A memorable '500' for another Andretti

Mario's nephew, John Andretti, celebrates his 500th career start today at Pocono.

By Keith Groller | OF THE MORNING CALL
August 2, 2009

John Andretti said that in his famous racing family, ''they'll kick you out if you don't want to drive a racecar.''

Fortunately, John, the nephew of Mario Andretti and cousin of Michael Andretti, was never in danger of being disowned.

Like the rest of his clan, Andretti fell in love with the roar of the engines, the smell of hot rubber and all of the grit and grime of the garage at an early age.

Even now, at age 46, his passion for getting behind the wheel hasn't diminished.

In fact, today's Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway will mark Andretti's 500th professional oval start.

Andretti, in his 22nd year, will be making his 377th NASCAR Sprint Cup start to go with 37 green flags in the Nationwide Series, six in the Camping World Series, 73 in the defunct CART Series and seven in the IRL Indy Car Series.

He has also participated in National Hot Rod Association and International Motor Sports Association events not included.

Andretti wasn't keeping count. He didn't know this weekend was a milestone until told by his Breaking Limits PR firm.

But once told, he was happy No. 500 would come at one of his favorite places.

''It just means I'm getting old,'' he said. ''But if 500 was going to come, I'm glad it's at Pocono. I love the Mattioli family [the track owners] and Pocono has a lot of significance for me. I have a lot of history here.''

That history began with a Go-Kart race involving his cousin Michael when John was 13.

That day demonstrated the competitive nature of the Andretti family.

''I beat Michael, but I was disqualified because I had a flat tire,'' John remembered. ''They said it was dangerous, but it was only dangerous to me. So Michael won the race and got the trophy. About a week later, they rescinded it and gave me the win. But Michael didn't give the trophy back, so they had to make me one. Michael will claim to this day that he won, but I really did.''

There is also some dispute about who actually won a 1991 CART race in Milwaukee.

That raced ended with Michael, John and Mario on the victory podium as the top three finishers, a terrific family moment no matter who won.

These memories make for great storytelling when the family gets together.

He has a business degree earned at Moravian College to fall back on once his racing days are done, but John has no intention of of slipping into a rocking chair just yet.

''My uncle Mario raced until he was 54, and I don't think he any intentions of racing that long,'' Andretti said. ''If someone whispered something in his ear right now about driving again, he'd listen. That's how much we love this sport. You have to rip us away.

''Giving up anything you love is something that's very hard to do. The biggest problem is when to do it and how you do it. No one does it exactly right.''

After all, he says, ''Who doesn't want to drive a car fast?''

Although born in the Lehigh Valley andspending a lot of time in Nazareth as a kid, Andretti has spent most of life living in Indianapolis, the racing capital of the world.

He has participated in the last three Indy 500s after not participating in auto racing's biggest event since 1994 when he did the double -- both the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the same day.

He has always enjoyed the variety and challenges of the different racing brands.

''It amazes me about John that he can be in a Cup race and then just jump in an Indy car and still be competitive,'' said his father, Aldo Andretti. ''It amazes me he can jump from one to another. Mario did it, A.J. Foyt did it and Tony Stewart can do that, but very few can. It shows John's talent.''

Although he has just four career wins -- two in the Sprint Cup series -- John is invigorated by the challenge of building a new Cup team, Front Row Motorsports.

''We're growing,'' he said. ''It's sort of like being an amateur boxer and having to go against Muhammad Ali in his prime. We know how to box, but we just don't have all of the tools to compete yet.''

Judging by the smile on his face as his crew worked on his No. 34 Chevrolet Impala in the Pocono garage on Friday, he enjoys the journey as much as the end result.

''The nice thing for me is that I have friends and memories from each of the series I've participated in, much more than if I was just in one series,'' he said. ''It's the friends you make that you most cherish. I can go into just about any track and I will probably see somebody I know well.''

Full Story on TheMorningCall.com