My Summer In Racing - Angela McCallum

Three months may not seem like a great deal of time to increase your knowledge of a subject threefold, but when you’re as passionate about motorsports as I am, there’s no measure to how much an ambitious mind can acquire.  This summer I followed up days at my full time internship at a steel stamping shop with nights at the race shop and weekends at the track. 

I came to Ponstein Racing with a limited technical knowledge of racecars but a strong desire to learn anything and everything they could teach me.  Under the guidance of former Busch series driver Andy Ponstein and his right hand man Brian Anderson, I knew I was putting myself in the best position possible to prepare myself for higher level racing and eventually an engineering career with a Nextel Cup team. Most of my knowledge was gained at the shop, but I also became accustomed to the fluid and high paced operations at the track.  Most of my time was spent on Andy’s super late model (known as outlaws at some tracks) for races at Berlin and Kalamazoo, but we also raced his CRA late model at Berlin and Anderson.

I also got the privilege to work with Alec Carll, who races in the ASA North and Challenge Series and also drove Andy’s other super late model several times.  Without a doubt this was one of the best summers of my life and I can’t wait to get back to the track this fall with the Ponsteins at the Music City Motorplex in Nashville, TN.

I can’t express how thankful I am to Brian and Andy for all of their guidance and for sharing their wealth of knowledge- thanks so much guys…for everything.

-Angela McCallum

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