Marco Andretti gets plenty of laps at Glen

The 19-year-old with the famous last name is relatively green in IRL.
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) -- Marco Andretti skidded to a stop in the pits and began chatting with his chief mechanic while crew members made suspension changes.
Moments later, the 19-year-old Indy Racing League newcomer with the famous last name flipped down his helmet visor, grabbed the wheel of his Andretti Green Racing Honda, and sped away for another round of practice laps at Watkins Glen International.
Andretti was the only driver on the historic road course last Friday, and he took full advantage of the opportunity, practicing for nearly seven hours. The only downer seemed to come when he had to stop.
"I'll test as much as they're going to give me. You'd be stupid not to," the soft-spoken Andretti said. "I need all I can get. I'm still a rookie."
In the standings
And doing OK, despite failing to finish the first two races of the season. He has 48 points and is tied for 15th place with Buddy Lazier, and Andretti leads the rookie standings by four points over P.J. Chesson.
Still, Andretti is relatively green in IRL. He did not finish the first two races because of early mechanical failures. Chalk that up to youthful exuberance -- in making the adjustment to the extra horsepower of the IRL cars, bad clutch management led to three broken drive shafts.
"It's been tough, but what I expected," said Andretti, who finished 12th at the Indy Japan 300 in late April. "I only have one race under my belt, when you think about it. I don't think the first two races would have been bad if we had finished. We wouldn't be looking too bad in the points from where we were running."
"It's to be expected for any 19-year-old rookie coming into the big leagues like this," chief mechanic Mike Horvath said. "He had a couple of mishaps the first two races, took care of the problem, and did a great job in Japan. It's just about getting seat time under his belt. He seems to be doing good on the speedways. I'm sure we'll find that out. He just has to stay consistent."
Last season, Andretti was the epitome of consistency and may have provided a peek into what appears to be a bright future. He won three of six races in the IRL's developmental Infiniti Pro Series and nearly won another. He finished a close second in his debut at Watkins Glen behind Jeff Simmons after leading all but four laps of the 29-lap Corning 100 last September.
That was enough to convince his dad to promote him after 2005 IRL champion Dan Wheldon left AGR in November to drive for Ganassi Racing. Michael Andretti, who followed in his father Mario's footsteps as a driver, gave his son a full-time ride with veteran teammates Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta.
"Last year, the cars, I mean, you could almost eat lunch," Marco Andretti said. "This year is totally different. I have a lot to learn. Hopefully, we take the right steps."
Marco Andretti seems to be doing just that at Watkins Glen. His speeds during testing on a sunny, 50-degree day surpassed Wheldon's qualifying run for the inaugural IRL Indy Grand Prix last fall.
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