Jeff Andretti (born April 14, 1964) is a former American race car driver. He competed in CART, and was the series' Rookie of the Year in 1991.

Personal life

Jeff is the youngest son of Dee Ann (Hoch) and legendary Italian-born 1969 Indy 500 Champion and 1978 Formula 1 World Champion

Mario Andretti Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, t ...

, younger brother of

Michael Andretti Michael Mario Andretti (born October 5, 1962) is an American semi-retired auto racing driver and current team owner. Statistically one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, Andretti won the 1991 CART PP ...

, and uncle of

Marco Andretti Marco Michael Andretti (born March 13, 1987) is an American auto racing driver who drives the No. 98 car for Andretti Herta Autosport part-time in the IndyCar Series. He is the third generation of the famous Andretti racing family. He is the 20 ...

. Jeff is the nephew of Mario's twin Aldo Andretti and cousin of Aldo's sons

John Andretti John Andrew Andretti (March 12, 1963January 30, 2020) was an American race car driver. He won individual races in CART, IMSA GTP, Rolex Sports Car Series, and NASCAR during his career. He was the son of Aldo Andretti, older brother of racer Adam ...

and

Adam Andretti Adam Andretti (born March 24, 1979) is an American racing driver. He has raced in sports cars, Indy Pro Series, NASCAR, and Stadium Super Trucks. He has been competing in the Trans-Am Series since 2014. Family background He is the younger brother ...

. The Andretti family became the first family to have four relatives (Michael, Mario, Jeff, and John) compete in the same series ( CART).

Racing career

In 1983, Jeff was racing in

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...

s, winning both the USCA Pro Ford Championship and the

Skip Barber John "Skip" Barber III (born November 16, 1936) is an American retired racecar driver who is most famous for previously owning and founding the Skip Barber Racing Schools. Driving career Barber started racing in 1958 while studying at Harvard ...

Formula Ford Eastern Series. After qualifying for his Sports Car Club of America national license in 1984, he won the Northeast Division title in Formula Ford. In the November, he made his

Formula Super Vee Formula Super Vee was an open-wheel racing series that took place in Europe and the United States from 1970 to 1990. The formula was created as an extension of Formula Vee, a racing class that was introduced in 1959. Formula Super Vee in Europe wa ...

debut at Caesars Palace,

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. He continued in Formula Super Vee the following season, with the Ralt America outfit, winning the third race of the season, on the

Milwaukee Mile The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 spectato ...

. In the CART race at the same event, Mario did the same, marking the first time a father and son had started from pole and won races on the same track, in the same weekend. Jeff would also win in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

and

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, on his way the fifth in the Robert Bosch/Valvoline Championship. 1986 saw Andretti move into the new American Racing Series with Ralph Sanchez Racing. Like his Milwaukee win the previous year, his only race win was a "family affair". He earned his first ARS victory at Pocono, as his father wins the CART race at the same meeting, after his brother, Michael had started from pole, giving the Andretti family a "clean sweep." Jeff would go on and finish second the overall ARS standing. For 1987, Jeff switched to Arciero Racing for another attempt at ARS, winning the opening race of the season, in Phoenix. He would revisit the top step of the podium in the series finale, in the race around

Tamiami Park Tamiami Park is a public urban park in metropolitan Miami, just south of the Modesto Maidique campus of Florida International University. Background The park was built in the late 1960s on the site of the former ''Tamiami Airport'', which was re ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, snatching second place in the championship away from Tommy Byrne in the process. After in quiet 1988, Andretti took a new challenge for 1989, competing in the

Toyota Atlantic The Atlantic Championship is a formula race car series with races throughout North America. It has been called Champ Car Atlantics (after its former name), Toyota Atlantics (due to the series' previous history of using Toyota-powered engines) ...

, while developing a new chassis. Although the season was winless, he did earn Rookie of the Year honours, on his to sixth in the Atlantic Division. He moved into the CART ranks in 1990, joining his father and brother, making racing history, making it the first time a father has competed against his two sons in a CART race. After failing to qualifier for the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

, he make his race debut with TEAMKAR International in their Lola-Cosworth T89/00 in the

Miller Genuine Draft 200 The ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 at Milwaukee IndyFest Presented by the Metro Milwaukee Honda Dealers was an IndyCar Series race held at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin. History Open wheel racing at the track dates back to 1937. AAA sa ...

on the Milwaukee Mile, only to suffer mechanical problems and not finish. He sat out the rest of the season, returning in 1991, doing a full season with Bayside Disposal Racing, driving their Texaco Havoline Star sponsored Lola-Cosworth T91/00. With four top ten finishes throughout the season, three of which were the first three races, the best being a 7th place in the Gold Coast IndyCar Grand Prix; the race incidentally won by his cousin, John, earning the CART Rookie of the Year title. In May 1991, Jeff would qualify 11th for the

, coupled with an outstanding performance before mechanical problems earned him the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year title. He followed his Mario and Michael in making it the first time ever, that three members of the same family have achieved this. Earlier that year, Jeff joined Mario and Michael to race for Jochen Dauer Racing in the SunBank 24 at Daytona. Although their

Porsche 962C The Porsche 962 (also known as the 962C in its Group C form) is a sports-prototype racing car built by Porsche as a replacement for the 956 and designed mainly to comply with IMSA's GTP regulations, although it would later compete in the Euro ...

was classified in fifth place, they failed to finish due to overheating. Without for full-time drive for 1992, Andretti returned to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with

A. J. Foyt Enterprises A. J. Foyt Racing, officially and historically known as A. J. Foyt Enterprises, is an American racing team in the IndyCar Series and formerly NASCAR. It is owned by four-time Indianapolis 500 winner, 1972 Daytona 500 winner, 1967 24 Hours of Le ...

. Unfortunately, he became yet another victim of the infamous Andretti Curse at the famed race track when on lap 109, a right rear wheel came loose off his car at Turn 2 and he crashed violently head-on into the wall, smashing both his legs. He spent three weeks at the Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, before the long road to recovery, determined to race again in 1993. It was February 1993, when Andretti set the (then) unofficial closed-course speed record for IndyCars of 234.50 mph, the fastest speed ever recorded at

Texas World Speedway Texas World Speedway (TWS) was a motorsport venue located in College Station, Texas.The track was one of only eight superspeedways of or greater in the United States used for racing, the others being Indianapolis, Daytona, Pocono, Talladega ...

, while testing for the

. This marked his first time back in an IndyCar since the accident the previous year. Andretti's fast run came at the conclusion of two days of testing where he consistently posted laps in the 230 mph range. Andretti's Buick-powered

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lola ...

was prepared by Pagan Racing. It was at the Indy, that Jeff made his complete his comeback, only to record a third straight DNF. The accident severely hampered Andretti's career, at least in terms of his competitiveness, since he was never the same afterwards. In 1994, Jeff did a one-off race with Euromotorsports, finishing 17th in the

Slick 50 200 The Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix was an IndyCar Series race held at the Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, United States. USAC moved the fall race and added a spring race to the newly built Phoenix International Raceway in 196 ...

, held at the Phoenix International Raceway, albeit 21 laps adrift. Come May, Jeff had switched to

Hemelgarn Racing Hemelgarn Racing is an American auto racing team owned by Ron Hemelgarn. The team debuted in 1985, and competed in the CART and Indy Racing League ranks until the team originally shut down in 2010. The team returned to competition in 2015, and cur ...

, but his bid for a fourth consecutive start failed due to a blown Buick engine. He later managed, however, to come back and race full-time in the

Indy Lights Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a progra ...

with Canaska Racing in 1995, but recorded just one top-ten finish. For 1996, he stepped away from open-wheel racing and joined the tin-top brigade, racing to seventh place overall in the

North American Touring Car Championship The North American Touring Car Championship was a touring car racing series using the Supertouring formula that raced in North America in 1996 and 1997. The series was funded in part by IndyCar team owner Gerald Forsythe with input from British se ...

in a Leitzinger Racing prepared

Ford Mondeo The Ford Mondeo is a large family car manufactured by Ford since 1993. The first Ford model declared as a " world car", the Mondeo was intended to consolidate several Ford model lines worldwide (the European Sierra, the Telstar in Asia and Aus ...

. After a gap of three year, he moved to the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...

, driving the No. 94 Chevrolet for Enerjetix Motorsports, he raced in three events in 1999, posting a best finish of 30th at the

. Andretti is now retired from competitive racing, and works as a driving instructor.Auto-racing.speedtv.com

Racing record

Career highlights

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

Complete 24 Hours of Daytona results

Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results

American Open Wheel racing results

( key)

American Racing Series / Indy Lights

CART

Indianapolis 500

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Craftsman Truck Series

North American Touring Car Championship

( key)

References

External links

*
Jeff Andretti
at Champ Car Stats
Official Andretti family website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andretti, Jeff Living people 1964 births Sportspeople from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Racing drivers from Pennsylvania Indianapolis 500 drivers Indianapolis 500 Rookies of the Year Champ Car drivers Indy Lights drivers Atlantic Championship drivers SCCA Formula Super Vee drivers NASCAR drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers 12 Hours of Sebring drivers IMSA GT Championship drivers American people of Italian descent

Jeff Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes * ...

SCCA National Championship Runoffs participants Nazareth Area High School alumni A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers EuroInternational drivers