CONCORD, N.C. – This weekend, No. 48 team tire changer Tanner Andrews is headed home.
Like fellow Illinois native Chad Knaus, Andrews will join his crew chief at his home track of Chicagoland Speedway.
Andrews grew up in North Aurora, Illinois, about 45 miles northwest of the Joliet track. Now in his fifth season with Hendrick Motorsports, he still loves the business trip that takes him home, and he’ll have some very special guests in the stands at Sunday’s race.
“Just having my mom, dad and brother and friends watching me, it’s motivating,” Andrews said. “When you have that support around you, it makes everything not only easier, but you just tend to do better.”
And his family has been there every step of the way as his athletic career path led to pit road.
Growing up, Andrews’ focus was on wrestling. He wrestled throughout his childhood and in high school before trekking to Northern Michigan University and joining the collegiate wrestling team.
In 2011, he was a University Nationals champion and earned a bronze metal at the Dave Schultz Memorial International Championships.
The following year, Andrews was one of two recipients of the Jacob Curby Memorial Award.
The award, given in honor of Andrews’ late high school coach and college teammate, is presented an athlete who displays strong personal character and commitment.
“He was a good friend,” Andrews said of Curby. “He was a great guy and it was presented to me by his father.”
And his personal connection made the honor all the more meaningful.
“To get that award made me – I don’t know,” he said. “I felt like I was doing everything I was supposed to be doing and they, in a way, told me I was. So I was like, ‘All right, cool, I’m doing it right.’”
After graduating and earning his degree in criminal justice, Andrews stayed in Michigan and wrestled for the Olympic Training Center.
That’s when he got the surprising news that a new professional athletic endeavor could be in store.
His Olympic Training Center coach Rob Hermann received a call asking if he had any wrestlers interested in trying their hand at a NASCAR pit crew. Andrews didn’t let the opportunity pass by.
“My fiancé Aubrey and I packed up everything in my trailer and moved down here hoping to get a job from whatever tryouts we could get,” Andrews said. “I tried out here on a Thursday and (developmental pit crew) coach (Keith) Flynn offered me a job that following Monday or Tuesday.”
Learning the ins and outs of NASCAR wasn’t an easy task, but he found the lessons he had learned throughout his wrestling career helped immensely with the transition.
Continuing in an athletic and team-oriented environment made the adjustment natural to Andrews.
“I can never complain,” he said. “I get paid to play around with race cars. Transitioning from wrestling, all the dynamics of wrestling help me in my current position and developed me into where I am now: getting low, keeping your hips under you like we were always taught, muscle control, just being within yourself.”
And he has taken more than just his physical skills from the wrestling mat to the racetrack.
“I think the biggest deal that wrestling gave me was mental strength,” Andrews said. “Your mental capacity not to get overwhelmed with pressure or being able to receive coaching, take criticism and have an open mind to what needs to get done instead of your own ego.”
Putting ego aside has been a virtue that has served him well in his past and current athletic endeavors.
“Wrestling taught me humility more than anything,” Andrews said. “It helps in an environment where it’s competitive like this, someone’s always trying to get your job. The transition from wrestling was definitely a smooth one, for sure.”
This weekend, Andrews estimates that 10 friends and family members will be in the crowd to watch him work at Chicagoland Speedway.
He credits that type of support from both his friends and family for much of the success he has achieved throughout his career.
“It’s definitely a key factor in where I’m at right now,” he said.