Andrettis Have a Thing About Special Moments

Father’s Day may be a special occasion for most families, but for race car drivers, it’s usually just another day at the office.

Take the Andrettis. On Sunday, the legendary racing family from Nazareth, Pa., will have three generations racing at three locations.

Grandfather and father Mario, 60, will be in France seeking the only significant victory that has eluded him in his long career--the 24 Hours of LeMans.

Father and son Michael, 37, will be in Detroit, driving his CART champ car in the Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix on picturesque Belle Isle.

Son and grandson Marco, 13, will be at Oakland Valley Raceway in Port Jarvis, N.Y., hoping to pad his lead in the Yamaha Sportster karting series.

“My dad and I both race lots of weekends, but this time so is my grandfather,” Marco said. “Three generations racing the same weekend. That’s pretty cool.”

Mario, who retired from Indy car racing in 1994, will be making his fourth try since then at winning LeMans, driving a Panoz Roadster powered by a Ford V-8 engine. Having already won a Formula One championship, four Indy car titles, the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. the elder Andretti wants this one more win.

“All my life I have been pressing the envelope, why should I stop now?” Andretti said before leaving for LeMans, where the 24-hour race will start Saturday on an 8.45-mile circuit 150 miles west of Paris. “I have always kept my options open to do it as long as I feel I can still be competitive. The bottom line is that the love of driving is taking me there.

“There is also the carrot--the potential to win it.”

The other carrot, although unsaid, is that A.J. Foyt has won LeMans--and Mario has not. He was second in 1995.

Andretti has been impressive during test runs in the Panoz roadster. It is the first front-engine car he has driven in competition since 1965, when he drove a Hawk-Ford in a USAC Indy car race at Atlanta.

“The Panoz car is state of the art, a well engineered front-engine machine and from a driver’s standpoint, it responds well,” Andretti said. “As a driver, you are looking for a feel of balance. The feel of balance, when it’s there, it doesn’t matter where the engine is.”

On Father’s Day in 1997, Mario and Michael were teammates at LeMans, but their Courage Porsche retired with mechanical problems.

In 1986, the two had a Father’s Day to remember. Michael dominated the Indy car race in Portland, only to lose it to Mario on the final lap.

“I beat him by seven one-thousandths of a second,” recalled Mario. “That was literally two inches. It was Father’s Day, so rightfully I should have won but I really shouldn’t have because he lost because of a fuel pick-up problem.

“He said after the race, ‘There you go, Dad. Happy Father’s Day.’ That same year was when I knew he was going to be the biggest thorn in my side as long as I was going to be in CART. It was at the Meadowlands and he banged wheels with me and I knew he was going for it. But with all the mixed emotions, you are just so proud to see how sweet it is to watch your own son be the man many times.”

Mario and Michael finished 1-2 five times, but the family’s biggest day probably was at the Pocono 500 in 1986.

“My younger son Jeff, who was driving in the ARS [new Indy Lights] series, was on the pole and won the race. Michael was on the pole for the 500 and I won it. So between the three of us, we cleaned house that weekend. As a family there are no better moments. This sport has given us back a lot over the years.”

Now it’s Marco’s turn.

“Marco’s more like my dad than me,” Michael said. “I didn’t have as much fun because what drove me to want to win was the fear of failure. Marco loves the glory side of it, much like my dad. That’s healthy for him because I think he is going to have more fun with it than I did.”

He has some big marks to reach. Mario won 52 Indy car, 12 Formula One and numerous USAC races, plus a world F1 championship. Michael is CART’s career leader with 39 wins. Both won national championships, Mario in 1965, 1966, 1969 and 1984 and Michael in 1991.

INDY RACING LEAGUE

Tony George’s 5-year-old racing series may still be lacking in household names, but there is no arguing that it offers some exciting racing. Last Sunday’s rain-postponed race at Texas Motor Speedway, with 31 lead changes among eight drivers, was one of the finest open-wheel races in history with side-by-side racing for the entire 208 laps of the Casino Magic 500.

“I have never had so much fun in a single-seat, open-wheel race car in my life,” said Al Unser Jr., winner of two Indianapolis 500s and a participant in what many racing observers feel was the greatest race, the 1998 U.S. Grand Prix at Michigan Speedway, which had 69 lead changes.

“Whoever watched that race in Texas saw a preview of racing in the years to come,” Unser said. “I was sitting in the car, but I was standing up the whole race. I loved it.”

Unser finished third in the closest race in IRL history. Scott Sharp finished 0.059 of a second ahead of Robbie McGehee. The average speed was an IRL record 169.182 mph

“It was just unbelievable,” Sharp said. “From a participant’s point of view, and a spectator’s point of view, it’s something you just dream about. It was just amazing. You have to take your hat off to [IRL]. Just to see where this series has come, and to give the fans in Texas the best race ever, is great.”

The only glitch was that viewers on ESPN2 missed the final dramatic last seven laps because of a severe storm in Bristol, Conn., that knocked out the satellite downlinks. ESPN2 reshowed the finish of the race once the downlink signal could be reestablished.

The nine-race season will conclude at Texas World Speedway with the Mall.com 500 on Oct. 15.

FOLLOWING JUAN

If you believe Autosport, England’s definitive motor racing publication, Indy 500 winner Juan Montoya will make his last appearance with Chip Ganassi’s Target team in the Marlboro 500 at California Speedway on Oct. 29.

According to Autosport, Montoya will become Ralf Schumacher’s partner for the Williams Formula One team in 2001, with current Williams driver Jensen Button moving to another F1 team. Montoya, a former F1 test driver, has been under contract with Williams while driving, sort of on loan, for Ganassi.

“It was a very exciting race to watch, particularly because of my personal interest in Juan Pablo,” said team owner Frank Williams after Indy. “I offer my congratulations to Chip Ganassi doing a great job. And I congratulate Juan Pablo on securing a victory with a one-off car in a one-off race.

LAST LAPS

Flat track motorcycle racing on the dirt returns to Perris Auto Speedway on Saturday when former AMA champion Gene Romero presents his West Coast series. Ronnie Brown of Paso Robles is defending champion. . . . Many of the Sprint Car Racing Assn. regulars are in the Midwest, contesting the Non-Winged World Championship. Tuesday and Wednesday night’s races at Hales Corner Speedway in suburban Milwaukee were rained out. Feature event is Saturday night’s Terre Haute National Open, which pays a record $17,000 to the winner.

Sean Woodside, 1999 NASCAR Winston West champion who was left without a ride when his car owner switched drivers, will return to the series next week for the Home Depot 250 at Irwindale Speedway.

The Kentucky Speedway, newest in the growing arena of motorsports facilities, will open Saturday night with the NASCAR truck series’ Kroger 225. The $152-million speedway is near Covington, 35 miles south of Cincinnati. The facility has nearly 66,000 grandstand seats, 50 luxury suites, a 210-seat glass-enclosed restaurant and a 2,000-seat exterior club. There are plans for a drag strip and an expansion to 120,000 seats and 120 luxury suites.

NECROLOGY

Larry Nuber, 51, a pioneer TV motorsports announcer, died Tuesday of an apparent aneurysm at his home in Indianapolis. Nuber, with Bob Jenkins, announced the first race on ESPN in October 1979 at Salem, Ind., shortly after the sports network was founded. He co-hosted the weekly Speed Week TV program from 1984 to 1989. In his most famous moment, he called Bill Elliott’s million-dollar victory at the Southern 500 at Darlington, S.C., in 1985. Recently, he served as manager of Wynn’s Racing Program. Funeral services will be Saturday at Faith Community United Church of Christ in Toledo, Ohio. A memorial service is scheduled at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Speedway Christian Church in Speedway, Ind.

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This Week’s Races

WINSTON CUP, Pocono 500

* When: Today, first-round qualifying, noon; Saturday, second-round qualifying, 9 a.m.; Sunday, race (TNN 10 a.m.)

* Where: Long Pond, Pa.

* Race distance: 500 miles, 200 laps.

* Last year: Bobby Labonte won by six car-lengths over three-time Pocono winner Jeff Gordon.

* Last race: Tony Stewart won his second straight race, the Kmart 400 in Brooklyn, Mich.

* Next race: Save Mart/Kragen 350k, June 25, Sonoma, Calif.

BUSCH GRAND NATIONAL, Myrtle Beach 250

* When: Saturday, qualifying, 1 p.m.; race, (TNN, 6:30 p.m.)

* Where: Myrtle Beach, S.C.

* Race distance: 134.5 miles, 250 laps.

* Last year: Jeff Green won after race leader Jason Keller cut a tire with three laps remaining.

* Last race: Green survived 13 caution flags and a three-lap dash to the finish to win the Textilease/Medique 300 in South Boston, Va.

* Next race: Lysol 200, June 25, Watkins Glen, N.Y.

CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS, Kroger 225

* When: Today, qualifying, 4:15 p.m.; Saturday, race (ESPN, 4:30 p.m.)

* Where: Covington, Ky.

* Race distance: 150 laps, 225 miles.

* Last year: Inaugural event.

* Last race: Greg Biffle took the lead for good on lap 131, then shook off rookie teammate Kurt Busch 29 laps later to win the Pronto Auto Parts 400 in Fort Worth. With the victory, Biffle passed Jack Sprague for the series points lead.

* Next race: Bully Hill Vineyards 150, June 24, Watkins Glen, N.Y.

INDY RACING LEAGUE, Radisson Indy 200

* When: Saturday, qualifying 9:30 a.m. (ESPN2, 2:30 p.m., tape); Sunday, race (Channel 7, 1 p.m.)

* Where: Fountain, Colo.

* Race distance: 200 miles, 200 laps.

* Last year: Greg Ray held off Sam Schmidt by .12 seconds for the victory. Ray finished with an average speed of 134.111 mph.

* Last race: Scott Sharp won the fastest race in IRL history and became the circuit’s winningest driver. Sharp finished .059 seconds ahead of Robby McGehee. Sharp’s average speed of 169.182 mph broke the mark of 167.607 set by Juan Montoya in the Indianapolis 500.

* Next race: Atlanta 500, July 15, Hampton, Ga.

CHAMPIONSHIP AUTO RACING TEAMS, Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix

* When: Today, first-round qualifying, 11:30 a.m.; Saturday, second-round qualifying, 10:45 a.m.; Sunday, race (ESPN, 10 a.m.)

* Where: Detroit.

* Track: The Raceway on Belle Isle (temporary road course, 2.346 miles, 14 turns).

* Race distance: 175.95 miles, 75 laps.

* Last year: Dario Franchitti won to move into first place in the standings, five points ahead of eventual champion Juan Montoya.

* Last race: Montoya won the rain-delayed Miller Lite 225 in West Allis, Wis.

* Next race: Marconi Grand Prix, July 2, Cleveland.

FORMULA ONE, Canadian Grand Prix

* When: Saturday, qualifying (Speedvision, 10 a.m.); Sunday, race (Speedvision and Fox Sports Net, 9:30 a.m.)

* Where: Montreal.

* Race distance: 189.543 miles, 69 laps.

* Last year: Mika Hakkinen won his second straight race and third of the season.

* Last race: David Coulthard won the Monaco Grand Prix.

* Next race: French Grand Prix, July 2, Magny-Cours.

NHRA, Pontiac Excitement Nationals

* When: Today, first-round qualifying, 11:45 a.m.; Saturday, second-round qualifying, 8 a.m.; Sunday, final eliminations, 8 a.m.

* Where: Columbus, Ohio.

* Last year: Phil Burkart got his first career victory. Burkart beat Tim Wilkerson in the Funny Car division. Doug Herbert (Top Fuel), Warren Johnson (Pro Stock), Antron Brown (Pro Stock Motorcycle) and John Coughlin (Pro Stock Truck) also were winners in their respective divisions.

* Last event: Funny Car driver John Force got his record-setting 86th victory, breaking a tie with Bob Glidden, by taking the Prestone Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Ill.

* Next race: Sears Craftsman Nationals, June 24, Madison, Ill.