John Andretti racing Kansas with eye on Indy
One legend wasn't enough. John Andretti is going to race for two this time.
A year after racing for Richard Petty at the Indianapolis 500, the drive-anything Andretti will be under the guidance of the stock car great as well as his cousin, Michael Andretti, in a race that's defined his family since patriarch Mario won it in 1969.
``It's nice to able to put it altogether,'' John Andretti said Thursday. ``Last year, we did it, but Michael brings a different piece to it because he's family and he's got a great record as a team owner.''
First, a stop in Kansas.
A year ago, Andretti ran at Indy then added four more open-wheel races to close out the season.
He's taking a different approach this year, running at Kansas Speedway before rolling on to the bricks.
Nothing about the 1 1/2-mile track is remotely close to Indy, other than both are ovals. But it's a race, a chance to get a feel for the car and the tight pit-road spaces, to mesh with the crew and engineers, to boost the comfort level instead of going in cold and figuring it out from there.
``It helps because you get to do the restarts, you feel the traffic, what it does to the car,'' said Andretti, who'll be one of the most experienced drivers in his 11th Indy start. ``After the race, whether it's a good race, a bad race, you can analyze it and know what you need to do going into Indianapolis. It'd be good if there were five races leading into Indianapolis, but one is better than none.''
The Andrettis, of course, are familiar with the bricks at Indy.
Most of their memories aren't good.
The highlight came with 1969 win by Mario. Since then it's been a family oh-fer, the hopes of Mario, his sons Michael and Jeff, nephew John and grandson Marco crushed by a serious of mishaps, misfortune and missed luck in a cursed, Susan Lucci-esque run.
Mario was hit by so many breakdowns, crashes and black-cat moments that the public address announcer saying ``Mario is slowing down'' became as much a part of Indy tradition as ``Gentlemen, start your engines.''
In 1981, he finished second, was awarded the title after Bobby Unser was penalized a lap, lost it four months later on appeal. Mario didn't even make it to the green flag the next year, taken out by Kevin Cogan on the way to the start.
Michael had leads lost to mechanical failures and inopportune cautions before winning two titles as an owner.
Jeff had his legs shattered in a 1992 accident after the back end of his car nearly fell off.
Marco lost the second-closest finish ever at Indy, to Sam Hornish Jr., in the final 100 yards in 2006 and skidded upside down in a frightening crash the next year.
John Andretti's misfortunes haven't been nearly as dramatic, though he did lose a chance at victory in 1992 after a pit stop mishap.
``Indianapolis is such a special place for our family, even though we only have as a driver, Mario, one win and Michael as an owner, two,'' he said. ``It's a place that hasn't been kind to us, but I guess we're ready to go back for more.''
John goes back this time with teammates.
Most years, he's been a one-man act, relying on singular data, his own feel for the track and his equipment.
This year, Andretti will drive a fifth car for Andretti Autosport, joining his cousin, Marco, Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Even before any cars had hit the track at Kansas, Andretti had an idea of how to set up his car, culling information from last year's race from the four other drivers and teams.
``You can lay against them, ask what are you thinking, what are you doing,'' said Andretti, who finished 38th at this year's Daytona 500 after an accident. ``That's four more inputs that we can get and figure out a direction.''
It doesn't hurt that Andretti's got those two legends behind him, either.
