Paul R. Andrews (born May 25, 1957) is an American crew chief known for his work in the

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

. He was the crew chief for

Bobby Labonte Robert Allen Labonte (born May 8, 1964) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and current analyst for ''NASCAR on Fox''. He also currently competes part-time in the SMART Modified Tour, driving the No. 18L for Hermie Sa ...

's No. 43 team for

Petty Enterprises Petty Enterprises (formerly Lee Petty Engineering) was a NASCAR racing team based in Level Cross, Randolph County, North Carolina, Level Cross, North Carolina, United States, USA. It was founded by Lee Petty with his two sons Richard Petty and Ma ...

until August 2007. He was the crew chief for

Alan Kulwicki Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and "the Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local Short track motor racing, short tracks in Wisconsin bef ...

1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series file:Bill Elliott Champion 1985.jpg, Bill Elliott finished second in the championship. The 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 44th season of Winston Cup Series, professional stock car racing in the United States and the 21st modern-era Cu ...

championship. He had 12 victories and 30

pole positions In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

in his career as a NASCAR Cup crew chief."Andrews out at Petty Enterprises"
, David Poole, August 14, 2007 ''thatsracin.com'', Retrieved September 13, 2007

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, Louisiana Pineville is a city in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is located across the Red River from the larger Alexandria, and is part of the Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,555 at the 2010 census. It had ...

. They moved to

Monroe, Louisiana Monroe is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and is the parish seat and largest city of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolitan statistical ...

, when he was ten years old. After he graduated from high school in Monroe, he decided to live with his mother in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. They did not 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 man 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 Wallace Russell "Rusty" William Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series NASCAR Rookie of the Year, Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup ...

'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 USAC stock car, starting in 1979. He moved with Wallace to the

ASA Asa may refer to: People and fictional characters * Asa (given name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters so named * Asa people, an ethnic group based in Tanzania * Aṣa, Nigerian-French singer, songwriter, and reco ...

in 1983 when the team won the championship. Wallace moved from USAC to NASCAR in 1984, and Andrews moved to

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

to run Wallace's Sportsman for his driver Nicki Fraisson. Andrews quit in 1986. Independent NASCAR driver

was talking with his friend Wallace at the 1986 NASCAR Awards banquet and he asked Wallace for some advice on whom 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 on 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 Geoffrey Eli Bodine (born April 18, 1949) is an American former motorsport driver and bobsled builder. He raced at the NASCAR Cup Series from 1979 to 2011, earning 18 wins and a best season finish of third in 1990. Bodine was born into a racing f ...

Hooters Hooters is the registered trademark used by two American restaurant chains: Hooters, Inc., based in Clearwater, Florida, and Hooters of America, Inc. based in Atlanta, Georgia, and owned by the private investment firm Nord Bay Capital (with Tr ...

wanted the team to hire driver Loy Allen, Jr. and sell the team to Allen's father. In 1999 he joined Dale Earnhardt, Inc. with driver

Steve Park Stephen Brian Park (born August 23, 1967) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He won races in NASCAR's two top Northeast touring series ( Modified and K&N East) and all three national divisions (Truck, Busch, Cup Series ...

Earning the #1 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,"Paul Andrews Injured In Fall"
August 17, 2007 ''NASCAR news'', Retrieved September 13, 2007 several days after he was released as Labonte's crew chief.
Ron Felix, August 25, 2007 ''Insider Racing News'', Retrieved September 13, 2007 He fell approximately 30 feet off a ladder while changing a light bulb. He was airlifted to

Carolinas Medical Center Carolinas Medical Center, formally known as Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center, is an 874-bed non-profit, tertiary, research and academic medical center located in Charlotte, North Carolina, servicing the southern North Carolina, northern So ...

. 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 Waltrip's crew chief for the 2008 season.

Personal life

His son Tim Andrews was a developmental driver for Petty Enterprises. He would race in NASCAR's three national series.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, Paul Living people NASCAR crew chiefs 1957 births Sportspeople from Bangor, Maine