GRANDAM: Andretti legacy lives on at Daytona

Andretti legacy lives on at Daytona

The Andretti family has been making a name for itself for decades, starting when twin brothers Mario and Aldo began their racing careers. The brothers started out strong but it was left to Mario to carry the family flag after Aldo was sidelined due to serious crashes. And Mario did just that and then some, winning races all over the globe and becoming a household name to sports fans everywhere.

Whether it was the Indianapolis 500, the Rolex24 at Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Daytona 500 or the Formula 1 championship, Mario Andretti came home a winner.

Andretti made his Rolex24 debut in 1966 in a privateer Ferrari and came back six years later with a factory-backed Ferrari 312PB to win it with co-driver Jacky Ickx. “1972 was a good year for us on many fronts,” Andretti said during a recent press conference. “We were on the pole and dropped a cylinder at the start, so we just hung in there running flat out.”

Running second to a team car late in the race, Andretti and Ickx grabbed the lead when the frontrunner faltered, limping home to the victory. “It was a very satisfying win.”

Fast forwarding a few years, Andretti came back to the Rolex24 with a Porsche 962, sharing the ride with his son, Michael. In 1991, Mario and Michael returned and they were joined by Jeff Andretti, Michael’s younger brother. The father and sons combination took fifth with a car adversely affected by turbo problems.

John Andretti, Aldo’s son, also was making a name for himself in the late 1980s and early 1990s, racing sports cars, stock cars and open-wheel cars and in the 1989 Rolex 24, the likable second-generation driver teamed with Derek Bell and Bob Wollek for a win in Jim Busby’s Porsche 962. John also won on the Daytona International Speedway tri-oval in 1997, capturing the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400.

The Andretti heritage in the Rolex24 further evolved this weekend when John returned, being accompanied by his son Jarett, 19, a freshman at North Carolina State University. John has been semi-active of late and his son is fairly new to racing. When the father and son duo got the opportunity to be teammates, they jumped at the chance. They drove the Yellow Dragon Motorsports Mazda RX-8 along with upstarts Anders Krohn and Taylor Jacquard.

And Andretti fans received an extra treat when Marco Andretti, Mario’s grandson and Michael’s son, made an unscheduled appearance Saturday evening. Marco had been testing his Andretti Autosport IndyCar in West Palm Beach earlier in the day and when IndyCar teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay invited him to join the Starworks Motorsport Ford Riley team that evening, the young driver jumped at the chance.

Marco arrived three hours into the race and even though he had never driven a Daytona Prototype or raced at Daytona, he climbed into the Starworks car, taking his turn in the driver rotation until sidelined with leg cramps.

In Friday’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season-opening BMW 200, Jarett made his Daytona debut in the Freedom Autosport Mazda MX-5 in the Street Tuner class. His co-driver was Tyler Cooke, 17.

Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport

Photo by: Ted Rossino

For Jarett and Cooke, they were rookies at Daytona and they made the most of the opportunity, starting with the pre-season tests. “Jarett jumped in the car and he liked it, and it turned out to be a great fit,” said Cooke, who graduated from high school a week ago. He’s a transplanted Floridian, who moved to North Carolina with his family a year ago.

Discussing the challenge of racing at Daytona, Cooke stated, “Making my debut here has been fun. It is such a cool place and a fast track, too. The speed difference between the classes is huge. Daytona is all about getting accustomed to the series, learning how the car works and not interfering with the other class.”

Cooke started racing at age three, moved into go-karts and then on to a Skip Barber series, the Spec Miata NASA Championship and the Playboy MX-5 Series. One of his most significant accomplishments was winning the 13 hours of VIR a year ago. “My ultimate dream is Grand-Am,” the youngster said. “It is so fan friendly and it is fun to talk with little kids, just as I did years ago when I met Patrick Long and Jorg Bergmeister at a race.”

Despite the rain and slick track, Cooke and Andretti fared well, to the delight of their Mazda team and their proud parents.

John Andretti relished the opportunity to race for them to race together and he expressed surprise with his son’s latent interest in racing. “Jarett wasn’t too interested in racing until a couple of years ago,” John said. “Jarett’s interest all along has been with soccer. But the first time he got into a car he said, ‘I have to do this.’ In his second race, a USAC Focus event, he finished second. While I have been coaching him, there’s no substitute for driving. You have to get in, go about your business and get it on. He does just that and learns fast.”

Addressing the Rolex24, the elder Andretti said, “It is going to be exciting for me to race with my son and to race in the 50th anniversary Rolex24 along with the 100th anniversary Indianapolis 500 is special. I never thought this would happen and now here we are, and we are having a good time.”

John Andretti

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

As for carrying with the family name, Jarett said, “It is special to carry on such a significant name in motorsports, but I am just trying to build a career and hopefully I can live up to one half of what my family has done.”

For Jarett, the Rolex24 was his first endurance race and as indicated, the first time to race with his father. They completed 270 laps, placing 37th in class.

Whether it is Mario, Michael, Jeff, Marco, John or Jarett, the Andretti legacy continues to grow unabated, and undoubtedly one or more of them will be racing for years to come along with their descendants. And when they retire, the Andretti name will be forever etched into the history books.