Mundelein, IL – Newman Wachs Racing announced today the signing of 18-year-old racer Andre Castro for the upcoming Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda season.
“I am very happy to say that we have locked down our second driver today,” said Team Manager Brian Halahan. “We ran Andre in our first test at Indy last October, and we had some success with him right from the start. He was fast and he worked well with the team, so I feel we can build on that and have him running strong as soon as he is back in the Newman Wachs car. I think Andre and Dakota will make good teammates and push each other to the front.”
Castro, who turned 18 just a few weeks ago, was born in New York City, but his origins are Colombian. He speaks both English and Spanish, as his parents are immigrants from Colombia. He attends Stuyvesant High School, a school for gifted students.
The young driver began racing go-karts at the age of seven, and won his very first race. He raced go-karts until 2016, when he started racing cars accumulating three wins, six poles, and ten podiums in the Skip Barber Championship Series. He was also nominated for the Team USA Scholarship after only three races in a car, and made it to the finalist stage.
“I am thrilled to be a part of Newman Wachs’ return to open-wheel racing," said Castro. After working with the team closely in the weeks leading up to the Chris Griffis Memorial test at Indy last fall, I saw that the team was incredibly serious about coming back and winning straight out of the gate. At the test itself, I was able to work with engineer Alan O’Leary extremely well, and by the end of the final day, me, a rookie driver and a returning team, together, we managed to be on top of the time sheets.
“With all the extensive behind-the-scenes work and fine-tuning that Brian and the whole team have undertaken since then, I have no doubt that we will be able to compete for wins from the very first race in St. Petersburg," Castro added. "I know I have a steep learning curve ahead of me, but I look forward to the challenge and I cannot wait to get going.”
Team engineer Alan O’Leary shared his thoughts about the young rookie: “I am super excited to have Andre as part of our team. We were very impressed with how he performed at the Indy test, and pairing him with Dakota will be fantastic. I can't wait to get them both on track working together. André will be in the #37 car, as Dakota’s car will carry the number 36."
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About the Newman Wachs Racing Team:
Newman Wachs Racing (NWR) is a racing team owned by Eddie Wachs and, until his death, American actor and racer himself, Paul Newman. NWR is based outside of Chicago, in Mundelein, Illinois. Newman and Wachs shared the same passion for racing and met when they both competed in the Can-Am Series in the mid-1970’s. They raced together for 15 years in Trans-Am, Can-Am, and many other SCCA professional venues. Over the years, they talked about joining forces to create a driver-development race team. They put together a Champ Car Atlantic team for the 2006 season to meet their objectives. In 2009, John Edwards won the Championship for NWR, beating teammate Jonathan Summerton in a tiebreaker.