John Andrew Andretti (March 12, 1963January 30, 2020) was an American race car driver. He won individual races in

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed tr ...

IMSA GTP IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States, and occasionally in Canada. History The series was founded in 1969 by John and Peggy Bishop, and Bill F ...

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

, and

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 hi ...

during his career. He was the son of

Aldo Andretti Aldo Andretti (February 28, 1940 – December 30, 2020) was an Italian-born American racing driver and entrepreneur, the twin brother of Mario Andretti and the father of Carolyn Andretti Molander, Mark Andretti, John Andretti, Mary Jo Andretti D ...

, older brother of racer

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 ...

, nephew of

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 ...

, and first cousin to

IndyCar INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...

champion

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

and

Jeff Andretti 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 C ...

Early life

John Andretti was born on March 12, 1963, in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19, ...

, to "Corky" and Aldo Andretti. As a member of the famous Andretti racing family he was predestined for a racing career. Starting with karts at a young age, he graduated in time to junior stock cars and USAC midgets. Andretti graduated from

Moravian College Moravian University is a private university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The institution traces its founding to 1742 by Moravians, descendants of followers of the Bohemian Reformation under John Amos Comenius. Founded in 1742, Moravian University ...

with a degree in business management and later reflected he would have been an investment banker or stock broker if he had not started racing. He started racing actual sports cars in 1984. Andretti joined the BMW North America team for a full

season in 1986. He won that year at Watkins Glen, paired with Davy Jones.

CART

Andretti joined the PPG Indy Car World Series (CART) in 1987. In his debut at the

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United State ...

in 1988, he reached as high as seventh place before mechanical problems forced him to finish 21st. In 1991 he won the only race of his CART career, the

Gold Coast Indy 300 The Gold Coast Indy 300 was an annual open-wheel motor race event that took place at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia from 1991 to 2008. The challenging track, alongside a strip of beaches, had severa ...

in Surfer's Paradise, Australia. He finished a career-best fifth in the

1991 Indianapolis 500 The 75th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday, May 26, 1991. Rick Mears won from the pole position, becoming the third four-time winner of the Indy 500, joining A. J. Foyt and Al Unser. Durin ...

. The 1994 Indy 500 was his last appearance in that race until 2007.

IMSA GTP and Rolex Sports Car Series

In 1986 Andretti drove a BMW M12 March, along with co-driver Davy Jones, in the

1986 IMSA GT Championship season The 1986 Camel GT Championship season was the 16th season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was for GTP and Lights classes of prototypes, as well as Grand Tourer-style racing cars which ran in the GTO and GTU classes. It began F ...

. While the BMWs had limited success in IMSA competition, Andretti and Jones won the Kodak Copier 500 at

Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track located in the town of Dix just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. It was long known around the world as the hom ...

on September 21, 1986. In 1989, Andretti drove the Miller High Life/BF Goodrich 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 Bob Wollek (4 November 1943 – 16 March 2001), nicknamed "Brilliant Bob", was a race car driver from Strasbourg, France. He was killed on 16 March 2001 at age 57 in a road accident in Florida while riding a bicycle back to his accommodation afte ...

and Derek Bell. Later in the IMSA season, Andretti and Wollek won the Pontiac Grand Prix of Palm Beach, driving the same Porsche 962. Andretti finished fifth in points (112) in the 1989 IMSA season, first among Porsche drivers. In 2001 Andretti teamed up with Kyle Petty to win the GT Class in the 6-hour sports car race at Watkins Glen. Andretti returned to the 24 Hours of Daytona in the

in 2008. Team drivers for the Vision Racing No. 03 Porsche Crawford Prototype included Ed Carpenter,

A. J. Foyt IV Anthony Joseph Foyt IV (born May 25, 1984) is an American football scout and former racing driver. He is a scouting assistant for the Indianapolis Colts, and drove in the IndyCar Series and briefly the NASCAR Busch Series. He is the third gener ...

, and

Vítor Meira Vítor Meira (born March 27, 1977) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He formerly competed in the IndyCar Series and has twice finished second in the Indianapolis 500. IndyCar Series 2002 After participating in an open test for Panther Racing ...

. The team finished 25th in the race, their first Porsche Crawford Prototype entry in the 24 Hours of Daytona.

NHRA Winston Drag Racing

In 1993, Andretti drove the Taco Bell Express

Top Fuel Top Fuel is a type of drag racing whose dragsters are the quickest accelerating racing cars in the world and the fastest sanctioned category of drag racing, with the fastest competitors reaching speeds of and finishing the runs in 3.62 seconds ...

Dragster for owner Jack Clark. He reached the semi-finals in his first national event at Atlanta during the FRAM Southern Nationals, clocking a career-best speed of . In that race he beat 1992 T/F Champion Joe Amato in Round 1 and Mopar Express Lube driver Tommy Johnson Jr. in Round 2, but lost to Mike Dunn in Darrell Gwynn's La Victoria Salsa Car in the semi-finals. That race was won by Eddie Hill.

NASCAR

1993–1999

Andretti made his Winston Cup debut in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

. He drove the No. 72 Tex Racing

Chevy Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and oust ...

for

Tex Powell Tex may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tex (nickname), a list of people and fictional characters with the nickname * Joe Tex (1933–1982), stage name of American soul singer Joseph Arrington Jr. Entertainment * ''Tex'', the Italian ...

North Wilkesboro Speedway North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short oval racetrack located on U.S. Route 421, about east of the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, or 80 miles north of Charlotte. It measures and features a unique uphill backstretch and downhill fr ...

, where he started 31st and finished twenty-fourth. After running three more races in 1993, he began the

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

season driving the No. 14

Financial World ''Financial World'' was an American magazine for investors from 1902 to 1998. It was originally issued weekly, and later every two weeks. In the magazine's later years of publication, its signature issue was the "Sports Franchise Valuation Issue". ...

-sponsored 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 The Coca-Cola 600, originally the World 600, is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend. The first race, held in 1960, was also the first on ...

on the same day. He finished 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 No. 43

STP STP may refer to: Places * São Tomé and Príncipe (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code, IOC country code, and FIFA country code STP) * London St Pancras (Domestic) railway station (National Rail code STP) * St. Paul Downtown Airport (IATA airport code S ...

-sponsored

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada * Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality **Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

for

Petty Enterprises Petty Enterprises (formerly Lee Petty Engineering) was a NASCAR racing team based in Level Cross, North Carolina, USA. It was founded by Lee Petty with his two sons Richard Petty and Maurice Petty. The team was later owned by Richard Petty, hi ...

. His best finish was eleventh place, at

Richmond International Raceway Richmond Raceway (RR) is a , ''D''-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in unincorporated Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Known as ...

. He ended the season thirty-second in points and fifth in the Rookie of the Year battle. In

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, he began driving for

Michael Kranefuss Michael "Mike" Kranefuss (born July 3, 1938) is a German-born American former head of Ford Motor Company's International Motorsports division for 12 years. After leaving Ford, he became a NASCAR team owner. Ford Motor Company Kranefuss le ...

in the No. 37

Kmart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inc ...

Little Caesars Little Caesar Enterprises Inc. (doing business as Little Caesars) is an American multi-national pizza chain. Based on 2020 statistics, Little Caesars is the third-largest pizza chain by total sales in the United States, behind Pizza Hut and Do ...

-sponsored

Ford Thunderbird The Ford Thunderbird (colloquially called the T-Bird) is a personal luxury car produced by Ford from model years 1955 until 1997 and 2002 until 2005 across 11 distinct generations. Introduced as a two-seat convertible, the Thunderbird was pro ...

. He won his first career pole at the

Southern 500 The Southern 500, officially known as the Cook Out Southern 500 for sponsorship reasons, is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, United States. The race distance is and consists of 367 laps. Fro ...

and finished in the top ten five times. He ended the season eighteenth in points. During the

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

season, he switched to the No. 98

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

-sponsored Ford owned by

Cale Yarborough William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough (born March 27, 1939) is an American former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner, businessman, and farmer. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships, winning in 1 ...

(while

Jeremy Mayfield Jeremy Allen Mayfield (born May 27, 1969) is an American stock car racing driver. He drove cars for the Sadler brothers, T.W. Taylor, Cale Yarborough, Michael Kranefuss, Roger Penske, Ray Evernham, Bill Davis, and Gene Haas. In 2009, he drove f ...

, the previous driver of the No. 98 car, moved to Kranefuss' team). He placed fifth at the Hanes 500 and had two more top-ten finishes. In

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, he scored his first career win at the

Pepsi 400 The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Daytona International Speedway. First held in 1959, the event consists of 160 laps, , and is the second of two major stock car events held at Daytona on the Cup Series ci ...

and finished twenty-third in points. He returned to the No. 43 Petty car in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

. Although he didn't win any races that season, he did have ten Top 10 finishes and placed a career-best eleventh in points. He won his second career race in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

Martinsville Speedway Martinsville Speedway is a NASCAR-owned stock car racing short track in Ridgeway, Virginia, just south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in s ...

, where he made up a lost lap and took the lead with four laps to go. He also won the pole at

Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona, near Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually including the final championship race since 2020. P ...

2000–2005

Midway through the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

season,

Cheerios Cheerios is a brand of cereal manufactured by General Mills in the United States, consisting of pulverized oats in the shape of a solid torus. In some countries, including the United Kingdom, Cheerios is marketed by Cereal Partners under the Ne ...

became Andretti's primary sponsor. This was the precursor to Petty Enterprises' switch to Dodge as their manufacturer, and with the team pulling double duty trying to keep the Pontiacs they were currently racing and prepare the Dodges that were coming in, things began to fall apart for the organization. He fell to twenty-third in points after finishing in the top ten twice. Over the next two seasons, Andretti posted three top ten finishes including a notable second at Bristol where he finished second to

Elliott Sadler Elliott William Barnes Sadler (born April 30, 1975) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. Sadler is one of 36 dr ...

(this was the last 1-2 finish for

and

Wood Brothers Racing Wood Brothers Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was formed in 1950 by eponymous brothers Glen and Leonard Wood. From 2006 to 2008, the team was merged with Tad a ...

), before he was released midway through the

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

season. He ran a couple of races for

Haas CNC Racing Stewart-Haas Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series. The team is co-owned by three-time NASCAR Cup Series champio ...

and

Richard Childress Racing Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by Richard ...

before finishing the season in the No. 1

Pennzoil Pennzoil is an American motor oil brand currently owned by Shell plc. The former Pennzoil Company had been established in 1913 in Pennsylvania, being active in business as an independent firm until it was acquired by Shell in 2002, becoming a bra ...

-sponsored Chevy for

Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) was a race team founded by Dale Earnhardt and his wife, Teresa Earnhardt, to compete in the NASCAR series, the highest level of competition for professional stock car racing in the United States. From 1998 to 2009, t ...

His best finish that year was eighth at

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Andretti started the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

season driving the No. 1 part-time for DEI, but departed midway through the season. He ended the year driving the No. 14 Victory Brand-sponsored

Ford Taurus The Ford Taurus is an automobile that was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States from the 1986 to 2019 model years. Introduced in late 1985 for the 1986 model year, six generations were produced over 34 years; a brief hiat ...

for

ppc Racing ppc Racing is a former NASCAR team based in Mooresville, North Carolina. The team was owned by Greg Pollex. ppc Racing came about from a merger of Pollex's Busch Series team with a car owned by Steve DeSouza and Ted Campbell in 1999. The team ...

and finished twenty-second at

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...

. Andretti started

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

still driving with ppc, but the team was forced to dissolve due to a lack of funding. He drove four races in the

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 ...

for

Billy Ballew Motorsports Billy Ballew Motorsports was a team that competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. They were formed in 1996 by Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia businessman Billy Ballew. Fasscore Motorsports In 2003, Ballew began running a second truck u ...

, and finished eighth at

Memphis Motorsports Park Memphis International Raceway (formerly known as Memphis Motorsports Park) was an auto racing park located near the Loosahatchie River in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, just approximately ten miles south of Millington, and a few miles ...

. He also attempted a handful of Cup races for Morgan-McClure Motorsports' No. 4

Lucas Oil Lucas Oil Products, Inc. is an American manufacturer and distributor of motor oil, automotive oil, Oil additive, additives, and Lubricant#Application by fluid types, lubricants. It was founded by trucker Forrest Lucas and his wife Charlotte in ...

-sponsored Chevrolet, finishing twenty-eighth at

Michigan International Speedway Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than approximately south of the village of Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is ...

, one lap down.

2006–2010

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, Andretti returned to ppc to drive their No. 10

Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

car. Before the season, his only Busch start came in 1998 at Daytona, where he finished thirteenth in the No. 96 Chevy fielded by the

Curb Agajanian Performance Group The Curb Agajanian Performance Group is an American motorsports team, currently competing as a co-entrant in IndyCar and IMSA. It is owned by record executive Mike Curb and racing personality Cary Agajanian; son of the late J. C. Agajanian, a r ...

. 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 Daniel O'Quinn Jr. (born May 7, 1985) is an American professional stock car racer from Coeburn, Virginia. Now retired, he competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and was a winner of the '' Roush Racing: Driver X'' competition. Background O'Q ...

for the award. In

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, Andretti drove the No. 10 FreedomRoads/

Camping World Camping World Holdings, Inc. is an American corporation specializing in selling recreational vehicles (RVs), recreational vehicle parts, and recreational vehicle service. They also sell supplies for camping. The company has its headquarters in L ...

/RVs.com-sponsored Car for

Braun Racing Braun Motorsports, formerly known as Braun Racing, was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team is based in Mooresville, North Carolina. Best known as one of the top in ...

at Daytona through their affiliation with ppc Racing. When funding for the team became questionable, Andretti left Braun Racing. The team used various drivers in 2007 in an attempt to maintain a two-car team. Andretti drove four races for Petty Enterprises in the No. 45 car, where he filled in for

Kyle Petty Kyle Eugene Petty (born June 2, 1960) is an American former stock car racing driver, and current racing commentator. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of racer Adam Petty, who was killed in a crash dur ...

, who was working as a broadcaster for

Turner Network Television TNT (originally an abbreviation for Turner Network Television) is an American basic cable television channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is dist ...

's race coverage. He also briefly drove part-time for

Front Row Motorsports Front Row Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team began running part-time in 2004 as Means-Jenkins Motorsports under a partners ...

. He finished the season in the No. 49

Paralyzed Veterans of America The Paralyzed Veterans of America is a veterans' service organization in the United States of America, founded in 1946. The organization holds 33 chapters and 70 National Service Offices in the United States and Puerto Rico. It is based in Washin ...

-sponsored Dodge for

BAM Racing BAM Racing was a NASCAR racing team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, owned by Beth Ann and Tony Morgenthau. The team began racing in the ARCA RE/MAX Series in 2000 before moving to NASCAR in 2001. They sat out 2009 due to the recession, and h ...

. Andretti drove for

in 2008, driving the No. 34 Chevrolet Impala SS in the

Sprint Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...

. He raced his way into the

2008 Daytona 500 The 2008 Daytona 500, the 50th annual running of the event, was held on February 17, 2008 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The race was the 50th to be run since the first in 1959, won by Lee Petty. To commemorate the ev ...

in the second Gatorade Duel race. He drove in the first ten races of the season in the 34 before leaving to focus on his IndyCar team. Andretti returned full-time to the 34 in 2009 in a partnership between Front Row and

Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, FIA World Endurance Championshi ...

. The No. 34 had sponsorships from

Window World A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent materia ...

, myAutoloan.com, and

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...

. He did not have a full-time ride for 2010, but drove the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports entry to a 38th-place finish after an accident on lap 117 in the Daytona 500, his final race in NASCAR.

IRL IndyCar Series

In 2007, Andretti returned to the Indianapolis 500 for the first time since 1994 when he pulled the double (competed in the Indy 500 and the

in the same day). He drove the third entry from

Panther Racing Panther Racing was an American open wheel auto racing team. It was one of the oldest continually operating teams in the IndyCar Series. Four years in a row (2008–2011), the team finished second at the Indianapolis 500. Formation The team was f ...

, 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. In 2008 Andretti replaced

Jay Howard Jay Howard (born 16 February 1981) is a British professional race car driver who competes in the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500 and resides in Indianapolis, Indiana. Howard was the 2005 US Formula Ford Zetec champion (now known as the Coop ...

in the

Roth Racing Roth Racing was a race team owned by Canadian real estate magnate and racecar driver Marty Roth. It competed in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. 2004-2005 The team was founded in 2004 when Marty Roth purchased the Indy Pro Series equipme ...

No. 24 Dallara-Honda. Andretti qualified for his 9th Indy 500 on May 17 with a four-lap average of . This placed him 21st on the grid; he finished on the lead lap in 16th place. Andretti continued in the No. 24 car in 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 spectator ...

and

Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The reconfigured track measures with banked 20° in turns 1 and 2 and banked 24° ...

races, and on June 6 he was offered a deal that would keep him in the car the rest of the season. He did not accept. Andretti's run with Roth Racing produced some notable results for the team. He qualified 7th at the

race. Although he had a great start, he finished 16th. He began the race at

Iowa Speedway Iowa Speedway is a 7/8-mile (1.4 km) paved oval motor racing track in Newton, Iowa, United States, approximately east of Des Moines. It has over 25,000 permanent seats as well as a unique multi-tiered RV viewing area along the backstretch ...

with a rough 23rd position start, but steadily worked his way through the field to capture an 11th-place finish, the best for a Roth Racing machine. His final start for the team was at

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 then ceased operations. Andretti finished 30th in the 2008 IndyCar points standings. In April 2009 Andretti and Richard Petty announced a joint venture with

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dreyer & Reinbold Racing is an automotive racing organization that competes in the IndyCar Series and Nitro Rallycross. The team is owned by Indianapolis BMW, Infiniti, Volkswagen, Mini, and Subaru dealer Dennis Reinbold. Off the track, Dreyer & ...

, whereby Andretti would return to Indianapolis to drive the No. 43 car in the 93rd Indianapolis 500. As in his previous two trips to Indianapolis, Andretti did not race the Indy/Charlotte double, and also missed the

and the Coca-Cola 600 to prepare for the race. Andretti qualified for the race on bump day in 28th, and finished in 19th place, the final car on the lead lap. Andretti returned to drive the No. 34 at Front Row Motorsports immediately after the Indianapolis 500, and returned for the

Dover 400 The Dover 400 (last held as the Drydene 311) was a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held annually at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware from 1971 to 2020 It was the second of two Cup Series races at the 1-mile concrete oval during ...

in June. On March 31, 2010, Andretti announced that he would join forces with Richard Petty and Window World for two events. The No. 43 returned as the entry, which was backed by

Andretti Autosport Andretti Autosport is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, Indy Lights, Indy Pro 2000, and Formula E. The team also has a 37.5% ownership stake in the Australian Supercars Championship touring car team, Walkinshaw Andretti ...

, owned by John's cousin Michael. The team's first race was the

RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300 The RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas was an IndyCar Series race held at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. The IRL Indycar Series debuted the race in 2001. The first Indy/Championship races in the Kansas City area city took place in 1922 ...

at Kansas Speedway on May 1. Andretti qualified 15th but finished 9th, one lap down. The team also competed in the 94th Indianapolis 500 on May 30. After failing to qualify on pole day, Andretti made the race on bump day qualifying 28th for the second consecutive year. Andretti crashed out of the race on lap 65, and was credited with a 30th-place finish. Andretti ran in the centennial Indianapolis 500, partnered with Window World, Petty, and Andretti Autosport. He finished 22nd.

Personal life, illness and death

Andretti was active in the Central Indiana community. Each year during the Brickyard 400 week, he worked up with 93.1 WIBC, and Dave "The King" Wilson, and

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company orig ...

to hold the Race for Riley, benefiting

James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children The Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health is a nationally ranked freestanding 354-bed, pediatric acute care children's hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It is affiliated with the Indiana University School of Med ...

. From 2007, Andretti was a co-host of ''The Driver's Seat'' with John Kernan on

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Holdings. Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Sirius ...

's NASCAR channel 90. Andretti's son, Jarett, was a USAC

sprint car Sprint cars are high-powered open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New ...

driver and later a driver in the

GT4 America Series The GT4 America Series is a sports car racing series based in the United States. In 2019, the series was relaunched with the explicit GT4 title, following the alignment in 2017 of the Pirelli World Challenge series "GTS" class with SRO GT4, and t ...

. In April 2017, Andretti disclosed that he had stage four

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

. His cancer battle, originally misdiagnosed as Stage III-A cancer, was widely publicized, with him starting a

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...

called #CheckIt4Andretti, promoting getting a colonoscopy. After months of chemotherapy, Andretti was deemed cancer-free in late 2017. However, in May 2018, he suffered a

relapse In internal medicine, relapse or recidivism is a recurrence of a past (typically medical) condition. For example, multiple sclerosis and malaria often exhibit peaks of activity and sometimes very long periods of dormancy, followed by relapse or r ...

of the cancer, which metastasized even further. He went through another round of chemotherapy for the rest of the year, which ended in January 2019. The cancer relapsed again in late March 2019. Andretti died of colon cancer on January 30, 2020 at aged 56. After his death, #CheckIt4Andretti became a foundation to provide colonoscopies for those without insurance. In 2021, Andretti Motorsports announced a partnership with Jarrett and Unite Health Share Ministries for the "Steer Clear of Cancer" campaign, to raise donations for the foundation during Colon Cancer Awareness Month.

Motorsports career results

American open–wheel racing results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

PPG Indycar Series

IndyCar Series

: ''¹ Run on same day.'' : ''² Non-points-paying, exhibition race.'' : ''³ The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after

Dan Wheldon Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series season, 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Autosport, Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indiana ...

died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.''

Indianapolis 500 results

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

24 Hours of Le Mans

NASCAR

(

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

Early life

CART

IMSA GTP and Rolex Sports Car Series

NHRA Winston Drag Racing

NASCAR

1993–1999

2000–2005

2006–2010

IRL IndyCar Series

Personal life, illness and death

Motorsports career results

American open–wheel racing results

PPG Indycar Series

IndyCar Series

Indianapolis 500 results

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

24 Hours of Le Mans

NASCAR

Sprint Cup Series

=Daytona 500

Busch Series

Camping World Truck Series

References

External links