Motor Racing : Mario’s Nephew Latest Andretti Making Tracks

The racing Andrettis are coming at us in waves.

Mario, the nonpareil, has been with us since 1955, the year he and his twin, Aldo, came over from Italy with their family from a post-World War II displaced persons camp. His racing career is legendary; he has won at every level from Indianapolis to Daytona to Formula One.

Michael, Mario’s oldest son, will be racing with his father Sunday in the Indy car race at Cleveland. Michael is in second place, only four points behind defending champion Bobby Rahal, in the CART/PPG standings.

Jeff, Mario’s second son, will also be in Cleveland to drive in the American Racing Series for prospective Indy car drivers. Jeff won the Phoenix ARS race.

There’s still more.

John Andretti, nephew of Mario and cousin of Michael and Jeff, will be at Ascot Park to drive in Friday night’s Firecracker 50, a California Racing Assn. 50-lap sprint car race. He will also drive Saturday night at Santa Maria Speedway in the first CRA race in two years at Doug Fort’s track.

John, 24, is Aldo’s son and, like his cousins, wants to become an Indy car driver. Toward that end, he is driving in a variety of equipment this year, hoping to attract that elusive sponsorship so necessary to finance a top-level racing effort.

Last year, John Andretti and Davy Jones drove a BMW GTP car to victory in an International Motor Sports Assn. road race at Watkins Glen, N.Y.

“That was good for us; it was a big step for both of us,” Andretti said by phone from his home in Brownsburg, Ind., where he lives with his parents. “BMW hired us as a junior team to learn the ropes, but when we beat the A team (of David Hobbs and John Watson), it put the spotlight on us. I’m sure it helped Davy get his Indy car ride.”

Jones was the fastest rookie qualifier at Indy last May as a protege of A. J. Foyt.

Next week, John will be in West Virginia to drive a BMW 325 with Jones in a Sports Car Club of America showroom stock race.

“We won all three races we ran together last year,” he said. “We were batting a thousand. This year we’ve lost two, so our average has dropped.”

So far this year, Andretti has driven in 10 CRA/Parnelli Jones Firestone sprint car races, three United States Auto Club midget races, the Mid-Ohio IMSA GTP race with cousin Michael in a Corvette and two showroom stock races. He also tested a Porsche 962 GTP car for former Times Grand Prix of Endurance winner Rob Dyson at Lime Rock, Conn.

“I’m still looking for a win this year,” Andretti said. “I’ve been second a few times but I’d like to get a win out in California. It’s not easy to race at Ascot where all the local guys are so tough. It’s the most competitive racing in the country as far as I’m concerned.”

Two of Andretti’s second place finishes were in CRA races, but they were in Wichita, Kan., and the Devil’s Bowl in Dallas. He also finished second in a USAC midget race.

In 1983, he was USAC midget racing rookie of the year and in 1985, after finishing third in the midget standings, was named most improved driver.

“I enjoy driving a sprint car, especially the one the Gardners (Jack and Jack Jr.) have for me when I go to Ascot. I’ll be driving the one that Brad Noffsinger drove last year when he won the (CRA) championship. I also like to go out there because Brad’s a good friend. I think we complement one another.”

Andretti and Noffsinger will be teammates in Skoal Bandit Strikes owned and built by the Gardners and sponsored by Mike Curb. Noffsinger, from Huntington Beach, will be in a new model.

Although John lives in Indiana and Mario’s side of the family lives in Nazareth, Pa., John and Michael, also 24, became close when John lived with his uncle while attending Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pa.

“Michael is my best friend, but as far as the public and the media is concerned, when it comes to being an Andretti, it seems as if I didn’t exist,” John said. “As soon as I mention that I’m not another of Mario’s sons, everyone seems to lose interest in me.

“My ambition is to get into Indy car racing before Mario retires. I want the opportunity to race against him and, of course, Michael, too.”

John’s father, Aldo, was a budding race driver until he was injured in a sprint car accident in 1969, coincidentally the year Mario won the Indianapolis 500.

“After his accident, dad quit to spend time with his family,” John said. “He has been a big help to me because he understands racing. He never pushed me into racing, but when he saw I was serious, he helped.”

STOCK CARS--Destruction derby and fireworks fans will have a choice to make Saturday night--whether to go to Saugus Speedway for a 150-lap factory stock enduro or to Ascot for the Curb Motorsports NASCAR Winston Racing Series program. Both will have demolition shows and pyrotechnics. . . . Ascot will hold its 150-lap international enduro for domestic foreign compacts on Sunday night. . . . Hobby stocks and foreign jalopies will race Friday night at Saugus. . . . There will be no fireworks Saturday night at Cajon Speedway but there will be four main events with the super stocks going 40 laps.

OFF-ROAD--More than 250 cars and trucks will compete Saturday in the High Desert Racing Assn.’s Fireworks 250 near Barstow. Drivers and riders will negotiate three laps of an 80-mile course in the sixth stop on the eight-race HDRA/SCORE International series. Featured will be the rematch of defending mini-truck champion Manny Esquerra and Roger Mears. Last year, both flipped a mile from the finish. Mears managed to make it to the finish line first, only to be disqualified for having accepted assistance.

SPEEDWAY BIKES--Representing the United States, Sam Ermolenko, subbing for Shawn Moran, and Kelly Moran finished third in the world best pairs final in Czechoslovakia. Denmark won with England second. . . . Ermolenko, Kelly Moran, Mike Faria, John Cook and Rob Pfetzing will ride Sunday at Bradford, England, in the Overseas Final leading to the world individual championships. . . . The Moran brothers and Faria will return next week to race Wednesday night at the Inland Speedway in San Bernardino, Thursday night at Ascot Park and Friday night at Costa Mesa. . . . Scotty Brown, former North American speedway ice racing champion from Massillon, Ohio, is the latest challenger to United States champion Bobby Schwartz at local tracks.

MIDGETS--The United States Auto Club’s Western States series will be at Bakersfield Speedway in Oildale on Friday night and Ventura Raceway on Saturday night. Three-quarter midgets will also race Saturday night at Ventura.

RALLY--Defending world champion Juha Kankkunen of Finland won the Toyota Olympus Rally as the Martini Lancia team swept the first three positions. Kankkunen defeated Mikki Biasion of Italy by 12 seconds and Markku Alen of Finland by 42 seconds in the 335-mile rally through southwest Washington. Rod Millen of Newport Beach was the first American, finishing fourth in a Mazda 323.

SPORTS CARS--After a day of practice Friday, Sports Car Club of America drivers will compete Saturday and Sunday at Riverside International Raceway. Seven races are scheduled both days.

INDY CARS--Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser, marking time until he becomes the driver of the new Porsche Indy car in the final three races of the season, will drive the pace car for Sunday’s Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix. National champion Bobby Rahal will be going for his third straight CART race win.

NECROLOGY--John Butler, 72, one of the founders of Riverside International Raceway, died Monday of a heart attack while visiting friends in England.