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John Andretti
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John Andretti (born March 12, 1963 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania), is an American race car driver. He currently drives the #34 Window World.Com car in the Nascar Sprint Cup Series for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. He has won in CART, NHRA Top Fuel Dragsters, endurance racing and NASCAR stock car racing. He is the last NASCAR driver to win for the famous Petty Enterprises team.
's father, Aldo Andretti, had his racing career cut short due to a racing accident.
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Encyclopedia
John Andretti (born March 12, 1963 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania), is an American race car driver. He currently drives the #34 Window World.Com car in the Nascar Sprint Cup Series for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. He has won in CART, NHRA Top Fuel Dragsters, endurance racing and NASCAR stock car racing. He is the last NASCAR driver to win for the famous Petty Enterprises team.
Andretti family
John's father, Aldo Andretti, had his racing career cut short due to a racing accident. John also has a younger brother named Adam Andretti who also has a talent for racing. Both Andretti brothers are as talented as their father and are nephews of IndyCar racing legend Mario Andretti (Aldo's twin), cousin of Mario's sons Michael and Jeff. John is the godson of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A. J. Foyt. John also has another older brother and older sister, Mark and Carolyn. The Andretti family became the first family to have four relatives (Michael, Mario, Jeff, and John) compete in the same series (CART). . In 1990, 1991 and 1992, they had four family members competing in the Indy 500.
John is married to Nancy and has three children: Jarrett (12/13/92), Olivia (3/29/95), Amelia (5/10/00). They reside in Mooresville, N.C.
CART
John Andretti has one win (Australia, ‘91) and 61 top-10s in 74 career races in CART. He joined the PPG Indy Car World Series (CART) in 1987, winning the Rookie of the Year award. In 1988, Andretti made his debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, racing as high as seventh before mechanical problems forced him to finish 21st.
In 1991 he won the only race of his CART career, winning the Gold Coast Grand Prix in Surfer's Paradise, Australia. That same year he finished a career-best fifth in the Indianapolis 500. A week later at the Milwaukee Mile, Michael, John and Mario became the only known family in motorsports history to finish first, second and third respectively in a major auto race. In 1994, he became the first driver to attempt the "double," racing in the Indy 500 and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, N.C., on the same day. The 1994 Indy 500 would be his last Indy 500 effort until 2007.
IMSA GTP & Rolex Sports Car Series
In 1986 Andretti drove a BMW M12 March along with co-driver Davy Jones in the IMSA Camel GT Series. While the BMWs had limited success in IMSA competition, Andretti and Jones won the Kodak Copier 500 at Watkins Glen on September 21, 1986.
In 1989, Andretti drove the Miller High Life/BFGoodrich Porsche 962 to victory in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona (called the Sunbank 24 at Daytona at the time) along with co-drivers Bob Wollek and Derek Bell. Andretti and Wollek went on to win another race on the 1989 IMSA circuit at the Pontiac Grand Prix of Palm Beach, driving the same Porsche 962. Andretti finished 5th in points (112) after the 1989 IMSA season and first among Porsche drivers.
In 2001 John teamed up with Kyle Petty to win a 6 hour sportscar race at Watkins Glen.
Andretti returned to the 24 Hours of Daytona in the Rolex Sports Car Series in 2008. Team drivers for the Vision Racing #03 Porsche Crawford Prototype included Ed Carpenter, A. J. Foyt IV, and Vitor Meira. The Porsche Crawford Prototype entry in the 24 Hours of Daytona marked the first attempt for this team which resulted in 25th overall finish in the race.
Top Fuel
In 1993, John Andretti drove the Taco Bell Top Fuel Dragster for owner Jack Clark, reaching the semi-finals in his first national event and clocking a career best speed of .
NASCAR
1993-1994
Andretti made his Winston Cup debut in 1993 driving the #72 Tex Racing Chevy for Tex Powell at North Wilkesboro Speedway, starting 31st and finishing 24th. After running three more races in 1993, he began the 1994 season driving the #14 Financial World Chevy for Billy Hagan. On May 29, he became the first driver in history to race in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, finishing tenth at Indy and thirty-sixth in the Coca-Cola 600 after suffering mechanical failures. In the middle of the season he switched to the #43 STP Pontiac for Petty Enterprises finishing a best 11th at Richmond International Raceway. He ended the season 32nd in points and fifth in the Rookie of the Year.
1995-1999
In 1995, he began driving for Michael Kranefuss in #37 K Mart/Little Caesars Ford Thunderbird. He won his first career pole at the Southern 500 and finished in the top-ten five times, and ended the season eighteenth in points. During the 1996 season, he switched to the #98 RCA Ford owned by Cale Yarborough(while Jeremy Mayfield, the previous driver of the #98 car, moved to Kranefuss' team) and responded with a fifth-place finish at the Hanes 500. He finished in the top ten twice more. In 1997, he scored his first career win at the Pepsi 400 and finished 23rd in points. He returned to the #43 Petty car in 1998 and despite not winning another race, he had ten top-tens and finished a career-best 11th in points. He won his second career race in 1999 at Martinsville Speedway, making up a lost lap and taking the lead with four laps to go, as well as winning the pole at Phoenix International Raceway.
2000-2003
Midway through the 2000 season, Cheerios became Andretti's primary sponsor, but he fell to 23rd in points after finishing in the top-ten twice. Over the next two seasons, Anretti posted three top-ten finishes, before he was released midway through the 2003 season. He originally ran a couple of races for Haas CNC Racing and Richard Childress Racing before running a majority of the remainder of the season in the #1 Pennzoil Chevy for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., his best finish was a 12th at New Hampshire International Speedway.
2004-2005
Andretti opened the 2004 season driving the #1 part-time for DEI, but departed midway through the season. He ended the year driving the #14 Victory Brand Ford Taurus for ppc Racing, finishing 22nd at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Andretti started 2005 with ppc before the team was forced to dissolve due to a lack of funding. He drove four races in the Craftsman Truck Series for Billy Ballew Motorsports, finishing eighth at Memphis Motorsports Park. He also attempted a handful of Cup races for Morgan-McClure Motorsports' #4 Lucas Oil entry, finishing 28th at Michigan International Speedway.
2006
In 2006, Andretti returned to ppc to drive their #10 car. Before the season, his only Busch start came in 1998 at Daytona, where he finished 13th in the #96 Chevy fielded by the Curb Agajanian Performance Group. Despite having made over three hundred Cup starts with two victories, Andretti applied for and was accepted as a contender for Rookie of the Year. He finished runner-up to Danny O'Quinn for the award.
2007
In 2007, Andretti's plans were to drive a in the Busch Series for Braun Racing. Andretti drove the #10 FreedomRoads/Camping World/ TNT]]'s race coverage, as well as driving part-time briefly for [[Front Row Motorsports]]. He finished the season in the #49 [[Paralyzed Veterans of America]] Dodge for [[BAM Racing]].
2008
Andretti drove for Front Row Motorsports in 2008 by driving the car number # 34 in the Sprint Cup Series. He raced his way into the 2008 Daytona 500 in the second Gatorade Duel race.
2009
It has been announced that John will once again race in the Daytona 500 in car #34 Chevrolet this time with a partnership with the new EGR team that was formed in the off-season through the merger of the former Ganassi & DEI teams. There's indication that this partnership will last at least for the first five races of this season with the possibility of a full season depending on performance and sponsorship.
IRL IndyCar Series
On May 16, 2007, it was officially announced that Andretti would return to the Indianapolis 500 for the first time since 1994 when he pulled the double (competed in the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in the same day). He drove the third entry from Panther Racing, with Camping World as the sponsor. On May 19, he qualified for the 91st Indianapolis 500 with an average speed for the four lap qualifying run of . He started in 24th on the eighth row, but crashed on lap 95, and finished 30th.
It was announced on May 10, 2008 that John Andretti would replace Jay Howard in the Roth Racing #24 Dallara-Honda. John qualified for his 9th Indy 500 on Saturday, May 17, 2008 with a 4-lap average of that put him 21st on the grid and finished on the lead lap in 16th place. On May 30 it was announced that Andretti would continue in the #24 car in the Milwaukee Mile and Texas Motor Speedway races. On June 6 Andretti was offered a deal that would keep him in the car the rest of the season which he ultimately did not accept.
Andretti’s run with Roth Racing produced some notable results for the team. He managed to qualify 7th at the Texas Motor Speedway race. Although a great start, he would ultimately wind up finishing 16th. He began his trip to Iowa Speedway with a rough 23rd position start, but steadily worked his way through the field to capture an 11th place finish. His 11th place finish was the best for a Roth Racing machine. His last start for the team was at Richmond International Raceway the next week where he was knocked out by a crash. Roth Racing contracted to a single car for the rest of the season and ceased operations at the end of the season. Andretti finished 30th in the 2008 IndyCar points standings.
Off the Track
Andretti is active in the Central Indiana community. Each year during the Brickyard 400 week, John teams up with 93.1 WIBC, and Dave "The King" Wilson, and General Mills to hold the Race for Riley, benefiting James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children. It takes place at the Mark Dismore Karting Center in New Castle, Indiana. Graduated from Moravian College with degree in business management and believes he would’ve been an investment banker or stock broker if he hadn’t started racing. Enjoys Joe Pesci and Nicholas Cage movies. Favorite movie is raucous comedy “Animal House.” Favorite band is hard-rock group AC/DC. In December 2004, spent seven days in the Middle East visiting service personnel in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps.
As of 2007, John can be heard as the part-time co-host of The Driver's Seat with John Kernan on Sirius Satellite Radio's NASCAR channel 128.
Career History
American Open-Wheel
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
CART Champ CAR
IRL IndyCar
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Rank | Points |
|---|
| 2007 | Panther | HMS
| STP
| MOT
| KAN
|
INDY
Ret | MIL
| TXS
| IOW
| RIR
| WGL
| NSH
| MDO
| MIS
| KTY
| SNM
| DET
| CHI
| | 35th | 10 |
|---|
| 2008 | Roth | HMS
| STP
| MOT
| LBH
| KAN
|
INDY
16 |
MIL
19 |
TXS
16 |
IOW
11 |
RIR
Ret | WGL
| NSH
| MDO
| KTY
| SNM
| DET
| CHI
| SRF
| 30th | 71 |
|---|
- * 2008 season in progress
| Years | Teams | Races | Poles | Wins | Podiums
(Non-win) | Top 10s
(Non-podium) | Indianapolis 500
Wins | Championships |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Indy 500 results
External links
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