Andretti was born on March 12, 1963, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to "Corky" and Aldo Andretti. As a member of the Andretti racing family, he was encouraged and supported by his family during his racing career. Starting with kart racing at a young age, he later graduated to junior stock car racing and USAC-sponsored midget car racing.[1]
Andretti attended Moravian College in Bethlehem, where he graduated in 1985 with a degree in business management.[2] He later reflected that he likely would have been an investment banker or stock broker if he had not started racing.[3]
Career
20th century
Andretti's 1997 race car at Pocono RacewayAndretti in the Petty Enterprise No. 43 Pontiac at Pocono Raceway in June 1998
The following year, in 1987, Andretti joined CART's PPG Indy Car World Series. In his debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 1988 Indianapolis 500, he reached as high as seventh place in the race before falling to 21st place following mechanical problems.
In 1989, Andretti drove the Miller High Life/BF Goodrich Porsche 962 to victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona, then called the Sunbank 24 at Daytona, along with co-drivers Bob Wollek and Derek Bell. Later in the 1989 IMSA season, Andretti and Wollek won the Pontiac Grand Prix of Palm Beach, driving the same Porsche 962.[5] Andretti finished fifth in points (112) in the 1989 IMSA season, first among Porsche drivers.[6]
In 1993, Andretti drove the Taco Bell Express Top FuelDragster,[7] reaching the semi-finals in his first national event at Atlanta during the FRAM Southern Nationals, clocking a career-best speed of 299 mph (481 km/h). In that race, he beat 1992 T/F Champion Joe Amato in Round 1 and Mopar Express Lube driver Tommy Johnson Jr. in Round 2, but lost to Mike Dunn in Darrell Gwynn's La Victoria Salsa Car in the semi-finals.
Andretti made his Winston Cup debut in 1993, driving the No. 72 Tex Racing Chevy for Tex Powell at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where he started 31st and finished 24th. After running three more races in 1993, he began the 1994 season driving the No. 14 Financial World-sponsored Chevy for Billy Hagan. On May 29, he became the first driver in history to race in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. He finished tenth at Indy and 36th in the Coca-Cola 600 after suffering mechanical failures.[8] In the middle of the season, he switched to the No. 43 STP-sponsored Pontiac for Petty Enterprises. His best finish was eleventh place, at Richmond Raceway. He ended the season thirty-second in points and fifth in the Rookie of the Year battle.
In 1995, he began driving for Michael Kranefuss in the No. 37 Kmart/Little Caesars-sponsored Ford Thunderbird. He won his first career pole at the Southern 500 and finished in the top ten five times. He ended the season 18th in points. During the 1996 season, he switched to the No. 98 RCA-sponsored Ford owned by Cale Yarborough after Jeremy Mayfield, the previous driver of the No. 98 car, moved to Kranefuss' team. He placed fifth at the Hanes 500. In 1997, he scored his first career win at the Pepsi 400 and finished 23rd in points. He returned to the No. 43 Petty car in 1998. Although he did not win any races in 1998, he registered ten Top 10 finishes and placed a career-best 11th in points. He won his second career race in 1999 at Martinsville Speedway, where he made up a lost lap and took the lead with four laps to go. He also won the pole at Phoenix Raceway.
Midway through the 2000 season, Cheerios became Andretti's primary sponsor. This was the precursor to Petty Enterprises' switch to Dodge as their manufacturer, and with the team pulling double duty trying to keep the Pontiacs they were currently racing and prepare the Dodges that were coming in, things began to fall apart for the organization. He fell to twenty-third in points after finishing in the top ten twice. Over the next two seasons, Andretti posted three top ten finishes including a notable second at Bristol where he finished second to Elliott Sadler (this was the last 1-2 finish for Petty Enterprises and Wood Brothers Racing), before he was released midway through the 2003 season. He ran a couple of races for Haas CNC Racing and Richard Childress Racing before finishing the season in the No. 1 Pennzoil-sponsored Chevy for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. His best finish that year was eighth at California.
In 2001, Andretti teamed up with Kyle Petty to win the GT Class in the six-hour sports car race at Watkins Glen.
In 2006, Andretti returned to ppc to drive their No. 10 Busch Series car. Before the season, his only Busch start came in 1998 at Daytona, where he finished thirteenth in the No. 96 Chevy fielded by the Curb Agajanian Performance Group. Despite having made over three hundred Cup starts with two victories, Andretti applied for and was accepted as a contender for Rookie of the Year. He finished runner-up to Danny O'Quinn for the award.
In 2007, Andretti drove the No. 10 FreedomRoads/Camping World/RVs.com-sponsored Car for Braun Racing at Daytona through their affiliation with ppc Racing. When funding for the team became questionable, Andretti left Braun Racing. The team used various drivers in 2007 in an attempt to maintain a two-car team. Andretti drove four races for Petty Enterprises in the No. 45 car, where he filled in for Kyle Petty, who was working as a broadcaster for Turner Network Television's race coverage. He also briefly drove part-time for Front Row Motorsports. He finished the season in the No. 49 Paralyzed Veterans of America-sponsored Dodge for BAM Racing.
In 2007, Andretti returned to the Indianapolis 500 for the first time since 1994 when he competed in the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in the same day. He drove the third entry from Panther Racing, with Camping World as the sponsor. On May 19, he qualified for the 91st Indianapolis 500 with an average speed for the four lap qualifying run of 221.756 mph (356.882 km/h). He started in 24th on the eighth row, but crashed on lap 95 and finished 30th.
In 2008, Andretti replaced Jay Howard in the Roth Racing No. 24 Dallara-Honda. Andretti qualified for his ninth Indy 500 on May 17 with a four-lap average of 221.550 mph (356.550 km/h). This placed him 21st on the grid; he finished on the lead lap in 16th place. Andretti continued in the No. 24 car in the Milwaukee Mile and Texas Motor Speedway races, and on June 6 he was offered a deal that would keep him in the car the rest of the season. He did not accept.[9]
Also in 2008, Andretti returned to 24 Hours of Daytona in the Rolex Sports Car Series. Team drivers for the Vision Racing the Porsche Crawford Prototype included Ed Carpenter, A. J. Foyt IV, and Vítor Meira. The team finished 25th, their first Porsche Crawford Prototype entry in the 24 Hours of Daytona.[10]
Andretti drove for Front Row Motorsports in 2008, driving the No. 34 Chevrolet Impala SS in the Sprint Cup Series. He raced his way into the 2008 Daytona 500 in the second Gatorade Duel race. He drove in the first ten races of the season in the 34 before leaving to focus on his IndyCar team.
Andretti qualified 7th at the Texas Motor Speedway race, where he finished 16th. He began the race at Iowa Speedway with a rough 23rd position start, but steadily worked his way through the field to capture an 11th-place finish, the best for a Roth Racing machine. His final start for the team was at Richmond International Raceway the following week, where he was knocked out by a crash. Roth Racing contracted to a single car for the rest of the season and then ceased operations. Andretti finished 30th in the 2008 IndyCar points standings.
In 2009, Andretti returned full-time to the 34 in a partnership between Front Row and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. The No. 34 was sponsored by Window World, myAutoloan.com, and Taco Bell. He did not have a full-time ride for 2010, but drove the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports entry to a 38th-place finish after an accident on lap 117 in the Daytona 500, his final NASCAR race.
In April 2009, Andretti and Richard Petty announced a joint venture with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, whereby Andretti would return to Indianapolis to drive the No. 43 car in the 93rd Indianapolis 500. As in his previous two trips to Indianapolis, Andretti did not race the Indy/Charlotte double, and also missed the Southern 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 to prepare for the race. Andretti qualified for the race on bump day in 28th, and finished in 19th place, the final car on the lead lap. Andretti returned to drive the No. 34 at Front Row Motorsports immediately after the Indianapolis 500, and returned for the Dover 400 in June.
In March 2010, Andretti announced that he would join forces with Richard Petty and Window World for two events. The No. 43 returned as the entry, which was backed by Andretti Autosport, owned by John's cousin Michael. The team's first race was the RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway on May 1. Andretti qualified 15th but finished 9th, one lap down. The team also competed in the 94th Indianapolis 500 on May 30. After failing to qualify on pole day, Andretti made the race on bump day qualifying 28th for the second consecutive year. Andretti crashed out of the race on lap 65, and was credited with a 30th-place finish.
In 2011, Andretti ran in the centennial Indianapolis 500, partnered with Window World, Petty, and Andretti Autosport, where he finished 22nd.
In 2012, Andretti returned to the Rolex 24 at Daytona with Yellow Dragon Motorsports with support from long-time sponsor Window World. His co-drivers were Taylor Hacquard, Anders Krohn and his son Jarett. The team retired with engine issues during the overnight hours and finished 50th overall in what ended up being Andretti's final professional race.
In April 2017, Andretti disclosed that he had stage four colon cancer.[12] His cancer battle, originally misdiagnosed as Stage III-A cancer, was widely publicized, with him starting a Twitterhashtag called #CheckIt4Andretti, promoting preventative colonoscopies. After months of undergoing chemotherapy, Andretti was deemed cancer-free in late 2017. However, in May 2018, the cancer reemerged, and metastasized further. He went through another round of chemotherapy for the rest of the year, which ended in January 2019. The cancer relapsed again in late March 2019.
On January 30, 2020, Andretti died of colon cancer in Mooresville, North Carolina, at age 56, eleven months before the death of his father.[13]
After his death, #CheckIt4Andretti became a foundation to provide colonoscopies for those without health insurance.[14]
In 2021, Andretti Motorsports announced a partnership with Jarrett and Unite Health Share Ministries for the "Steer Clear of Cancer" campaign, to raise donations for the foundation during Colon Cancer Awareness Month.[15]
