Talented Unity racer sticks to Strictly Street

An underfunded but talented driver from Corinna is racking up some wins at Speedway 95 in Hermon.

Strictly Street driver Andy Migliore has two wins this year and sits on top of the Strictly Street point standings, all without a sponsor.

“I’m racing week to week,” said Migliore. “I’m trying to make do with what I have at the moment and run well enough to get decent payback and buy some new tires.”

Migliore doesn’t have much financial backing, but he does get some help from a local garage.

“T&W Garage in Newport have been a huge help,” Migliore said. “They let me use their tools and their lift to change tires. You can’t put a price on that.”

Auto racing can cost a lot of money, but Migliore is determined.

“We’re going to continue point racing. At about the halfway point, if we’re still in contention, we’re going to stick with it,” he said. “The car is kind of worn out, but if I can get by with it this year, I’ll be happy. I’ll try and build a new one in the winter.”

Migliore, 33, started racing in his early 20s and has loved it ever since.

“Frank Brown and I used to watch races at Unity and we both knew that we wanted to race when we were older,” he said. “He had been racing on and off for a while, but got serious about it after college.”

Migliore, the 1997 Wildcat champion at Unity Raceway, moved up to the Super Sportsman class the next year with great results.

“We won Rookie of the Year in the Super Sportsman and took the championship in 1998. I really like the street divisions,” he said.

Migliore offered advice for younger drivers.

“A lot of drivers make the mistake in skipping the street divisions and move right up to pro stock levels. In the streets, you really learn a lot about car control. These cars weren’t made to race so it’s more driver ability than car handling when you’re on the track. It’s really a tougher division,” said the 12-year-veteran.

“Sometimes it seems like there’s more money than talent in the stock divisions opposed to the street divisions,” he added.

But Migliore hasn’t ruled out racing in Pro Stocks.

“I had a chance to race one last year. I was in Scott Alexander’s car and it was great. I was happy with the performance,” he said. “It’s very expensive. I would have to work out a sponsorship to race, but I’d like to be in one.”

For this year, Migliore is concentrating on winning the Strictly Street championship.

“We were second in points last year and had some bad runs to knock us back. If everything keeps together, we’ll be all right. We’ll be right there,” said the points leader. “I think our toughest challenge will come from Jim Carr, and maybe Joe Allen.”

Migliore added that the rookie class will be tough this year as well.

“Bobby Seger and Jordan Pearson have good car control for young kids and proved they can win,” he said.

Pit notes: Saturday night racing was washed out by rain and will be made up at 7 p.m. Friday.