Andy Belmont is another one of racings characters that make the sport so interesting for me and, I am sure, for so many others. He is competitive by nature, hard-working, and is admittedly a fiery guy. He is also one of those guys who have found a way to earn a living and raise a family while racing.

He would often use the term living the dream when I was around him. Listening to him, watching his eyes and facial expression when he said it I believe he was both awed and humbled that he was living the dream.

In his early days, he couldnt start out in go-karts like his young boys are doing now. It took time for a person dreaming of racing to find the way onto the track. He dreamed, and he made it happen.

My dad worked as a crew member on race cars through my childhood, Andy said.

He was a crew chief on a car in the convertible days. My uncle Charlie raced sprinters. We went to the races every weekend. It is what we were exposed to back then.

Growing up around the track his racing heroes were Craig McCaughey, Dale Puff, Rags Carter, Whip Mulligan, Bobby Allison and A. J. Foyt. Andy started racing dirt sportsman cars at Flemington, NJ, one of those historic race tracks that broke the hearts of folks in the Northeast when it closed down.

I was comfortable in the car right away. But I was young and nave about how much I really didnt know, he said.

Some of my favorite tracks were Nazareth, PA because we won there fairly regularly and we had a tire deal, an engine deal and got paid to show up. I also liked East Windsor, NJ because it was close by and paid good. We won pretty often at Bridgeport, NJ and got paid to run at Five Mile Point in Binghamton, NY, but that was a long tow.

I asked Andy to tell me what some of his best and worst moments in those early years of racing were. He said his best moment and worst moment were, all in the same day at Nazareth. We won the heat, won the rain out feature and the 50 lap special event the day after my brother was killed. We won big, got presented a black flag in victory lane in memory of (my brother) Jimmy. It was very emotional. It was a great win and I was racing like I was possessed but it was a hollow victory lane ceremony without my brother. Dad said we were racers and that is what we do. But it still kills me that he is gone.

He eventually started looking at moving up and started looking at NASCAR. I asked about his progression from local dirt tracks to NASCAR.

It was fairly simple, he said. We won some local races and then signed a nice deal with McCafferty Ford. We had a high-end press conference to announce the deal, a big media event. Dr. Joe Mattioli (Pocono International Speedway) was invited. He liked what he saw and hooked me up with a team and a sponsor to run the NASCAR Dash series event at Pocono.

Laughing, he said, We ran well and that convinced me I was NASCAR material.

I know from the trade papers about some of Andys successes and a few hints about some of the hardships he went through before I met him so I asked him to tell me about the ups and downs of moving into NASCAR.

He pointedly said, There are plenty of good times and horror stories. I could fill a thousand pages. As racers we all swim in shark infested waters where there are lots of folks eating at the available sponsor dollars. Its eat or be eaten. There is no point rehashing mistakes and failures. It all taught me how to be better at doing what we do. It was educational.

Some form or another of this synopsis can probably be garnered from most any other racer if you ask the same question.

Andy raced in the ARCA Re/Max Series for a number of years and is still active in that series. He is now leasing race cars, chasing sponsorship, and readying younger drivers anxious to move up in racing. His own progression from the dirt tracks to NASCAR and now ARCA was almost like fate.

We were running Cup, he said, getting beat up as a small team. It was a grind trying to run every week with minor backing, a couple of low paid guys and volunteer help. The low paid guys would get gone once they learned anything and the volunteers are hard to keep when you run 30^th every week. Anyway, we got to Michigan late one time. We missed tech or something so I went over to the ARCA side. We led the race and finished 4^th. It pumped everyone up - team, sponsors, everything! Three tops 5s in three starts in 1995. The rest is history. I found a home in ARCA and they put up with me.

Now and then I spend some time with Andy. Ive seen him in some good times and not so good times. Ive seen the fiery side of him and the gentle side of him. Ive watched him work his tail off and still make time for his boys and his wife. Through it all he never quits. He is stubborn to a fault but that stubbornness is what keeps him going race to race, season to season, and what has been part of the successful formula he has bringing new companies into racing through his sponsorship presentations. He just keeps getting up every morning and going to work. He needs no one to push him to do it, he just does it. He is an example of the fierce independence, the unwillingness to quit, and sometimes the fiery nature of the short track drivers I watched and grew up around in the Northeast. He, too, is one of the characters that draw me and you to racing.

PS: Not long ago he was able to get a car for his son Andrew to drive in an ARCA race at Berlin Speedway in Marne, MI. Andrew did pretty well, finishing in a race that often tests nerves as well as talent. Andrew gave up the balance of a season in Legends cars while leading in points to take the chance. Like father, like son. Sacrifice, try, keep trying, and believe in yourself and the future. I hope I live long enough to write a few words about Andys son.