An inspired Andy Buckley sets sights on second title

By Mike Dutko

For 4/2/04

If you flashback to Andy Buckley’s win on July 14, 2001 at Mercer Raceway Park, his wife Sherri had just given birth to their first child Dalton that very day, literally just a few hours before the makeup race that began the night’s action.  In victory lane, the excited young father dedicated his win to his son and his wife as his inspiration while he leaned against his car.

Saturday, Andy Buckley caught his breath and organized his thoughts as he slumped against the rear quarter panel of his racecar, after winning the opening night feature. The stock cars ran last opening night and what was left of a capacity crowd was making a hasty retreat for the parking lot, anticipating the reassuring warmth of their heaters. After accepting congratulations on his win, Buckley drew a deep breath and announced that this win was a special one for him, and one he wanted to dedicate it to someone special.

Andy and his wife were expecting their second child in July, to be named Jesse. Unfortunately, as sometimes happens, the baby was lost. Despite the obvious sadness in his eyes, the tone in his voice, and pain in his heart, Andy Buckley dedicated his win to Jesse. The crowd that was rushing to the warmth of their cars stopped, turned their attention to Andy, and listened intently.

When Andy finished his dedication, there was applause from the fans that put aside their quest for personal comfort, to comfort one of their own. One thing you can truly say about race fans, we are family and when of our own is hurting, we all feel the pain. Andy Buckley is exactly why our sport will always excel above the stick and ball venues that grab the majority of the headlines in the papers.  He is a class act all the way.

Until he earned that second win Buckley struggled for his own identity. People often commented about how he drove Matt Lux’s old car. (Lux drove the car to a ton of wins the previous year before selling it to Buckley). Andy politely put those critics in their place by announcing in victory lane that so many people looked at his situation the wrong way.

This wasn’t Matt Lux’s old car he was driving; it was Andy Buckley’s new car. From that point on you never heard about Lux’s old car, only the new man to beat in the toughest weekly stock car racing in the area.  Buckley used that win and his family’s dedication as a springboard to his first ever track championship. Who knows history may just repeat it self again in 2004.

For Buckley to repeat his victory this Saturday, when point racing begins, it won’t be easy. Mercer boasts the most competitive field of stock cars in the area. Last year, eight of the top drivers in stock car points also won at least one feature. That’s more than the top 10 drivers in any other division at Mercer Raceway Park last year. In the past 10 years, 47 different drivers have won feature events at Mercer Raceway Park. No less than a third of those drivers still compete regularly at The Park. Drivers like defending champion Bobby Whitling, and the always tough Gary Norman who led the division in wins last year will have something to say about Buckley’s plans to nail down his second track championship.

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