Andy Lally, one of North American sports car racing’s most successful drivers, is preparing to retire and take on an important new role.
The New Yorker, a three-time Grand Am champion in prototypes and GTs and five-time winner of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, will take part in IMSA’s January endurance racing classic at Daytona International Speedway with his longstanding Magnus Racing team. Once the checkered flag waves over the event on January 26, the 49-year-old will join Parella Motorsports Holdings as its new Trans Am Series president.
“I could not be more excited to have Andy Lally join us as the president of Trans Am,” said PMH CEO Tony Parella. “Andy is one of the most respected, knowledgeable, talented, and accomplished leaders in motorsports.”
For Lally, whose career also includes NASCAR Cup’s Rookie of the Year honors in 2011, the ability to hang up his helmet and step directly into another significant role in the sport that offers a long runway is a rare opportunity that could not be ignored.
“The timing of this is important,” Lally told RACER. “I could probably extend my driving career another two or three years, but when something like this comes along that could end up bringing another 10-plus years in the sport, you say yes to it immediately, and I have to thank Tony Parella for making this happen for me. When he presented it to me, it just made so much sense.
“I think I have a lot to contribute. I’m sure that there will be a lot of people really shocked reading this, as this is coming out of left field, but I’ve seen other really good business decisions that Tony and his team have made in the past that have worked out really well, and I’m going to work really hard to make sure that this is another one. It’s a very respectful and smooth transition out of the driver’s seat and into an official capacity with a series that I love.”
Best known as the owner of dozens of sports car victories across three decades in Grand Am, the American Le Mans Series and IMSA, with major wins in the biggest endurance events, Lally started out in karting and stepped up to junior open-wheel racing, where he excelled in the USF2000 series late in the 1990s before dedicating himself to sports cars and stock cars. Competitive outings in Trans Am also gave Lally a look inside the paddock he’ll soon call home.
“I’m a huge fan of the Trans Am Series,” said Lally, who has a win and another podium to his credit. “I’ve always been vocal about it. I love the massive amount of power and total lack of driver aids, as well as the concept and the direction that the TA and TA2 classes are taking. These classes have such potential in being a continued revival of the biggest and fastest Trans Am cars, and then there’s the GT classes which are also popular. I love the growth, and the ability for me to have a small part in the development of young, up-and-coming drivers in what I feel is the best racing in North America.”
Lally and Magnus Racing started their relationship by winning the Rolex 24 At Daytona in 2012, and will sign off together at the same event next year. F. Peirce Williams/Motorsport Images
As a member of the John Potter-owned Magnus Racing team for more than a decade, which will conduct a farewell of its own after the Rolex 24 as Potter turns his full attention to a vast real estate project, Lally is thankful to have his own farewell take place with the team where he’s spent more than half of his professional career.
“I’m eternally grateful to John Potter and Magnus Racing for the 13 years that I’ve spent with them to finish out my career,” he said. “I remember at the end of the first year with John in 2012 that we were talking about contract negotiations, and I told him I was thrilled with them, was having more fun than I’ve ever had with a race team before, and that I’d be willing to sign a 10-year contract to finish out my career. Thirteen years later, we are sitting here, still together, and going to give it one last run.
“This will be the 26th straight season, come 2025, that I’ll be participating in an IMSA event, and I’ll get to walk into my last-ever professional race as the winningest active driver in Daytona, as well as currently having the longest ever streak of continuous Rolex 24 back-to-back-to-back. I think it’s 22 or 23 consecutive years now. Daytona is such a special place for both my career achievements as well as exactly what it is as ‘The World Center of Speed.’ I’ve had so many amazing memories there, both on the NASCAR side and the sports car side, that it seems a fitting place to run my last race.”
Once Lally turns his last laps at the Rolex 24 with Magnus, he won’t have much downtime to enjoy before Trans Am duties call when the series opens its season at Sebring in February. In fact, he’ll turn 50 on February 11, nine days prior to the start of Trans Am practice where he’ll preside over the event.
While he won’t be chasing rides, Lally won’t rule out making one-off cockpit appearances if it strikes a chord.
“I am stepping out of driving full-time, and I do not anticipate driving much in the future,” he acknowledged. “But I certainly imagine and am open to doing some things for fun that would potentially include doing the Rolex 24 every year if it doesn’t conflict with anything, or hopping into whatever series, whether it’s a one-off Xfinity race or something for fun in a touring car or GT car, but I really think that will be extremely limited.
“I don’t like to do something without being all-in, and as in the as is the case with this new role, I have a lot to learn and anticipate dedicating a massive portion of my time to contributing to this above and beyond what the normal president’s role would be.”
