Versatile driver John Andretti dies
INDIANAPOLIS >> John Andretti carved out his own niche in one of the world’s most successful racing families.
He became the first driver to attempt the Memorial Day double. He won on dirt tracks, street courses and superspeedways. He won an endurance race, competed in dragsters and became an iron man in IndyCar and NASCAR. And he used his platform and passion for racing to help others.
On Thursday, after a three-year battle with colon cancer, Andretti died at the age of 56.
“He fought hard and stole back days the disease fought to take away,” a statement from Andretti Autosport said. “He helped countless others undergo proper (colon) screening and in so doing, saved lives. We will forever carry with us John’s genuine spirit of helping us first and himself second.”
The Pennsylvania native embraced the family business. John’s father, Aldo, grew up racing and his uncle, Mario, became an international celebrity after winning the 1969 Indianapolis 500 and 1978 world championship.
Andretti’s cousin, Michael, competed in Formula One and led more laps in the Indy 500 than any other race nonwinner before turning team owner and winning the marquee race five times.
His nephew, Marco, Michael’s son, finished second at Indy as a rookie in 2006 and has since posted four more top-five finishes at Indy.
Jarett Andretti, John’s son, made his Indy debut just last May in Indy Lights, the seventh member of the Andretti family to race at Indy.
“It’s very important for me, personally; me and John are very, very close, we’ve been close our whole lives, growing up together,” Michael Andretti, Jarett’s godfather, said in announcing the deal.
The softspoken, genteel and popular John Andretti took a different tack in adding his chapter to the family legacy.
Andretti competed in USAC sprint cars on dirt then won the 1989 Rolex 24 in a sports car before moving full-time to IndyCars in 1990. There he started 49 consecutive races over the next three seasons, where his warm personality turned him into a fan favorite.
He moved to stock cars full time in 1994, making at least 29 starts each season through 2003 while driving for Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Dale Earnhardt and Richard Childress. Andretti also competed in the Xfinity and truck series.
Still, Andretti continued coming back to the Indianapolis, the venue that turned his family name into a worldwide sensation and that hosted impromptu family reunions each May.
In 1994, Andretti made history by becoming the first driver to compete in the Indianapolis 500 before flying to Charlotte, North Carolina, for NASCAR’s 600-mile night race. Andretti finished 10th in Indy and 36th at Charlotte, completing 220 of 400 laps before a bad crankshaft knocked him out.
“John Andretti embodied the spirit of a champion and inspired an entire fan base through his courageous battle with cancer,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps said in a statement.