St. Petersburg, Florida - Though D2D Motorsports driver Andrew List has not competed in a Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda event since the Louisiana NOLA round in April, the Rogers, Minn., racer revealed the past two months may just have been the busiest in his racing life.
“We were one of the first cars off pit lane in the very first session,” described List of the NOLA round. “Before sliding into the tire barrier I had never been so pleased with our car.” With hard contact, nearly destroying the D2D (Dare-To-Dream) Motorsports #61, that Monday’s meeting would set the itinerary for the next 60 days.
“Though I new our conference meant we’d be missing championship rounds, I feel we made the right call,” he explained. “We decided, while we were fixing the chassis, to make wholesale updates. The frame, suspension and body work - all would be reconstructed.”
If List had only been faced with rebuilding the family’s Van-Dieman chassis, 60 days would have been 30. But the big hearted racer is probably one of the busiest drivers in the USF2000 paddock.
As a Driver Instructor at Brainerd International Raceway, List is happily blueprinted into auto racing. The young racer spends many weekends guiding the even younger with improving their race craft. He is perfect for the job.
He has won awards in both Academia and Motorsports, starting with the Mid-West Karting Association Briggs Junior Championship. Rotax Junior (2008) and Rotax Senior Championships (2009) followed. List additionally pocketed multiple Regional Titles in SCCA’s C-Sports and Formula Continental competition.
In 2011, he made the Dean’s list at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
“Looking back a bit, I can see many of my accomplishments have come about because of my participation in other life activities starting with Varsity Wrestling,” he said. "The discipline in your mind and strength building needed for the mat helped my karting and visa-versa.
“Competition and academic completion are helping me now as I look towards owning a team and competing in IndyCar.
“I also have events at Morrie’s Mazda in Minneapolis. I’m an instructor in their Young Safe-Drivers program. At Morrie’s we discuss distracted driving and accident avoidance. I think it’s a great program; very rewarding. For me, it doesn’t get much better than saving a young person from harm.”
With the #61 USF2000 car’s rebuild completed, the third week in June was spent testing. “We had a bit of transmission trouble but I was pleased with our progress," revealed List. “ Most importantly, I was really, really happy with our pace.”
List’s thinking is that the family program is now in the best shape since it entered into the USF2000 Series in 2014.
“I’ve put, we’ve all put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into that car,” laughs List. “Now that it’s completed that task has gained us much. From the driver side, I have a greater understanding of how changes to the suspension tune a car. The simplest change in ride height alters so much.”
D2D Motorsports will return with the rest of the teams when the Mazda-powered series returns to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 30th (through August 2nd) for Rounds 12, 13 and 14.
“I can promise you I’ll be counting the days until Mid-Ohio," smiled List. “Going through the car this way has taught me so much. I can’t wait to compare my gains against the other drivers."