Andretti Has Some Unfinished Business in Return to Indy 500

Michael Andretti has led more laps in the Indianapolis 500 than any driver who has never won the race. He has been in front for 382 laps in 11 races, but never for the last one.

Now 38, and having not raced there since 1995, the son of 1969 winner Mario Andretti will get another chance May 27 to fill the most noticeable void in his racing resume.

Once CART’s most outspoken critic of Tony George’s Indy Racing League and the way George left CART with little choice but to boycott the 500 a few years back, the younger Andretti admits to a change in attitude as he prepares to drive an Oldsmobile-powered Dallara IRL car at Indianapolis.

“I probably said some things that were wrong, but I was emotional when I felt I wasn’t going to get back to Indy,” he said. “Last year, when I became a free agent after being let go by Newman-Haas, I started to investigate both sides. I talked with the president of Northern Lights [the IRL’s series sponsor] and started to understand what the IRL was all about. I liked the direction they were going, doing a lot of things right.

“Most important, I realized the IRL is not trying to compete with us. It is the oval series of America and we are more an international series that runs all different types of tracks. Now I believe there will always be two series.”

Andretti’s car will be jointly prepared by Team Green, his CART team owned by Barry Green, and Panther Racing, the John Barnes-owned IRL team that will provide two cars and crew support. He tested the car earlier this week at the Homestead track in Miami and plans a two-day test at Indianapolis on Easter Sunday and Monday.

Logistically, running the 500 and keeping his CART commitments will squeeze Andretti. He will miss the first two days of practice at Indy, May 5-6, to race at Nazareth, Pa.

“There will be nice weather at Nazareth so we can get to Indy to start practicing Monday, and it will be nice weather at Indy so we can qualify Saturday and work on our race setup Sunday before we leave for Japan [where CART has a race May 19 at Motegi]. I have some commitments for Honda there early in the week and our race is Saturday. We’ll be back at Indy on Wednesday in time for carburetion day and the race on Sunday.”

Andretti specified nice weather, because last year the Nazareth race was postponed by snow and in 1995, his last year at the Speedway, it rained on qualifying day.

Although he has missed racing at Indy every May, it was especially difficult last year, when he watched Juan Montoya, a fellow CART driver, run away with the race after Chip Ganassi had crossed over and entered his Target team in the 500.

“It was really depressing, for two reasons, not being there last year,” Andretti said. “First off, we thought we had a shot at going but Ford said no. Then, watching Juan run out front, I felt if I had been there, I could have kept him honest.”

Ford, which furnished engines for the Newman-Haas CART team then, refused to allow its drivers to race in the 500, fearing headlines reading, “Andretti wins 500, with an Olds.”

“At the time, I had no idea I would be let go by Carl Haas and I believed he was going to stick with Ford [Haas has since switched to Toyota] so I figured I was out of luck,” Andretti said. “I believe things happen for a reason. I believe that’s why Carl picked up my option, why Barry [Green] called me and why Motorola and Archipelago got together with sponsorship. I told Barry when we were negotiating that I wanted a chance to get back to Indy and he really worked to make it happen.”

In the meantime, there’s the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach next weekend, a race Michael won in 1986, the first of his 40 CART wins.

“We cannot let our Indy program interfere with our CART program,” Green said. “We cannot spread ourselves too thin, so we will depend on John Barnes’ crew to help us with our Indy testing and at the track. We are very comfortable leaning on Panther Racing and want to thank John for making this all possible.”

Barnes’ Panther Racing driver, Sam Hornish Jr., won the opening IRL race at Phoenix two weeks ago.

“As for Long Beach, we feel quite confident after doing so well last year,” Green said, alluding to Paul Tracy’s victory in a Team Green car.

DRAG RACING

California Speedway is planning to build a quarter-mile drag strip to be used by the National Hot Rod Assn. for its street-legal drag racing program. A proposal has been submitted to San Bernardino County officials, seeking a revision in the conditional-use permit originally granted the Speedway in 1997.

The proposed strip would be on the south side of the property, next to the steel mill.

A similar proposal, for an eighth-mile strip, is being studied for Irwindale Speedway. The Irwindale city planning commission is expected to act on the proposal at its meeting next Thursday.

*

Blaine Johnson, killed in an accident during the 1996 U.S. Nationals, has been named No. 36 in the National Hot Rod Assn.’s list of its 50 greatest drivers. Johnson, after winning four alcohol dragster titles while driving his brother Alan’s car, was leading in the NHRA top-fuel championship at the time of his death. Among his wins were two at Pomona.

SAFETY MEASURE WORKS

Former California Racing Assn. sprint car champion Brad Noffsinger credits a Bill Simpson-designed head and neck support device for, if not saving his life in a crash at Phoenix two weeks ago, at least saving him from possible paralysis. In the USAC Silver Bullet race, Noffsinger crashed head-on into the first-turn wall and suffered a compound fracture of his wrist but no head injuries.

“I couldn’t wait to call Simpson to tell him how much his device helped,” Noffsinger said at last Saturday night’s Silver Bullet race at Irwindale.

“At impact, I could feel how it held my head stable. Before, I would have whacked the steering wheel or my head would have whiplashed, but his straps prevented it from snapping forward.”

The Simpson safety device is similar to the more highly publicized HANS device to protect against head injuries in sudden impacts.

ARE THE 1970s BACK?

Old-time NASCAR fans must have had a touch of deja vu when they watched John Andretti chasing Elliott Sadler to the finish line in last Sunday’s Winston Cup race at Bristol, Tenn.

It was the Petty Enterprises’ No. 43 chasing the Wood Brothers’ No. 21, same as it was three decades ago, when Richard Petty in 43 was chasing David Pearson in the Woods’ 21--or vice versa--in most Winston Cup races.

BUCKING THE ODDS

London bookmakers have made Michael Schumacher a 13-8 favorite to win Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix, the lowest odds posted for a Formula One race in many years. And for good reason. The German Ferrari driver has won both of the races run this year, and won the last four of 2000, all after starting from the pole. . . . The situation in the EA Sports Supercross is nearly the same with Kawasaki rider Ricky Carmichael having won eight in a row as the series heads for St. Louis and the Trans World Dome on Saturday night.

LAST LAPS

Tony Jones, winner of the Gary Sokola Classic at Phoenix’s Manzanita Speedway two weeks ago, will be seeking his third Sprint Car Racing Assn. victory Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway. Jones, son of Hall of Fame sprint car driver Bubby Jones, moved into a tie for second place with John Scott as both trail Cory Kruseman, 420-327. . . . NASCAR Weekly Racing Series competition returns to Irwindale Speedway on Saturday night with a busy program of super-late models, super-stocks, Grand American modifieds, Ultra Wheels super-trucks and legend cars.

Frank Honsowitz, former manager of Nissan North American Motorsports, has been appointed general manager of Ed Pink Racing Engines in Van Nuys. . . . The Curb-Agajanian Indy car team is looking for a driver for the Indianapolis 500. Billy Boat, their IRL driver, is committed to A.J. Foyt for the 500. Candidates include Robby Gordon and PJ Jones, both left unemployed when dropped from NASCAR teams.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

This Week’s Races

WINSTON CUP, Harrah’s 500

* When: Today, qualifying (Fox Sports Net, 1 p.m.); Sunday, race (Channel 11, 10 a.m.)

* Where: Texas Motor Speedway (quad-oval, 1.5 miles, 24-degree banking in turns), Fort Worth.

* Race distance: 501 miles, 334 laps.

* Last race: Elliott Sadler earned his first career victory at the Food City 500 in Bristol, Tenn., where Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon made contact on the final lap, sending Stewart spinning. Stewart raced around the track on the cool-down lap and hit Gordon’s car on pit road. NASCAR fined Stewart $10,000 and put him on probation until Aug. 29.

* Last year: Dale Earnhardt Jr. got his first Winston Cup victory in a car owned by his late father, who finished seventh.

* Next race: Virginia 500, April 8, Martinsville, Va.

* On the Net: https://www.nascar.com

BUSCH, Jani-King 300

* When: Saturday, race (Channel 11, 10 a.m.)

* Where: Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth.

* Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.

* Last race: Matt Kenseth, struggling this season in his Winston Cup car, found success in the Busch series by winning the crash-filled Cheez-It 250 in Bristol. Kenseth led the final 48 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway and easily beat Tim Fedewa to the finish line for his 12th career Busch victory.

* Last year: Mark Martin beat Matt Kenseth by .403 of a second.

* Next race: Pepsi 300, April 14, Nashville.

* On the Net: https://www.nascar.com

FORMULA ONE, Brazilian Grand Prix

* When: Saturday, qualifying, 7 a.m.; Sunday, race (Speedvision, 9:30 a.m.)

* Where: Interlagos, Jose Carlos Pace (road course, 2.661 miles), Sao Paulo, Brazil.

* Race distance: 191.592 miles, 72 laps.

* Last race: Michael Schumacher won his sixth consecutive Formula One race, taking the Malaysian Grand Prix despite tropical rain, a botched pit stop and a ride in a backup car. The three-time series champion also had to overcome a spinout and two aborted starts. Schumacher, whose streak dates to last season, is three victories short of the record nine set by Ferrari’s Alberto Ascari in 1952-53.

* Last year: Schumacher won for the second consecutive week.

* Next race: San Marino Grand Prix, April 15, Imola, Italy.

* On the Net: https://www.formula1.com