John Andretti News

See Also: John Andretti Biography

Monday, February 1, 2010

Window World Cares to sponsor Andretti in Daytona 500: Coming off a successful debut in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series beginning in last season's Daytona 500, Window World Inc. announced it will return as the primary sponsor of the No. 34 Window World Cares Ford driven by John Andretti in this year's "Great American Race." Window World and Andretti will again team with Front Row Motorsports. The No. 34 Ford will feature Window World's foundation, Window World Cares, and its charitable beneficiary, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.(Breaking Limits PR)

Andretti in the No. 34 during Speedweeks: John Andretti will drive the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford as one of three entries from the newly expanded team in the 2010 Daytona 500. Andretti will also race in the Budweiser Shootout. Andretti's eligible for the season-opening special event due to winning Daytona's 1997 mid-summer Cup race, the Pepsi 400. Travis Kvapil, who's signed to wheel the No. 34 the rest of the season, will drive FRM's No. 37 at Daytona in place of rookie Kevin Conway, who NASCAR wouldn't approve to race on the 2.5-mile superspeedway. Robert Richardson Jr. will drive the team's third full-time car, the No. 38. A Nationwide Series regular, Richardson will drive the season's first three restrictor-plate races for FRM. Kvapil will switch to the No. 34 at Fontana the second week of the season; Conway will drive the No. 37; and David Gilliland will step into the No. 38, which he'll drive in the majority of this season's races. Team owner Bob Jenkins said Andretti, who secured the No. 34's locked-in spot in the top 35 to start this season in the 34 races he ran for FRM in 2009, will also do a handful of other races this season in the No. 38.(NASCAR.com)

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Andretti unsure of 2010 plans: Veteran barnstormer John Andretti said he is virtually certain to make another attempt to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in May but said the demands of a NASCAR schedule have brought him to a crossroads in his 22-year career. Andretti, the 46-year-old nephew of legend Mario Andretti, competed in 34 Sprint Cup events, finishing 36th in points, in 2009. He placed 19th for Richard Petty Motorsports in his 10th Indy 500. "I'm kind of at a stage in my life where I want to enjoy everything, my family," said Andretti, who has won national series races in stock, sports, open wheel and drag racing cars. "This last year has been pretty taxing on me because I am gone all the time. So I need to really dig deep to see if I want to do it again. I enjoy the team I am with, I like the owner, and that's really what got me to do this [in 2009]. The Indianapolis 500, I would say just go ahead and write that in, but I don't know if I can go on the road and do 34 races. I am not young, but I am compared to Mark Martin, and I enjoy doing it, so it's tough."(SI.com)

Friday, Aug. 14, 2009

CARFAX to sponsor Andretti at Michigan: Carfax announced it will sponsor the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Chevy and driver John Andretti for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series CARFAX 400 at Michigan International Speedway. The No. 34 Carfax Chevy will make its debut at MIS during the first-ever 'Show Me the CARFAX Race Weekend'.(Carfax PR)

Friday, July 31, 2009

John Andretti set to make 500th start in big league racing: John Andretti will make his 500th start in Sunday’s Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500.  It’s a roundabout tally, though. Andretti, whose uncle (Mario Andretti) was once World Driving Champion, has competed in 376 Cup, 37 Nationwide, six Truck, 73 CART/ChampCar and seven IndyCar/IRL races. The Pocono 500 will thus be Cup race No. 377 and No. 500 overall. (Shelby Star)

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Tough day for John Andretti at Indy: John Andretti, taking a break from his NASCAR Sprint Cup ride to run at Indy, posted a disappointing qualifying speed of 221.109 Sunday and was trying to find more speed in practice when he crashed. Graham Rahal, working on his race day setup after qualifying fourth on Saturday, nearly hit Andretti's crashed car. Minutes later, the unfortunate Andretti's speed was bumped from the lineup by Sharp. (AP)

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Official: RPM to field Indy 500 entry: Richard Petty will field an entry for the Indianapolis 500 for the first time, with John Andretti driving the Window World-sponsored car in the 2009 edition of "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" on Sunday, May 24. Seven-time NASCAR champion Petty unveiled the #43 Window World Dallara/Honda/Firestone for Indy 500 veteran and NASCAR regular Andretti on April 6 at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Window World, the world's largest replacement window company, brought Andretti to the Daytona 500 earlier this year. Petty's new entry will feature the traditional "Petty Blue" and "Day-Glo Red" from his stock cars in the "King's" debut as a team owner in the Indy 500 after participating in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard for the past 15 years. Richard Petty Motorsports currently campaigns four Dodge cars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Window World and Petty will combine efforts with the Indy-based Dreyer & Reinbold Racing team to field the #43 Honda-powered Indy car for Andretti, an Indianapolis native.(more at Indy500.com)

Friday, April 3, 2009

J. Andretti to attempt Indy 500 in Richard Petty Motorsports entry: The King of NASCAR is going to the Indianapolis 500. Richard Petty Motorsports will field an entry for John Andretti in this year's Indy 500, sources confirmed to NASCAR.COM. It will be the first foray into the premier open-wheel event for RPM, the former Gillett Evernham team that absorbed the 60-year-old Petty Enterprises organization late last year. The formal announcement will be made Monday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Andretti could not immediately be reached for comment Friday at Texas Motor Speedway, where he was qualifying his No. 34 car for Sunday's Sprint Cup event. (NASCAR.com)

Monday, March 30, 2009

Andretti picks up Texas sponsor: myAutoloan.com will be the primary sponsor of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports entry driven by John Andretti at Texas Motor Speedway, for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup race, the Samsung 500. "I look forward to driving the No. 34 myAutoloan.com Chevrolet Impala at Texas Motor Speedway," commented driver John Andretti. "The guys in the shop have spent a lot of time the last couple of weeks getting the car ready for the race and branding it for myAutoloan.com this weekend. Texas is a fast track and we have a great car, I’m confident we will put together a superior effort." For more information about myAutoloan.com please visit myAutoloan.com. "We are grateful for the support of myAutoloan.com for the Texas race," said Front Row Motorsports team owner Bob Jenkins. "There is no doubt the Sprint Cup Series is as tough as it has ever been, but great partners like myAutoloan.com, make it possible for us to go to the track week after week."(PR Leap)

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

John Andretti to attempt full Cup season: Front Row Motorsports has hired Steve Lane from Earnhardt Ganassi Racing to be its crew chief and is still focused on running the entire season, team owner Bob Jenkins said. Driver John Andretti is 33rd in driver points and the team is 33rd in owner points for Jenkins, whose team, prior to this year, had qualified for 34 of 135 Cup races it attempted from 2005 through 2008. The team started 2009 locked into the first five races with the points from the Dale Earnhardt Inc. No. 15 car as part of an alliance with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. That brought Lane and other EGR crewmen over to work with the team, and some have now become permanent employees. The team bought some cars from EGR but also has raced its own cars this year. It also has been using Pro Motors, except for the races at Daytona and Atlanta, where it used Earnhardt Childress Racing Technologies engines. “When we started this deal, we did a technical alliance with them [at EGR] and shared information both ways,” Jenkins said. “We don’t get full-blown engineering support. We have our own folks to do that. “But there has been information-sharing. I think it has helped us and also maybe has helped them. It gives them a chance to test some things at a lower risk [than] if they were doing it on the 1 [of Martin Truex Jr.] or 42 car [of Juan Pablo Montoya].” (SceneDaily.com)