Get to Know: Andrew Micke
May 18th, 2015 by Jaime Baker
25 year old Andrew Micke has been a member on iRacing since March, 2013. Racing out of his home in Rhode Island, Micke has a lot to be proud of in his two year iRacing career with 29 oval victories and 24 road course victories in 641 and 605 starts respectively. His first victory on an oval came at USA International Speedway in the iRacing Street Stock Series while he scored his first road course victory during Week 13 after the first season of 2013 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Perhaps Andrew’s biggest win on iRacing came in the 12 Hours of Sebring, where he and his team finished first in the BMW Z4 GT3 car.
Sim racing aside, there is more to Andrew Micke than meets than eye, and you can learn more about him in this week’s edition of Get to Know…
Q: What attracted you to racing in the first place?
A: My family started watching NASCAR in 1998. I have been hooked to all kinds of racing ever since then.
Q: When did you start sim racing and how?
A: I started league racing on NASCAR 09 and Gran Turismo in 2009. Then I made the move to iRacing in 2013 and have been enjoying every minute of it.
Q: How invested, would you say, are you into your sim racing?
A: I am fully invested to the point I switched my schedule at work around to fit my sim racing career in the Road Warrior and Blancpain Endurance Series championships.
“I switched my schedule at work around to fit my sim racing career . . .”
Q: Your most memorable race on iRacing and why?
A: Hands down, it would be winning the 12 Hours of Sebring. You win as a team, you lose as a team. It is just an awesome feeling to win races. But these big events? There are just no words to describe the feelings.
Q: What other hobbies do you do outside of sim racing?
A: Outside of my sim racing, I collect comic books, mostly DC Comics Batman.
Q: What job, if any, do you do in real life?
A: I work for the United States Postal Service as a Mail Handler Assistant.
Q: Funniest moment you have had on iRacing?
A: This past Week 13 with the Dallara DW12 versus the Lotus 79 at the Monza oval. The whole week you were just sliding around, up the track, into other cars. Running around like that was just fun. The differences in speed and where the two cars were better were so different. It was just a blast. Going three wide into Turn 1 there was one of the scariest things.
Q: Most bizarre moment you have had on iRacing?
A: A couple seasons ago racing in the Class C Fixed Trucks at Martinsville I was running in third place coming off of Turn Four when the second place driver dove into the side of the leader causing the leader to hit the wall and fall out and just before the second place driver crossed the line to win. He got disqualified and I took home that victory. It was one of the weirdest wins I have ever gotten on iRacing
“My sim racing will be complete once they add the Nürburgring.”
Q: If you were given the opportunity to race in real life, would you take it and why?
A: Honestly, in most series I would take it. There is nothing more I would want to do than race in real life if the right opportunity came up.
Q: Name one place you want to visit this year.
A: Watkins Glen. We are going there for the 6 Hour race for the first time.
Q: What is one race you would like to see live at the track that you haven’t yet?
A: That is very close between the Le Mans race and the Nürburgring 24 Hour race. I am going to have to go with the Nürburgring because with all of the financial challenges the track has faced in recent years you never know how long they will be running the race.
Q: Name three sim racing related goals you would like to accomplish in 2015.
A: 1. Build myself an actual sim racing cockpit. 2. Be a more consistent and competitive driver. 3. Win one of the championships I am a part of.
Q: What is one thing you absolutely want to see iRacing add this year?
A: My sim racing will be complete once they add the Nürburgring. I might be out of a job once that track is released.
Q: Cany you tell us a little about your family?
A: My brother is an avid sim racer like me, though we disagree (jokingly) who is the better driver. My whole family enjoys racing and supports my sim racing career.