Marco Andretti returns to racing for the right reasons
Dave Albee, Marin Independent Journal 02/26/07

SONOMA
You're just 19 years old. Last year you became the youngest driver ever to win a major open-wheel racing event in the history of the sport and came within a breath of becoming the youngest driver ever to win the Indianapolis 500. You already own your own condo in downtown Indy and just bought another one in South Beach where your new teammate, Danica Patrick, has helped pick out some furniture and volunteered to be its interior decorator. Another of your teammates is married to actress Ashley Judd and your workout partner is yet another teammate, Tony Kanaan.

And you're so influential that you were asked to test a Formula One car in Spain by a Honda team backed by "America Idol" creator Simon Fuller and you have inspired your own father to come out of retirement in one last attempt to win the Indy 500 after 15 tries.

You're Marco Andretti and if the world is not your oyster than you've got enough horsepower now to cover it. Your life is changing fast and so are the pressures that come with it.

Andretti isn't about to pass the steering wheel. Can you blame him?

"You can mark my words. My expectations are higher than any of you guys," Andretti told reporters on Monday during media day at Infineon Raceway. "I'm not worried about making anyone happy but myself."

Andretti has a great head start. He is driving the most famous surname in auto racing back into America's conscious, though it's not enough to knock NASCAR off the front page of the sports section. Andretti isn't big enough or old enough to make CART and the Indy Racing League resolve their woes and merge into one. Not even the weeping judge in the Anna Nicole Smith case could do that.

"However that happens, they can sort it out. I just drive a car," Andretti said. "I can talk until I'm blue in the face it's not going to make a difference. I'm kind of going to keep doing what I'm doing. Having fun."

Good for him. At 19, Andretti appears to have a good head on his shoulders. He keeps things simple. He understands his responsibilities and limitations. He was all set earlier this month to buy a Ferrari but his father, Michael, convinced his teenage son to keep his BMW M6.

But soon, on March 13, Marco will have another occasion to reward himself. He turns 20 in a couple of weeks and he has accepted a friend's invitation to come to Aspen, Colo. It will be down time for him, not downhill.

"I'm not allowed to ski because of my contract," Andretti said. "I've never did it before but I'm going to just turn my phone off for about four days. I'll come back with a million messages but I think it'll be nice. It's kind of the calm before the storm."

This is what awaits Andretti in 2007: On May 1, he will head to Indianapolis. Last year, he and his father were 1-2 in the Indy 500 with four laps to go. On the final lap, Turn 3, Michael watched from behind, thinking his son was going to win the race as a rookie by holding off veteran Sam Hornish down the straightaway. Hornish, however, ran his fastest lap of the day, though he had 40 laps on his tires.

Marco finished runner-up in the second closest finish in Indy 500 history.

"For a 19-year-old, it's good, but to lose the biggest race in the world like that was a bummer for a competitor that I am," Andretti said. "It's coming up already. It's amazing how quick because that race runs through my mind every hour of every day."

Apparently, Andretti's dad has been mulling it over, too. Last year, Michael Andretti, after a three-year layoff, came to Indy to race on the same famed track as his son. This year, he's coming back to beat him and everyone else.

"After the checkered flag last year, I was pushing him at the press conference post-race," Andretti said. "I knew that he'd want to come back again because it was like 'Here we go. We came so close again.' The guy's always up front no matter where it is - If he would have won it, he would have been done. He's still in it."

The Andrettis will return to Indy with a new Andretti/Green teammate, Patrick, who two years ago nearly became the first woman to win the Indy 500. Marco doesn't mind stepping aside for Danicamania to dominate the spotlight.

"More cameras for Andretti/Green Racing, which is always good. I'll share it. No problem," he said. "So far, so good. She's bringing media and everything like that and helping us out with the cars."

Patrick did dabble with the idea of joining the NASCAR Nextel Cup circuit, but remained with IRL. Marco has entertained such a jump to the more popular and lucrative NASCAR, yet he's sticking with his roots.

"Maybe when my career winds down and opportunities rise and fall, I'll think about it (competing in NASCAR). My heart is still with open-wheel racing," Andretti said. "It's a very tough transition, even for Formula One. I know where I am for the next couple of years. I'm completely content. But I wouldn't rule anything out."

At 19, Marco seemingly has life all figured out. Racing always has been in blood, but there was a time he felt pressured to compete and perform well in the sport. It was hereditary.

"It started young. It started with just having a (famous) last name. That drew the crowds," Andretti said. "The one thing I found out right away was when I quit because I had all this attention at nine years old, which was a lot, I thought I couldn't deal with it but they (his father and grandfather, Mario) supported me. Now that I really love the sport, I want to do it for me. I came back for the right reasons."

Marco is back with a passion for the sport now. His first career IRL victory at Infineon Raceway last summer was a confidence boost and now he admits to being bored when he can't be in car with a singular goal of getting better and winning more races.

"I've living it now. For once I can't wait for a mile-and-a-half oval," Andretti said. "Last year I kind of dreaded it because we didn't really have the speed and the experience. Now I'm a veteran."

A veteran at 19 years old?! A teenager hasn't had this much impact in a sport since Tiger Woods and LeBron James. Look around Marco at all the connections and inroads that he's already made. He has come so fast and so far and he's still so young.

Now he's got more horsepower than ever.

Dave Albee is an IJ staff writer.