. As Andrew took to the track for warm-ups he quickly realized that the midget seemed to suit his driving style. When Andrew came in after hot laps he exclaimed "Man this is going to be a fun night." He knew that what he felt on the track was a fast race car even with literally no experience20in the midget.

It was now time to take to the track for the heat race. Andrew was starting 10th and had only 8 laps to get into the top 6 to qualify. However, by lap 2 he was already up to 6th. He began picking cars off one at a time and got up to 4th place. While going for 3rd he realized he didn’t have much to gain by passing any more cars and taking chances so he began to take it easy and save the tires. He ended up finishing 4th which was very impressive for his first ever midget race. As soon as he came in he began to work on a setup for the feature event. This was to be the biggest challenge yet.

The feature event rolled onto the track and found Andrew starting in 18th position. On the start of the race he jumped up a few spots immediately. However, on la p 3 Hannula lost his brakes and was now forced to run an extremely high line to avoid contact with other cars. Even without brakes Andrew was able to move through the field up to 7th place when the red came out with 2 to go. Under the red flag the AJH Motorsports #89 was running extremely hot. Andrew knowing his families budget and not being able to hurt the motor was forced to pull in and give up an excellent finish in his first race.

Although his first race will be listed as a 22nd place finish, Andrew knows that they have a very bright future ahead in the midgets. He is looking forward to the next race they run which will most likely be at Big Diamond Raceway on Saturday, September 27. Andrew would like to thank everyone who made his debut successful Dinaso & Son's Building Supply Co., Whitey's Welding, Stanfill Signs and of course my family who have dedicated everything so that I could make this happen. Also a special thanks to Drew Heistand for allowing me to borrow a gear for the night and to Milt for pointing me in the right direction.