July 11th, 12th and 13th Shawano

Shawano Wisconsin another success and 2nd place finish

During the Friday practice sessions, Andrew was on top of the leader board for three of the five practice sessions. During the first two practice sessions in the rain Andrew was a full second faster than any other kart. Saturday morning warm up was a repeat of Friday having Andrew on top of the leader board yet again. For qualifying in Stars of Karting you have to put on new tires that are issued by "Parc Ferme". On our qualifying laps the car was practically impossible to handle and Andrew had to tap the brakes at almost every corner, even in the large sweeper. The reaction the car had to new tires had us totally baffled. Andrew qualified 7th overall, which was quite a good achievement for an un-driveable go-kart. Starting in seventh position in a cadet race is a matter of survival as several wrecks will occur in the first few laps and especially in the last two to three.

Andrew was caught up in several excursions onto the grass and was only able to accumulate enough points to start in 11th in the main. We were still puzzled over our problem with the car, and after several calls Dave Thompson from DPK suggested we measure the hardness of the tires. We borrowed a Durometer and measured the hardness of the tires on 6 cars overall. The softest compound measured 42 with Andrews tires measuring 55, that solved our problem. Andrews tires were 30% harder than the kart that qualifyed on pole. Starting in eleventh in the main Andrew was able to uccessfully avoid several wrecks in front of him and finish on podium in second position. What a drive, from 11th to 2nd with hard tires. Andrew proves that he is the driver to beat.

Andrew is still second in points in the national

standings, only 30 points out of first place.

  

 
  


Andrew flew to Ocala and on Friday, April 4th 2008, tested several axles and setups to get the right combination for qualifying on Saturday April 5th. Andrew was the quickest car on the track with a 41.98 in the forth session - the only Cadet to get into the 41's. all weekend. Saturday we rolled out our best setup and Andrew won pole with a 42.13, .14 quicker than second place. During the three heats Andrew won the rain race, with two second place finishes by .004 and .005 in heats one and three. Starting on pole in the first main in the rain, the car behind Andrew drove over the top of him in turn one, killing the engine and spinning him out of the race. Starting on pole for the second main, Andrew's visor slammed shut and locked down so it fogged up and he could not see for 16 of the 18 laps. He drove by looking for the rumble strips and by memory of the track and finished third by only .2 second. The Napa/Birel MCR powered kart performed flawlessly and was an incredible asset to the finishes accomplished. One win, two second, one third.


Giving Back to the Community

Andrew has realized that his fortune allows him to give something back to kids
who are Less fortunate. Last year, 2007, he has begun a fundraiser for
Rancho Damacitas with a personal goal of presenting Rancho Damacitas
with a check to help there operation, and on 18th he was able to do just that
and persisted them with a check for $1642 . Andrew continues to give and is hoping to raise another $2000 for the charity in this year.

School is Always Important

Despite his dedication to a motor racing career, Andrew dedicates
himself to his schoolwork every day. His B+ average is maintained
despite the fact that he misses over 90 days per year of school
fulfilling his grueling schedule of racing both in the United Kingdom
and the United States.

The future-dreams and aspirations.

Andrew has chosen possibly the hardest

career to develop into. To achieve the dreams of driving in the upper levels of Motorsports requires complete dedication not only personally but mentally as well.

The dedication is not only applied at the track but off the track as well. You have to be focused upon racing and keeping the sponsors interested, you have to be presentable and be able to represent your sponsors product.

Tough lessons at 11 years old.

Andrew spent Tuesday April 29th at a luncheon for Rancho Damacitas, a charity Andrew raised over $1,600 for during the last six months.Rancho Damacitas is a local charity providing long term and residential services for abused and neglected children from the ages of 6 to 18 and focuses on getting them ready for foster care, reunification, or life on their own. The luncheon was to thank contributors to the charity and Andrew was given a plaque to honor his contribution to the charity.

May 10th Napa Promenade Mall Promotion

Andrew Murray spent Saturday May 10th, doing another successful promotion for Napa Auto Parts, at the Promanade mall in Temecula, CA. It was the opening weekend for the new movie "Speed Racer" and as the promotion was held outside the entrance to the Edwards theater, the crowd was beyond expectation. Andrew signed autographs and hats, showed off NAPA parts and products. The team also had a camera setup so that kids could have there photo taken in one of his winning karts. At the busiest times we had so many people at the booth it was impossible for us to take pictures of the crowed around the booth. During these busy times, even with two photo printers, we were only just able to manage the large number of kids wanting to get a photo in Andrews kart, with some of them wanting two photos, one for their parents and one for their grandparents, a photo that futures NAPA's logo that will for sure stay with them for years to come. The promotion was a hugh success for Napa. Literally hundreds of people either took a part of Napa home with them, or were given discount promotional packets for future use. 

Stars of Karting Miller MotorSports April 27 2008

After 6 practice sessions on Friday Andrew's fastest was lap 1:06.2 and his 2nd fastest lap 1:06.3 which was far quicker then the 2nd place car whose fastest lap was 1:06.65 and 2nd fastest of 1:07.0

Andrew had the fastest lap time in practice to earn P1 in qualifying and should have been in the last group out but due to a mix-up on the grid the fast group was sent out first and Andrew became the track sweeper. He still managed to put it on pole in the group but ended up P3 after the second group.

In the first main Andrew knew before the green flag was dropped that his kart was over stuck to the track and by adapting his driving style he managed to take a top ten go-kart and take an 8 second lead over 3rd. Despite not having a kart to win the race Andrew tried to take the lead in the last lap finishing only 0.1seconds behind Trent Hindman with an 8 second lead from the 3rd place car and a 10 sec lead from the 4th place.

Not having luck on Andrew's side Andrew gridded up for the 2nd main when the ignition module failed internally making the engine sound like it was 4 cycling the entire 12 laps causing the ignition system not to advance. Andrew was able to lead for 7 of the 12 laps when during lap 8 Trent Hindman took the lead and won by .12 in front of Andrew with Andrew finishing 6.5 second in front of the 3rd place car and 8 sec in front of 4th place.

Andrew was able to change his driving style and maintain a competitive position even with go-kart problems.

Andrew would like to give a special thanks to
Findlay Signature Lincoln Mercury in Las Vegas,
for repairing our F350 in record time to enable him
to be at Miller Motorsports in time to compete in the
Stars Of Karting race held there April 25th-27th, 2008

ANDREW HONORED FOR CHARITY WORK APRIL 29TH 2008

2008 SEASON OPENER - STARS OF KARTING

Andrew Murray spent Friday May 24th from 10am till 1:30pm doing a promo for NAPA at the NAPA D.C. center in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Promo was cut short due to rain but it went exceptionally well with numerous people coming up to talk with Andrew and take pictures with him. On Saturday May 25th Andrew did another promo for NAPA in Newcastle, Indiana from 10:30am to 1:30pm. Even though the store in New castle is set back from the road we still had a great number of people who came to meet Andrew. The manager at the store who just took over the store several months ago said she knew several people in Newcastle didn't even know there was a store in the city. To overcome this we set Andrew up on the edge of the road so as people drove by they could see our setup. The promo went better then expected and was a great experience for all in attendance.