More mature Marco Andretti is learning how to finish races
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Marco Andretti wants to start winning.
First, he must consistently finish races.
If the lessons from the last 11‚Ñ2 seasons have taught the 22-year-old American anything, it is this: There’s still a lot to learn.
“I’d call it character building,” he said. “It’s not how I’d hoped it would go, that’s for sure. I think I have the potential to do a lot better.”
As one of the youngest IndyCar drivers, with an American pedigree and a racing lineage that stretches to the 1960s, he has plenty of potential to become the face of the series — once he adds some wins to that resume.
Clearly, Andretti can drive.
His breakout rookie season in 2006 included a near-win at Indianapolis and a trip to Victory Lane in the second-to-last race of the season at Infineon. At the time, it made him the youngest winner ever of an IndyCar race, a record broken last year by Graham Rahal.
Andretti finished seventh in points twice over the past three years. Last season, he led more laps (415) than anyone except points champion Scott Dixon, two-time Indy winner Helio Castroneves and 2004 series winner Tony Kanaan.
But his overall results have been sub-par.
In his last 37 starts, Andretti has 12 top-five finishes and four more in the top 10. The other 21 results read like a carbon copy of his father’s and grandfather’s troubles at Indianapolis: mechanical failures, crashes, bad pit strategy and getting caught up in other drivers’ mistakes.
His father, Michael, the team co-owner, and teammate, Kanaan, believe a win-or-nothing attitude, common among young drivers, might be to blame.
“Yeah, he wants to win; that’s what it’s all about, winning,” Michael Andretti said. “You have to realize that sometimes it’s a good fifth. Those are the things you’ve got to learn, but he’s so young. Remember he’s just 22, and that’s when I started racing.”
After running poorly in the season-opener at St. Petersburg, Andretti finished sixth at Long Beach and sixth again at Kansas. He qualified eighth, the middle of Row 3, for Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 at 223.114 mph, and is among the favorites.
When Andretti made his first Indy start as a 19-year-old, many assumed he would be an instant star, thanks to his family’s history of success. His grandfather was the 1978 world champion, and his father won 42 CART races and a points championship.
If he can break through here, where grandpa Mario won in 1969, it could change everything for the youngest Andretti.
“I’ve heard that [40-year anniversary] thing thrown around, for sure,” he said. “And if we’re able to win it this year, I’d still be the youngest winner by eight days.”
The Indy record belongs to Troy Ruttman, the 1952 winner at 22 years, 80 days.
But Andretti aspires to more than that mark.
The signature win — one that has bedeviled his family for decades — would thrust him into the national spotlight and might quiet his critics.
That can’t come soon enough for Andretti.
“All I can do is try to really be focused on driving,” he said. “I do think the expectations are higher, and my expectations are already high. I did nothing different, driving wise, my rookie year. If anything I’m just a little more experienced.”