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 National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

. 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 full-time in the Superstar Racing Experience, driving the No. 18 car. ...

's No. 43 team for Petty Enterprises 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 tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional ...

1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series The 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 44th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 21st modern-era Cup season. The season began on February 9, 1992, and ended on November 15, 1992. Independent owner/driver Alan ...

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 rac ...

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. Pineville is hence part of the Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,555 at the 2010 cens ...

. They moved to

Monroe, Louisiana Monroe (historically french: Poste-du-Ouachita) is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and parish seat of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolita ...

, 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 () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. 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 William "Rusty" Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He has won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship. Over the course of his successful care ...

'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 as an abbreviation or initialism may refer to: Biology and medicine * Accessible surface area of a biomolecule, accessible to a solvent * Acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin * Advanced surface ablation, refractive eye surgery * Anterior spinal ar ...

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

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

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 Edwin Bodine (born April 18, 1949) is a retired American motorsport driver and bobsled builder. He is the oldest of the three Bodine brothers (with Brett Bodine and Todd Bodine), and sister Denise. Bodine lives in West Melbourne, Florida ...

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 ...

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 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). Park ...

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 (CMC) is an 874-bed non-profit, tertiary, research and academic medical center located in Charlotte, North Carolina, servicing the southern North Carolina, northern South Carolina, and the Metrolina region. Carolinas Me ...

. 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 Timothy Andrews (born January 15, 1983) is an American professional stock car racing driver, engineer, and crew chief. He is the son of championship-winning NASCAR crew chief Paul Andrews. Racing career Driving career Andrews began his NASCAR ...

was a

developmental driver A driver development program (or driver development team) is a system or structure designed for young kart and race car drivers to learn and perfect their racing skills. These programmes are devised by racing teams, external companies and funded ...

for Petty Enterprises. He would race in NASCAR's three national series.

References

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