RPW Exclusive: Racing, A LOT, & Family Helped Propel Andrew Buff To The DIRTcar Sportsman Series Title In ’23

Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – SYRACUSE, NY – For 2023 DIRTcar Sportsman Series Champion Andrew Buff, this past season was about two things.

The first thing was to run as many races as possible. The Latham, NY driver and his team put a lot of miles on their truck and trailer this season, traveling up and down the road each weekend chasing checkered flags.

They were weekly regulars at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Fulton Speedway and Glen Ridge Motorsports Park. At those tracks, Buff was able to visit victory lane 10 times and when the 2023 season was complete, was the track champion at all three.

The second was family. Any pit area the no. 92 Bicknell entered, the Buff family was right there, together.

“It’s a lot of hard work,” Buff said. “My Father, my Mother, my brothers, my girlfriend, Amy, all put a lot of hard work into this. There was definitely a lot of time in the garage during the week this season which was the reason we were able to be up front and be consistent.”

Consistency was the name of the game for the West End Towing team. In 42 DIRTcar Sportsman starts this season, Buff had 13 victories overall and, in addition to the three track titles, was the DIRTcar Weekly Series Champion as well as the Central Region Champion.

“We had a good, consistent year,” he said. “I’m glad we were able to win the Weekly Series title. It just shows the hard work my family and our team puts in. This is just awesome.”

However, it was his prowess on the DIRTcar Championship trail that made his season. In nine Series events, Buff had three wins (Land of Legends, Glen Ridge & Albany-Saratoga), six top 5’s and seven top 10’s.

It was that type of season which allowed him to score more points than his nearest competitor, Land of Legends regular Zach Sobotka, and be crowned DIRTcar Sportsman Series Champion this past Saturday night in Syracuse, NY.

“We had a really good year in 2023,” he said. “I can’t thank West End Towing, Buff’s Auto Service, Elmo’s Speed & Supply, FOX Shox, and everyone who supported our team. It was just a great year.”

Near the end of the season, Buff and his team attempted a few 358-Modified events. With as successful as he was in the Sportsman ranks, could this be a sign of things to come?

“I don’t know about that,” he said. “We had a little fun with that. It was definitely something new and I guess we’ll see. We sure had fun it so we’ll see what happens.”