ROOM

Name: Kelly Deneen

Position on the team: Account Manager for Andretti Sports Marketing  

Hometown: Lakeville, Connecticut

How did you get your start in racing? I started working at Skip Barber Racing School in 1998.

How long have you been working in racing? I have been working in racing for 15 years.

What is your favorite racing memory while working here? My favorite memory is last season’s Grand Prix of Baltimore and being in Victory Circle after RHR won the race.

Who is one of your favorite racing figures? One of my favorite racing figures is Tommy Kendall.

Being from Connecticut, what is your favorite New England area team? J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS!   

Congratulations to Michael Stefanci, who is this week’s Andretti Autosport Fan of the Week! Michael lists 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series champion, Ryan Hunter-Reay, as being his favorite Andretti Autosport driver.  

Michael has worked for DHL for 25 years and is retiring next month. Did you know that DHL operates sales offices and production sites in Europe, Russia, Asia and Australia as well as North and South America? There are some 300,000 employees that are dedicated to providing fast and reliable services that exceed customers’ expectations. Thank you to Michael for being one of them! After retirement, he plans on visiting as many races as possible this season.

Thank you to everyone who submitted a form on becoming the Andretti Autosport Fan of the Week. Please check back next Friday as we select another winner!

As always, thanks for your amazing support. 

Name:  Takashi Nakachi

Position on the team: Data Engineer

Hometown: Michiana Shores, IN

Family: Two cats, one dog, lovely girlfriend

How did you get your start in racing? I started out as an intern at HVM Racing

How long have you been working at Andretti Autosport? I have been working at Andretti Autosport for 9 months.

What is your favorite racing memory while working here? My favorite memory is race day at the Indy 500.

What are some of your primary responsibilities as a data engineer? Ensuring the data provided to engineers is reliable and accurate. Building wiring looms, calibrating sensors, ensuring radios play nice with each other.

Who is one of your favorite racing figures? Yancy Diotalevi and Bill Bates (each fellow Andretti Autosport employees), I can’t decide.

Congratulations to Frank Shutts, who is this week’s Andretti Autosport Fan of the Week! Frank was nominated by his son, Bryan Shutts, who mentioned that his father’s favorite driver is Mario. Bryan grew up cheering for Michael and his four-year-old daughter’s favorite driver is Marco.

Frank attended his first Indianapolis 500 in 1965 when he was just five years old. He has attended the race each ear ever since, with the exception of 2012 due to an emergency surgery he had to have the Friday before race day. Bryan remembers sitting in the Pit Row Terrace and his father calling him during the pre-race festivities in tears, as he watched from home on the television. 2012 was the first year since 1991 that they weren’t able to attend the race together. 1991 was their most memorable year, as Bryan got to cheer for Michael Andretti on his dad’s shoulders in Turn 3 as he battled with Rick Mears.

Thank you to everyone who submitted a form on becoming the Andretti Autosport Fan of the Week. Please check back next Friday as we select another winner!

As always, thanks for your amazing support.

Name: Mike Reggio

Position on the team: Engineer

Hometown: Plano, TX

Family: Wife Diana and three cats

How did you get your start in racing? My dad got me involved when I was a kid with club racing.  My first real job in the industry was in 2004 working for the Star Mazda Factory Team.

How long have you been working at Andretti Autosport? I have been working with this team for 1.083 years.

What is your favorite racing memory while working here? My favorite memory is working my first Indy 500 last year.

What is it like working with different drivers each season that have various driving styles?  It’s a challenge at first to learn how each driver drives and what kind of feedback you get and what they are looking for in the car, but its highly rewarding once everything clicks.

Who is one of your favorite racing figures? My favorite racing figure is Yancy Diotalevi (a fellow Pro Mazda engineer). 

Name: Jillian Unitas

Position on the team: Public Relations Manager for Andretti Sports Marketing

Hometown: Baltimore, MD

Family: My dad, mom and brother all live and work in Baltimore. My dad, John, is a real estate agent, broker and he runs an educational foundation. My mom, Christine, is a pre-school teacher and my brother is a Key Sales Coordinator for Under Armour.

Twitter handle: @JillianUnitas

How did you get your start in racing? I moved back to Baltimore after college and started applying to jobs around the MD/DC area. I reached out to John Lopes with Andretti and luckily they were looking for someone to help them with public relations for the Grand Prix of Baltimore. I've loved every minute of my time in racing – I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to work with!   

How long have you been working in racing? I have been working in racing for a little over four months. My first race was the Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT.

What is your favorite racing memory while working here? My favorite racing memory while working for Andretti was watching Ryan Hunter-Reay win in Baltimore. It was cool to see my hometown transform into a street circuit and embrace INDYCAR.

Who is one of your favorite racing figures? Mario Andretti is my favorite racing figure.

Who’s your Super Bowl pick? Baltimore Ravens of course!

1.23.13 (Via Kate Guerra, IndyCar.com) – With an Indianapolis 500 run included in his deal for a full Firestone Indy Lights season with Andretti Autosport, Carlos Munoz’s upcoming season is set up to exceed his accomplishments in 2012…which is saying something.  

The recently-turned 21-year-old signed with the team for a second season after a career best performance of two wins, five podium finishes and a pole en route to a fifth place finish in the championship. His accumulation of 377 points was less than 20 points out of third.

“2012 was my best year as a driver, on both the personal level and the career level,” Munoz said. “After racing in Europe for many years, I made the difficult decision to come here and race. Racing in the United States is completely different. I had to adapt my driving style each race, in order to be fast in America on a road course or oval.”

Two rough ends at St. Petersburg and Barber Motorsports Park put a damper on the beginning of the season, going out due to contact in each. From there on, Munoz put together a string of four top five finishes and eight top 10, including his first career win at Edmonton. A mechanical issue at Baltimore ended that streak before a rebound at the season finale in Fontana, where he started second and finished the winner.

Munoz was also part of a very impressive group of drivers from his home country of Colombia. Along with Gustavo Yacaman and Sebastian Saavedra, the drivers finished 3-4-5 in the title race.

“Of course there is always going to be rivalry to be the best driver for your country,” Munoz said. “At the same time, it is always nice to see Colombians being successful. I believe there was at least one Colombian on the podium at every race last season. We are very proud of our country and like to see racers in every series.”

With his rookie year out of the way, Munoz will have to mature his racing craft in a very short amount of time for 2013. Where he had Saavedra as a veteran teammate last year, he is now the veteran teammate to first-year Zach Veach. In four short months, Munoz will also be preparing for a double-header week in Indianapolis, in which he’ll contest both the Freedom 100 and the marathon Indianapolis 500. With his eye still on the Firestone Firehawk Cup, the chance at the BorgWarner isn’t wasted on him.

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