AUTO RACING Michael Andretti to make Indy 500 return

His son, Marco, will become a third-generation Andretti driver to race.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The Andrettis are coming back to race again in the Indianapolis 500.
Michael Andretti said Tuesday that he will compete at Indy in 2006, ending a two-year absence from the driver's seat and taking another shot at a victory that so famously eluded him during a great career.
His son, Marco, will become a third-generation Andretti driver with a full-time spot in the IRL for Andretti Green Racing. The team us co-owned by Michael Andretti.
New sponsor
The team won this year's race with driver Dan Wheldon, who also took the 2005 IRL championship. But he said last month that he's moving next season to Target Chip Ganassi Racing.
Once Wheldon announced his decision, Michael Andretti said he knew it was time to come back.
"Ever since that time I've been very pumped about it, very excited," he said. "Then I thought, heck, what a neat idea that I would be driving with Marco."
Marco, who will turn 19 in March, will replace Wheldon. Andretti has three other full-time drivers -- Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta -- returning next year.
He thanked the team for giving him a shot.
"This team's record the last three years has been unbelievable and it's going to be tough to keep it going," he said. "We'll see how it goes."
Michael Andretti, whose father Mario won the 1969 Indy 500, was one of several second-generation drivers to joined the circuit in the 1980s and 1990s. He retired after the 2003 Indy 500 with the dubious distinction of leading the most laps -- 426 in 14 starts -- without winning at least once.
Major boost
His return is a major boost for the IRL, which has been trying to gain fan support over the past decade since its split from CART, now known as Champ Car. The IRL made headway this year with the emergence of Danica Patrick, who finished fourth in the Indy 500.
The Andretti family has long evoked passion among Indy fans. During the 1960s, '70s and '80s, many were either fans of Mario Andretti or four-time Indy winner A.J. Foyt. While Foyt's career was defined by Indy wins, the Andrettis' fate at Indianapolis has long been associated with extreme disappointment.
Mario Andretti spent much of his career chasing an elusive second trip to Victory Lane -- a trip that never came before his final Indy run in 1994. Talk of a possible Indy return in 2003 ended with a spectacular crash during testing when his car flipped end over end after hitting debris on the track.
While Michael's final Indy race ended with a golf cart ride after yet another mechanical failure, Andretti Green Racing has become the IRL's top team since he took it over after the 2002 season.
Father-son duels
The team has won 19 of the IRL's 33 races over the past two years. Kanaan was the champion in 2004.
Now, Indy can expect a second round of father-son races between the Andrettis. Michael, who turned 43 in October, has 42 Indy car victories, trailing only his father and Foyt.
Marco took his first laps at Indianapolis in May, at age 18, and spun out on his first lap. But he was good enough to eventually win three Infiniti Pro Series races, an indication he might be ready to drive the more powerful cars.