13-Year-Old Jake Andreotti Already is a Legend in Quarter Midget and Micro Sprint Racing
- 24 May 2016
What were you doing when you were 5 years old? You probably were drinking warm milk, eating graham crackers, napping, and clinging to your mom. When Jake Andreotti was 5 years old he was winning championships in a quarter midget car. Now 13, he is winning championships racing a micro sprint car.
A resident of Castro Valley, California, Jake first became interested in racing when his dad took him to nearby racetracks. Jared Andreotti, Jake’s father, had done some drag racing back in the day. He also built hotrods and is currently building starters, alternators, and electric motors for Buchanan Auto Electric in Oakland, California. He doesn’t have much time to build hotrods or drag race these days because he is Jake’s crew chief. Others involved in the crew include Jenni Andreotti, Jake’s mom; Hank Andreotti and John Smith, Jake’s grandfathers; Jenelle and Juliana Andreotti, Jake’s sisters. Jared bought the first quarter midget car for Jake when the boy was 4 years old in 2007. By the time he was 5 he was competitively racing it. In his first year racing quarter midgets, he won 14 main events. He won his first non-competitive class race in 2008 and he won championships in the Bay-Valley Series.
At the end of 2008, Jared bought Jake’s second quarter midget, another NC Chassis, so he could race two different competitive classes beginning in 2009. During the 2009 race season when he was 6, Jake won 19 main events. He won his first Jr. Honda main event at a Capitol Dirt Track event at Roy Hayer Memorial Track in Rio Linda, California. That’s the track that famed racer Jeff Gordon raced quarter midgets. He won the Junior Stock Championship for the Tri-Valley Quarter Midget Club of Livermore, California and the Junior Stock Championship for Region 10. From there, the wins and championships piled up year after year. He raced a total of three different quarter midgets in various different classes from 2010 through 2013 and then graduated to the micro sprint car in 2014. He raced in the three-quarter class at Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, California; Lemoore Raceway in Lemoore California; and Delta Speedway in Stockton, California. In 2014, his rookie year, he had to gain comfort and confidence in his new micro sprint car. During the 2014 season he won nine main events and set fast times 18 times during the season. He won the King of California Title, Plaza Park Championship, Rookie of the Year at both, Plaza Park and Lemoore Raceways; Super 600 Championship in the restricted class, Bud Cup Championship, and the Turkey Bowl Championship. In 2015 Jake got permission from track promoters to graduate to the Super 600 class. He needed permission because the minimum age for racers in that class was 13 and Jake was 12. At the tender age of 13 he has already experienced pressures and emotions that have been felt by racers in their 40s. For example, the last night of the inaugural California Speed week in 2015 he won the feature race after overtaking the leader in the last lap. Racing a new car for the first time in a 2015 CS9 competition, Jake set the fastest time and finished 4th in the main event. In the Tulsa Shootout this year, Jake earned the Hard Charger Award in the Outlaw class for passing the most racers in the event. He started 20th and finished 6th. So far this year Jake has won three events. Many scheduled races have been canceled due to rain, but will most likely be rescheduled. Jake noted that he plans on participating in more than 49 races this year, mostly in California, but also the prestigious Tulsa Shootout in Tulsa, Oklahoma in December. K&N Engineering has been sponsoring Jake Andreotti for three years and has supplied him with oil, air, and crankcase filters (part numbers KN-303, E2990, 62-1010 and 62-1015). “K&N has helped a lot,” said Jake. “They have given me new air and oil filters every weekend and my car has the K&N logo painted on the exterior. K&N has helped to promote me and we’ve done what we can to promote K&N.” For example, Jake has appeared in some of the company’s advertising. He has appeared in Sprint Car Magazine, has a website, Instagram and Twitter accounts, and has his own YouTube channel. He has even begun selling Andreotti T-shirts and hoodies on his website. He is considering a jump to sprint car racing next year. “You have to be at least 14 years old to race sprint cars,” he said. “It’s a bigger car with a lot more horsepower than the micro sprint and the tracks are bigger.” He is considering a jump to sprint car racing next year. “You have to be at least 14 years old to race sprint cars,” he said. “It’s a bigger car with a lot more horsepower than the micro sprint and the tracks are bigger.” In 2010, Jake won:
In 2011, he won:
In 2012, he won:
In 2013 he won:
In 2014 he set fast times in 18 events and won:
In 2015 he won:
He was the first racer to repeat The King of California championships in two different classes. |
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