john andretti Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s, it was a common sight to see the Wood Brothers and Petty Enterprises battling it out for the win, but in the following decades, both teams found themselves in a slump. All of that changed when the NASCAR Cup Series rolled into Bristol in March 2001 with Elliott Sadler and John Andretti driving the famous No. 21 and No. 43 cars for the Wood Brothers and Petty Enterprises, respectively. As the Food City 500 played out, several drivers took their turnsRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer John Andretti, 56, passed away after his long and courageous battle with colon cancer Thursday. The nephew of Mario Andretti has raced in multiple disciplines such as open wheels, dirt sprint cars, stock cars, sports cars and even drag racing throughout his four-decade long career. Accolades include an overall win in the 1989 24 Hours at Daytona, a single Indy car victory at Surfers Paradise in 1991, and winning two NASCAR Cup Series races while driving for the sport’s greatest legends — Cale Yarborough in 1997Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California – One for the sprint car world and one for John Andretti. Sprint car driver Jarett Andretti (John’s son) will compete in a fourth Andretti Autosport Indy Lights entry for next month’s Freedom 100 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. To acclimate himself into an Indy Lights car, notably the cockpit, Jarett will be testing at Kentucky Speedway next week before testing at Indy, and with his participation 2.5-mile circuit, he’ll become the seventh Andretti to race in the month of May. “That will beRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor We all know how dominant Petty Enterprises was in its heyday, as the organization captured 250+ wins over the course of its lifespan with Richard Petty, Lee Petty, and a handful of others behind the wheel, but after Petty’s final win in 1984, trips to Victory Lane would become a much rarer sight. Only three other times after that would a Petty Enterprises No. 43 car take the checkered flag and in April 1999, John Andretti would be the last driver to deliver a win forRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer It was recently reported by Indianapolis newsman, Dave Calabro of NBC Affiliate WTHR, that former NASCAR and IndyCar driver, John Andretti, is fighting a battle with stage 4 colon cancer. Andretti, 54, is the nephew of racing legend, Mario Andretti and cousin of IndyCar team owner Michael Andretti. His father, Aldo (twin brother to Mario) also had a racing career that was sidelined early on after an accident. One of the last true Renaissance men of racing, John Andretti enjoyed a unique career that sawRead More

By Frank Santoroski, Staff Writer After last year’s historic 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500, with a sell-out crowd and a large amount of media attention, I wondered if the momentum would continue into the next century of racing. Indeed, the 101st Running, slated for May 28, 2017, has a tough act to follow. What could possibly happen to top this? Enter Fernando Alonso. The stunning early-morning announcement on Wednesday that the two-time World Drivers Champion would run in the 500 caught the racing community by surprise. Many of usRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor As the Sprint Cup Series packs up and heads to the Lone Star State for the second time this season for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500, the championship fight is in full swing in all three of NASCAR’s national series. While the focus this weekend is on the here and now of how the championship battles will play out, we’ll take a step back in time to look back at a race from Texas Motor Speedway’s past. In this week’s edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater”, weRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Writer As the NASCAR community descends upon Charlotte for the traditional Charlotte race weeks, which include the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600 that take place over the next two weekends at Charlotte Motor Speedway, all of the focus turns to the rough and tumble non-points event set for this Saturday night. With that in mind, this week’s edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater” takes a look back at one of the more memorable All-Star races in history, the 2000 running of “The Winston.” PriorRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Contributing Writer 1991 was a pivotal year for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The 75th running of the Indianapolis 500 would be run on May 26 and the IndyCar season got off to an interesting start as it led up to the month of May. Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Sr. was without a ride as the Alfa-Romeo program signed Danny Sullivan as its main driver, relegating Roberto Guerrero to the sidelines until Alfa-Romeo picked Guerrero up for the race. Unser Sr. was unable to find a rideRead More