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All Time Favorite Driver
Andy Lutz Hemitage, Pa.
Career Highlights: 408 wins
Why He's My Favorite: He has taught me
everything I know and has been supportive in my racing career
TOP.......1971 at Mercer. I think this was Lutz' second Modified, The
first being a rather dumpy looking '37 Chevy coupe.
MIDDLE......1972 at Lernerville. A lighter and more cut down early 30s
coupe. I don't think Lutz ever won with this car, but it was later sold to Ralph Clark from Greenville who put top Sprint
Car driver Bill Banick behind the wheel. That was about 1973 and Banick won 11 races with the #11 car, scoring at Mercer (8
times) Lernerville and Tri-City, during the only year he did double duty running both a Sprint and Modified.
BOTTOM.....1975 at Mercer. About 1973 Lutz bought an old "30 x 90" Super
that had been run at Latrobe's Schmucker's Speedway. With the Modified rules being very loose at the time, he reworked the
car, put a cut down coach body on the new #86 and became a big winner. I think he later built a "copy" of that car, but could
be wrong there. Anyhow, this is one of those cars, if there were two, and one has been restored. Lutz has had the car on display
at Mercer and Sharon in recent years. It was with the coach bodied cars that Lutz won most of his Modified races, but he also
won 25 times in Mercer's old 6-cylinder class. Today, one can often find Andy in the pits wherever Mike is running.
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Andy Lutz
Andy Lutz started his career in the first half of the 60s, but didn't become a front runner until the
70s. By the time he left the Modifieds to give Sprint Car racing a try he won at least 29 races. They included 11 at Mercer,
9 at Sportsmans, 6 at Lernerville, 2 at Butler and a single at the old North Hills Raceway in the Pittsburgh area. In the
1980s he gave Sprint Car racing a try and won once each at Lernerville and on the big half-mile at Pittsburgh's PA Motor Speedway,
before a back injury at work cut his career short.
Andy Lutz is quite a character!! He was pretty much the "Clown Prince" around the local open wheel
circuit. He was western PA's version of Rene Charland, right down to the ever present cigar!! He was always playing jokes
on people and one night at the Mercer banquet he thought he got me. Knowing I was a pretty serious beer can collector, he
"awarded" me a gallon beer can with a gold "horses' ass" mounted on the top. Only the "joke" was on Andy, as gallon beer cans
are pretty scarce and this one was worth $30!! Needless to say, I still have it complete with the decoration on top. A little
known fact is that during his winning years in the Modifieds his wife Billie did most of the engine work on the cars. She
would spend hours in the garage on route 62 east of Sharon, but come race night she would go sit in the grandstand and watch
the races!! Here are three of Lutz' old cars from the 70s.
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