By Chuck Corder

Who knew you could learn so much about someone in a 10-second voicemail?

“Hey, this is Andy W. … Gimme a call back when you get time.�

The “W� is short for Wojtaszczyk, the tongue-twisting last name of Pro Trucks driver Andy Wojtaszczyk. The same one you could easily mistake for an eyechart that sits on that far wall staring back at you in your optometrist’s office.

Wojtaszczyk knows you’re going to butcher his last name. The 42-year-old Texan by way of upstate New York is resigned to his fate, at this point.

He has heard many variations of his surname — too many to count, to be honest — which is correctly and phonetically pronounced “Va-ta-strick.�

“I’ve had 40 years’ worth of people saying it wrong,� Wojtaszczyk said. “Unless they’re Polish, no one gets it right.�

So to spare southern strangers any potential embarrassment, Wojtaszczyk leaned on his gracious personality. He chose to lop off those eight confounding consonants and two valueless vowels in favor of the lone “W.�

For the Five Flags Speedway fans and its, ahem, announcers, removing any confusion will make it easier to identify Wojtaszczyk and his No. 47 this Friday night when the Pro Trucks resume their season at the famed half-mile oval alongside the Allen Turner Hyundai Pro Late Models, Sportsman and Bombers.

The gates open at 4 p.m. Friday with qualifying set for approximately 6:30 p.m. and racing to begin at 8. Admission is $15 for adults; $12 for seniors, military members and students; $5 for children ages 6 to 11; and free for kids under 6.

Going to the “W� moniker brings much pleasure to Five Flags public address announcers, Robbie Harvey and Bill Roth.

“In the pit, I asked (Wojtaszczyk) himself how to pronounce it, and I spelled it out phonetically in my notes, so I generally say his name once a night,� Roth said. “Robbie won’t even attempt it. He just says ‘W’.�

Perhaps, the only track official that comes close to accurately enunciating Wojtaszczyk’s name is trackside reporter Dave Pavlock, himself of Polish descent.

“To many, the spelling of a last name from eastern Europe may look like an explosion in an alphabet soup factory,� Pavlock said, only half-joking. “But it’s not any more difficult than say Boudreaux from Louisiana.�

Sure enough, Wojtaszczyk agreed that Pavlock comes closer than most.

“(Pavlock) says it like my grandfather used to say it,� Wojtaszczyk said.

Whether you go with the correct pronunciation or just the “W,� everyone agrees Wojtaszczyk has made a big splash this season in the Pro Trucks series.

Rivals know Wojtaszczyk, who lives just outside of Fort Worth in Weatherford, Texas, is more than just a name that will leave you cross-eyed. His racing skills can spin you like a top, too.

“We’ll give ’em hell this weekend,� Wojtaszczyk said. “We had ill handling last time we were there. But I think we found what the problem was and rectified it.�

Wojtaszczyk currently sits third in the season standings. He trails Brian Weimer by 36 points and is just three points shy of Niceville teenager Ryan Worsham for second place.

With a new truck built for this year, Wojtaszczyk has finished all four 25-lap Pro Trucks features seventh or better. He finished on the podium in third on May 22 for his best finish of the season.

“You know we’re doing the best we can and we try to have a good time,� Wojtaszczyk said. “Nobody races to make money at this level. We like being down in Pensacola. The track’s fast and the people are fun.�

Originally from the self-described “farm town� of Springville, N.Y., Wojtaszczyk and his wife have fallen head-over-heels in love with Pensacola. So much so that the couple is considering buying a second house in the area.

Wojtaszczyk lived in Pensacola briefly during the time of Hurricane Ivan in 2004, but admitted to having no clue Five Flags existed while he lived here.

Buying a home in Northwest Florida would certainly help with all the traveling Wojtaszczyk has to endure just to come and race Pensacola’s high banks.

“We’ll leave at 3 (o’clock) Thursday morning, to practice Thursday night,� he said. “The truck is kept at Nasty Race Cars in Houston. We make the drive over to Houston, hook it up to the trailer, pick up the guys that turn wrenches and help us, and then head to Florida. It’s a 12- to 12.5-hour ordeal.�

The other incentive to moving east is, of course, Pensacola Beach. It’s hard for Wojtaszczyk to pry his five kids away from the sand and crystal blue water when they make the trip over with him, which isn’t every race.

Before he figures out a place to live, though, Wojtaszczyk must first figure out his truck in Pensacola.

“We’ve consistently been the top one or two trucks in practice,� he said. “But then, we’ll go to try to make it a little better for the race and we screw ourselves up. This week, we’ll mess with it on Thursday for practice and that’s it. I’m gonna stop trying to outthink the truck.�

That seems appropriate. It’s a tactic that works well with names, too.