Fusco became an indelible fixture for many race fans and drivers alike through his work as the Senior Editor of the now defunct Stock Car Racing magazine and as Doug Logan’s right hand man on the weekly racing television show This Week on DIRT and the Rush Hour on DIRT broadcasts.
Before he went on to a distinguished and honorable career in the legal community, Fusco spent his formative years around the fast-paced world of motorsports. His love for racing, which he maintained through all 62 years of his life, left him considering a career in journalism before changing direction and going to college in search of a law degree.
After college, the newly minted lawyer encountered great success through private practice and eventually became a prominent judge for the City of Auburn, New York. Through all of that time, his love of motorsports kept him very much involved in both the local and national racing scene.
Fusco also became an integral part of Glen Donnelly’s Drivers Independent Race Tracks sanctioning body, now known as DIRTcar Northeast, and sat on the appellate board for a number of years. It was through these actions that he met and developed a life-long friendship with legendary dirt modified driver, Dave Lape.
Lape and Fusco took their love of racing one step further in the mid 1980’s and created a promotional team that saw incredible success; LAPCO Promotions. Through their work together, Fusco and Lape promoted some of the most memorable dirt modified races in the 1990’s. Though they brought their touring show to many speedways, their love for the Can-Am Motorsports Park became evident and the duo ended their promotional run at the speedway in the summer of 2000.
It wasn’t just Fusco’s prominent stature in both the legal world and the racing world that made him special; instead, it’s the fact that he didn’t care to notice his stature at all. Regardless of whom he was or where he was in life, he took the time to talk to anyone, anywhere and at any time. He especially seemed to have a soft spot for up and coming motorsport writers, analysts and radio personalities. His absolute love for the sport never wavered.
For too many Saturday’s to count, the voice of Andy Fusco became like a visit from a long-lost friend as This Week on DIRT came to life season after season. It’s almost as if he became an extended member of the family. A man you could trust to tell you the truth and bring you the news of your favorite drivers week after week. He had a personable character that isn’t likely to be duplicated and his absence will leave an unfillable void.
62 years doesn’t seem long enough, but for the time that he was here, Andy Fusco filled his life with as much joy and excitement as he possibly could. We should all be thankful that he was able to fill our lives with joy and excitement as well.
Matt Noles is the Senior Editor of Race Pro Weekly and he owes a lot of his inspiration to Andy Fusco. He currently resides Sprakers, New York.
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