John Andretti Posts -- FanHouse

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Saturday Practice Wild at Infineon

Posted: Jun 20th 2009 9:12PM by Geoffrey Miller (author feed)
Filed under: David Gilliland, Jimmie Johnson, Sprint Cup

Perhaps, you could say, Saturday's practice sessions had more twists and turns than the 10-turn road course they happened on.

An favorite, an underdog and a three-time champion were all involved in incidents that should have a good bit of effect on Sunday's 110-lapper at Infineon Raceway, and a rookie even got punted in the support race to accentuate a wild day.

All in a day's work, one would suppose.

Continue Reading Saturday Practice Wild at Infineon

Last-Minute Dramatics Put Andretti, Hunter-Reay in Indy 500

Posted: May 17th 2009 8:10PM by Holly Cain (author feed)
Filed under: Petty Enterprises, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IRL

0 COMMENTS

Ryan Hunter-Reay wasn't fast enough to earn a spot in next Sunday's Indianapolis 500 as he exited Turn 4 on his final lap of qualifying Sunday at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

But somehow, someway, the 28-year-old Floridian conjured up just enough speed in the final few seconds -- the final hundred yards -- to make the field by three hundredths of a second (.03) bumping out Canadian Alex Tagliani, who was sitting in his car, next in line to qualify, as the traditional gun shot sounded ending qualifications.

Continue Reading Last-Minute Dramatics Put Andretti, Hunter-Reay in Indy 500

After Crash, Andretti Looks to Make 500

Posted: May 13th 2009 10:14PM by Geoffrey Miller (author feed)
Filed under: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IRL

4 COMMENTS

The first foray for Richard Petty into the world of IndyCar racing came to a nasty, grinding and gut-wrenching halt in turn one of the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

That crash -- check the video later in the post -- kept Petty's No. 43 driven by John Andretti with assistance from longtime IndyCar player Dreyer and Reinbold Racing from qualifying for the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500.

However, don't expect the hard incident to keep Petty or Andretti from making the 33-car field this weekend at the Brickyard.

Continue Reading After Crash, Andretti Looks to Make 500

Petty's 500 Entry No 'Publicity Stunt'

Posted: Apr 7th 2009 1:18AM by Geoffrey Miller (author feed)
Filed under: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IRL

50 COMMENTS

FanHouse's Holly Cain first jumped on the news Friday from the IRL IndyCar Series season-opener in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Monday NASCAR's 'King' officially announced his entry to open-wheel's highest affair.

Latest IndyCar Photos

** AUTO RACING PACKAGE FOR APRIL 8 AND THEREAFTER ** In this Friday, April 3, 2009, photo, Sam Hornish Jr. helps push his car up pit road during qualifying for the NASCAR Samsung 500 auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. It almost reads like a misprint: former IRL star Sam Hornish Jr. is without a top-10 finish in 43 Sprint Cup starts, the equivalent of more than a year in NASCAR's top series. It's true, and it's not that much of a surprise, even to Hornish. He knew it would be a tough transition competing every week against the likes of Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Richard Petty looks over the car that John Andretti will drive for next month's Indianapolis 500 after an announcement at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Monday, April 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Richard Petty, right, and driver John Andretti laugh during an announcement on their participation in next month's IRL Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Monday, April 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Richard Petty, right, and driver John Andretti talk about their participation in next month's Indianapolis 500 after an announcement at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Monday, April 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Richard Petty, right, and driver John Andretti pose next to the car that Andretti will drive for next month's Indianapolis 500 after an announcement at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Monday, April 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Indie folk-rock artist Melissa Ferrick performs at the Canal Club in Richmond, Virginia, Friday, December 5, 2008. Her latest release, "Goodbye Youth" (Right on Record), serves up her most introspective material to date. (Chuck Myers/MCT)

MCT

Indie folk-rock artist Melissa Ferrick performs at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., Friday, March 6, 2009. Her latest release, "Goodbye Youth" (Right on Record), serves up her most reflective material. (Chuck Myers/MCT)

MCT

ST. PETERSBURG, FL - APRIL 05: Tony Kanaan, drives the #11 Team 7-Eleven Andretti Green Racing Dallara Honda down Bayshore Dr. during the IRL IndyCar Series Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on April 5, 2009 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Tony Kanaan

Getty Images

Continue Reading Petty's 500 Entry No 'Publicity Stunt'

Richard Petty to Enter Car in Indy 500

Posted: Apr 3rd 2009 3:37PM by Holly Cain (author feed)
Filed under: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IRL

0 COMMENTS

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. -- IndyCar Series sources said Friday that Richard Petty Motorsports, in conjunction with Dreyer and Reinbold Racing, will field a car for John Andretti in this year's Indianapolis 500. A formal announcement is set for Monday at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

A news release was issued Friday saying only that it would be a NASCAR team owner and NASCAR driver setting off speculation in the IndyCar paddock as teams prepare for this weekend's season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Continue Reading Richard Petty to Enter Car in Indy 500

John Andretti Back on Track at MIS

Posted: Jun 14th 2007 4:39PM by Geoffrey Miller (author feed)
Filed under: Dodge, Nextel Cup, NASCAR Silly Season

1 COMMENT

NASCAR driver, IndyCar driver, NHRA driver, and whatever-else driver John Andretti will be back behind the wheel again this weekend at Michigan International Raceway.

Andretti is taking over the reigns of the No. 45 Petty Enterprises Dodge from Chad McCumbee who took the wheel from Kyle Petty last week at Pocono.

Petty is stepping out of the car for a few weeks to work with TNT in the broadcast booth -- and he's doing a mighty fine job at that. Kyle will race again next weekend at Infineon Raceway before sitting out a couple of more races for TNT. Andretti will handle those races as well.

Andretti has had two separate stints with Petty Enterprises, with this weekend being the third.

"It's ironic that I'm coming back at Michigan. It's where my career started with Petty Enterprises. It was the second Michigan race, and we qualified outside the front row. I'm looking forward to going there," said Andretti.

Andretti's career-best finish at Michigan was a 4th in 1995. It'd be quite a feat for John to accomplish that this weekend.

Anyhow, it's good to have Andretti back, mainly because it's really good to have Kyle Petty in the TNT booth.

Dover Flashback: 1995 Miller Genuine Draft 500

Posted: May 30th 2007 4:14PM by tallglassofmilk (author feed)
Filed under: Mark Martin, NASCAR Crashes, NASCAR Videos, Nextel Cup

0 COMMENTS

The Date: June 4, 1995
The Track: Dover International Raceway
The Race: Miller Genuine Draft 500
The Conditions: First race on concrete

Usually, "the big one" is reserved for superspeedways. But in 1995, John Andretti--who, let's face it, doesn't share the same set of skill genes as some of his relatives--turned the speedway at Dover Downs into a parking lot. On the second lap of the race:

My favorite part comes next, when a heated Mark Martin calls "somebody"--Rusty Wallace--a dummy.

"There's no safe place on the racetrack because somebody from behind 'll run over ya runnin' wide open."

His spotter knew it was Wallace. Did Martin really not know, or was he trying to be a gentleman and not name names?

Oh ... and who won the race? That would Mr. Kyle Petty--his last trip to victory lane.

Indy Welcomes Back John Andretti

Posted: May 20th 2007 9:45PM by Geoffrey Miller (author feed)
Filed under: NASCAR Sponsors

2 COMMENTS

12 years and two Nextel Cup race wins later, John Andretti is back at the Brickyard in an IndyCar.

Andretti, who joined Panther racing earlier this week in a third entry, will start 24th for Sunday's 91st annual Indianapolis 500.

"The car was really fantastic and that's just a credit to Camping World and Panther Racing for putting this car together for me. We could have gone a little bit faster, and trimmed the car out a little more, but I was steady and wide open all around the track. Now I'm going to try to understand what it's like running in traffic and how the car handles," said Andretti.

The last practice Andretti will have before Sunday's race will now come on Friday's Carb Day -- a 2 hour final session. He is driving for Camping World and RVs.com who also supported the driver in the Busch series.

Andretti's best finish in the 500 was a fifth in 1991.

I'm looking forward to seeing how Andretti adapts to today's IndyCar racing before the real event of the day -- NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600.

Petty Announces Andretti, McCumbee as Fill-Ins

Posted: May 3rd 2007 3:40PM by Geoffrey Miller (author feed)
Filed under: Dodge, Nextel Cup, NASCAR Silly Season

1 COMMENT

After listening to Kyle Petty on Monday night's Fast Talk radio program on PRN, it's pretty clear why he's stepping away for 6 races this season to jump into the TNT broadcast booth.

He's that good.

Because he's leaving the seat of his #45 for the gig, Petty announced yesterday that drivers John Andretti and Chad McCumbee will share duties in the seat.

Andretti is a familiar face around the Level Cross, NC race shop. He raced for the team from 1998-2003, picking up a win along the way at Martinsville. Petty dropped him mid-2003, and obviously the relationship never really soured. He currently drives in the Busch series.

Chad McCumbee will only do one race in the program. And lucky for him, he gets a start at Pocono, which is largely held as one of the toughest tracks to master. That's the case unless your name is Denny Hamlin or Carl Edwards, anyways.

McCumbee currently campaigns a Green Light Racing Chevy in the Craftsman Truck Series. He finished second last year in the rookie of the year points and won the ARCA race at Nashville Superspeedway earlier this year.

Petty will serve as a color commentator in the TNT booth during the time out of the driver's seat. Maybe ESPN can pick him up for next to replace Rusty...?

Ok .... Ok ... I'll save the frustration with ESPN for another day.