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Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas, John Sturbin Column: THAT's RACIN'

Posted on: Friday, 2 June 2006, 00:00 CDT

By John Sturbin, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

Jun. 1--We were in the getting-to-know-you stage with IRL IndyCar Series rookie Marco Andretti at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and a couple of his teammates were eager to give us their keen insight.

"Marco has it tough," said Bryan Herta, one of Andretti's three regular-season teammates at Andretti Green Racing. "He's 19. Moved out on his own. Living in Indianapolis. He only has about a 2,300-square-foot apartment. He's feeling pretty cramped right now. Couple of cars. Went watch-shopping yesterday. Things are tough. We're trying to ease him through it."

As an afterthought, Herta suggested: "Ask him if he still TiVo's The Wiggles."

Yes, Marco Andretti is a young-looking 19.

"He looks like he's 14; doesn't have to shave for two weeks," said Tony Kanaan, a former series champion and another of Marco's AGR Big Brothers. "Sometimes we play jokes on him like he's 14. But when he's driving the car, he's definitely older than 19."

Marco Andretti definitely has replaced departed free agent Dan Wheldon as the subject of all pranks regularly perpetrated by AGR's Herta, Kanaan and Dario Franchitti, the Indy Racing League's version of The Three Stooges. They kept Wheldon looking over his shoulder for three years, before the Englishman joined series rival Target Chip Ganassi Racing during the off-season.

Enter Marco -- son of Michael, grandson of Mario. Third generation of open-wheel racer with that lyrical, magical surname Andretti. And while a "name" in and of itself doesn't guarantee success in motorsports, it can open doors faster if you've got the proper skill sets.

If you've got that elusive "it." During the closing laps of Sunday's 90th Indy 500 -- when he passed his famous father and led the race and finished second to Sam Hornish Jr. by an eyelash -- Marco Andretti demonstrated he's got what it takes to become a motorsports superstar.

"He drove a great, clean race," Mario Andretti said Sunday evening. "The kid became a man today."

That said, take advantage of every opportunity to see this man-child race up close and personal -- specifically during the Bombardier Learjet 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 10. Because once he wins his first IndyCar race and a few more and challenges for a championship, Marco will be spending his Memorial Day weekends driving in the Monaco Grand Prix.

Four races into his IRL career, Marco already is on record that his next dream is to compete in Formula One, where his grandpa was World Driving Champion with Team Lotus in 1978 and his father failed to complete the 1993 season with Team McLaren. It has taken 13 years for an American to land a full-time seat in F1, but Californian Scott Speed hasn't generated any buzz yet. And while Speed is a fitting surname, it's not Andretti. A 19-year-old Andretti. An Andretti who, after he finished second in the world's greatest auto race, stared calmly into the TV cameras and declared, "Second is nothing here."

Surely, some F1 team principal heard or read those remarks, and told himself that's the kind of American driver I need. That's the kind of driver American fans and sponsors will relate to, whether or not the U.S. Grand Prix turns out to be a failed experiment at the same Indianapolis Motor Speedway where Marco left them out of breath.

"It's a funny story with Marco," said Michael Andretti, 43, who finished third, behind his son, at IMS. "The first time I really felt that he had it was I was taking him for a ride on a four-wheeler, and the [cell]phone rang. I had to pull off, and I let him sit on the machine. Now, I would let him drive it with me sitting behind him, so I knew he could do it. I saw him ... he'd get on the throttle, move it a little bit ... look back at me ... smile. And then he'd do it again. And then he took off -- in total control. He's 3 1/2 years old, and I swear, the kid was unbelievable."

Just like on Sunday. That said, come watch him race in Fort Worth on June 10, before Marco leaves to take on the world.

PIT STOPS

Kyle Busch fined, placed on probation: NASCAR has fined Nextel Cup Series regular Kyle Busch $50,000, docked him 25 driver championship points and placed him on probation for conduct during the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Sunday night. Busch, 21, was cited for "actions detrimental to stock-car racing" after disobeying a directive from a NASCAR official, walking onto the racing surface without authorization and flipping a piece of safety equipment at Casey Mears' car following a late-race crash. Busch is on probation until Dec. 31. In addition, car owner Rick Hendrick was penalized 25 owner championship points.

A contrite Busch acknowledged Wednesday he "made a mistake." The fine tied for second-highest in NASCAR history, behind a $60,000 penalty paid by crew chief Ray Evernham in 1995.

NASCAR officials also found the roof height on the No. 19 Dodge driven by Jeremy Mayfield to be too low during post-race inspection, prompting a $35,000 fine for crew chief Chris Andrews, the loss of 25 driver points for Mayfield and 25 owner points for Evernham.

Andretti, Unser Jr. decline TMS offer: Representatives for open-wheel stars Michael Andretti and Al Unser Jr. have declined a $100,000 sponsorship offer from Texas Motor Speedway to compete in the IRL IndyCar Series' Bombardier Learjet 500 on June 10. Both drivers had come out of retirement to compete in the 90th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, and TMS president Eddie Gossage had offered $100,000 to be equally divided if both agreed to race under the lights in Fort Worth.

"Had we been given a few months to work on this, we may have been able to make it work," Kevin Savoree, a co-owner of Andretti Green Racing along with Andretti and Kim Green, said in a statement. Former IRL regular Robbie Buhl, a co-owner of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, said his single-car operation was not in position to again prepare a second car for Unser, who finished 24th after crashing out as teammate to Buddy Lazier.

Briscoe replaces Lazier at The Glen: Australian road-racing specialist Ryan Briscoe will replace former IRL IndyCar Series champion Buddy Lazier in the No. 5 Dallara/Honda for the Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Indy Grand Prix on Sunday. Briscoe, a former Formula One test driver, competed in 14 IndyCar Series events with Target Chip Ganassi Racing in 2005. He qualified on-pole for the road-race at Infineon Raceway in August and led laps in that event and during the street race at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Gossage makes "Power List" cut: Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage has been ranked 40th on The Charlotte Observer's expanded list of NASCAR's most powerful people. The list was expanded from 25 to 43, symbolic of the number of starters in a Nextel Cup Series race. O. Bruton Smith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc. -- parent company of TMS -- shared the No. 5 slot with son Marcus Smith, SMI executive vice president/national sales and marketing. H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, president of Lowe's Motor Speedway and SMI's chief operating officer, was ranked No. 19.

Hornish Jr. to bowl for charity: Reigning Indy 500 champion Sam Hornish Jr. will preside over his second annual Celebrity Bowling Tournament at AMF Showplace Lanes in Euless at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The event benefits Speedway Children's Charities. To purchase a lane in the tournament, contact Speedway Children's Charities-Texas Chapter at 817-215-8564.

ON THE GRID

NASCAR NEXTEL CUP

Neighborhood Excellence 400

Site: Dover Downs International Speedway (oval, 1 mile, 24 degrees banking in turns).

TV schedule: Friday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 4:30 p.m.); Sunday, race (FX, 12:30 p.m.).

Race distance: 400 miles/400 laps.

2005 champ: Greg Biffle

NASCAR BUSCH

StonebridgeRacing.com 200

Site: Dover Downs International Speedway (oval, 1 mile, 24 degrees banking in turns).

TV schedule: Saturday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 11 a.m.), race (FX, 2 p.m.).

Race distance: 200 miles/200 laps.

2005 champ: Martin Truex Jr.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS

AAA Insurance 200

Site: Dover Downs International Speedway (oval, 1 mile, 24 degrees banking in turns).

TV schedule: Friday, race (Speed Channel, 7 p.m.).

Race distance: 200 miles/200 laps.

2005 champ: Kyle Busch

CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES

The Milwaukee Mile

Site: The Milwaukee Mile (oval, 1.032 miles, 9 degrees banking in turns).

TV schedule: Sunday, race (Speed Channel, 1 p.m.).

Race distance: 232.20 miles/225 laps.

2005 champ: Paul Tracy

INDY RACING LEAGUE

Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix

Site: Watkins Glen International (permanent road course, 3.4 miles, 11 turns).

TV schedule: Sunday, race (WFAA/Ch. 8, 2:30 p.m.).

Race distance: 204 miles/60 laps.

2005 champ: Dan Wheldon

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Copyright (c) 2006, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas)

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