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Last season Mandi finished the year 3rd in
championship points and was awarded the late model
"Rookie of the Year" title.
Bio
Results
Local
teen finds life in the fast
lane
-
4/8/08
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Contact: www.amandatonchuk.com
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Results
Local
teen finds life in the fast lane -
4/8/08
Nineteen year old, Amanda "Mandi" Tonchuk, is doing
something not many teenage girls think about. She
races late model stock cars at the 1/2 mile New
Smyrna Speedway in Samsula, Florida. She is the
only female racing in the high powered late model
division on a regular weekly schedule.
Last season Mandi finished the year 3rd in
championship points and was awarded the late model
"Rookie of the Year" title. It's not easy for a
female to gain respect in such a male dominated
sport but Mandi has done just that. She has shown
that she can be competitive and at the same time
earn the respect of her fellow drivers.
Now, with a new racecar and the under the
watchful eye of local racing legend Bobby Sears,
Mandi is setting her sites on the championship.
It's not going to be easy. There are a lot of fast
cars in the late model division but Mandi knows she
also has a fast car and is confident in her own
ability as a racecar driver.
If you would like to meet Mandi, you can find
her almost every Saturday night at New Smyrna
Speedway near Orlando, Florida. Look for the black
#18 and come by and say hello.
New Smyrna Speedway -
5/12/07
We were still having some handling problems when
Mandi started 4th in the feature race. The car was
"pushing" really bad but Mandi did her best to
overcome the handling problem. There were several
crashes on the track that she did a nice job of
avoiding. Mandi was still holding her 4th place
position when another car got around her and she
finished the race in 5th place out of thirteen cars
starting the race.
New Smyrna Speedway -
5/5/07
Mandi's first time back to the track in three weeks
was going to be a test of the car and see what
additional changes have to be made after repairing
all the damage. Mandi was supposed to start the
heat race on the pole but the fact that they
started the race before everyone was in their
starting position caused her to start 5th. She
finished the heat in 4th place. The same nonsense
again caused Mandi to actually go into the lower
part of the track in the dirt just to be able to
get to her starting position. In doing so, it seems
she picked up something on her left rear tire to
cause it to lose air. Needles to say the car wasn't
handling right but she manged to bring it in to a
7th place finish.
New Smyrna Speedway -
4/7/07
We have good news and bad news. The good news is
Mandi won her heat race. She did a fantastic job of
going to the lead and holding off all the other
cars to take 1st place. This was Mandi's first win
in a Late Model. The bad news is the feature race
didn't go so well. She was doing very well until
after coming wide out of turn two she got too high
on the track and her tires picked up some trash and
lost grip. Mandi spun in turn three and backed the
car into the wall pretty hard. This same thing
happens to the best of drivers in the fury of
racing and Mandi proved that she is going to be a
very competitive racer. She's fine but the car has
some significant damage so she will probably not
make next weeks race. The Late Models don't run the
following two weeks after that so Mandi won't be
back until May 5th.
New Smyrna Speedway -
3/31/07
Tonight was Mandi's second race in a Late Model.
Practice went well but it was hot and the track was
slick so not much was gained except some seat time.
There were heats and features tonight. In the heat
race she was cautious and raced the 6 lap heat
without incident. The feature race lineup had Mandi
starting on the outside pole. There was some talk
about her starting in the rear instead but Mandi
felt confident and the decision to let her start up
front was made. There was some exciting racing with
Mandi holding off some of the slower cars and
chasing the faster ones. The race ended with Mandi
in 4th place and another great job of driving. Good
job Mandi.
New Smyrna Speedway -
3/24/07
Mandi's plan was to get a lot of practice in before
racing at New Smyrna Speedway. After all she has
never raced a Late Model and only had a few
practice runs at Orlando Speedworld. None of us are
actually sure how it happened but here we were at
the racetrack facing a few laps of practice and a
20 lap feature race. Practice went very well, and
seeing that Mandi could handle the powerful car,
the decision was made to let her race. Mandi made
the choice of starting in the rear of the field and
was hoping to stay with the pack and stay out of
trouble. It was comforting to know that she had
racing legend Bobby Sears on the radio with
her.
Mandi did a fantastic job of keeping up and even
passing a car during the race. She got into some
pretty close racing a couple of times but she
handled that very well. There was a scary moment
when, coming out of turn two, her car got a little
loose and instead of spinning she held onto it,
jumped on the throttle and shot down the back
stretch that surprised even herself.
All in all she did a great job for her first
time "ever" racing a Late Model and is looking
forward to racing again next week. Mandi had an
official 6th place finish.
Prior Years
With her dad Paul's help, Mandi began racing karts
on the dirt in Orlando, Florida at the age of 11.
By the end of that year she was East Orange County
Raceway's 1999 Go Kart Jr. Restricted Track
Champion. She gained much experience racing against
other boys and girls her age at Ocala Raceway,
Lakeland Raceway, Dirt Devils and Port Saint
Lucie.
In May 1999, she started racing her Ford Escort
in the Junior Division 4 cylinder bombers at Orange
County Raceway. Because she has been in a few
fender benders and a couple of rollovers, she has
replaced her car twice with other Ford Escorts.
2003 Early in 2003 her father purchased a
mini-stock and she started running with the big
boys on the asphalt at Orlando Speed World.
In 2004/05 she raced a limited mini stock
schedule at Orlando Speedworld until she and her
team decided to purchase a Late Model. The motor is
being completely refreshed and the car should be
ready for New Smyrna Speedway very soon.
2006 Mandi raced in the Late Model
division at New Smyrna Speedway. She is catching on
quick and during her third race in the Late Model
class she won. Mandi definately likes the more
powerful Late Models and is hoping for a shot at
Rookie of the Year and a top five finish for the
year.
2007 Mandi finished the year 3rd in
championship points and was awarded the late model
"Rookie of the Year" title
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