John Andretti

John Andrew Andretti (March 12, 1963 – January 30, 2020) was an American professional race car driver.

He won individual races in CART, IMSA GTP, Rolex Sports Car Series, and NASCAR during his career.

[1] Andretti attended Moravian College in Bethlehem, where he graduated in 1985 with a degree in business management.

[3] In 1986, Andretti joined the BMW North America team for the 1986 IMSA GTP season.

Paired with Davy Jones, he won that year's Watkins Glen International race.

[1][4] The following year, in 1987, Andretti joined CART's PPG Indy Car World Series.

Later in the 1989 IMSA season, Andretti and Wollek won the Pontiac Grand Prix of Palm Beach, driving the same Porsche 962.

[6] In 1991, he won the only race of his CART career, the Gold Coast Indy 300 in Surfer's Paradise, Australia.

In that race, he beat 1992 T/F Champion Joe Amato in Round 1 and Mopar Express Lube driver Tommy Johnson Jr. in Round 2, but lost to Mike Dunn in Darrell Gwynn's La Victoria Salsa Car in the semi-finals.

In 2001, Andretti teamed up with Kyle Petty to win the GT Class in the six-hour sports car race at Watkins Glen.

14 Victory Brand-sponsored Ford Taurus for ppc Racing and finished twenty-second at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Andretti started 2005 still driving with ppc, but the team was forced to dissolve due to a lack of funding.

Despite having made over three hundred Cup starts with two victories, Andretti applied for and was accepted as a contender for Rookie of the Year.

45 car, where he filled in for Kyle Petty, who was working as a broadcaster for Turner Network Television's race coverage.

Team drivers for the Vision Racing the Porsche Crawford Prototype included Ed Carpenter, A. J. Foyt IV, and Vítor Meira.

Roth Racing contracted to a single car for the rest of the season and then ceased operations.

In 2009, Andretti returned full-time to the 34 in a partnership between Front Row and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.

34 Front Row Motorsports entry to a 38th-place finish after an accident on lap 117 in the Daytona 500, his final NASCAR race.

Andretti qualified for the race on bump day in 28th, and finished in 19th place, the final car on the lead lap.

In March 2010, Andretti announced that he would join forces with Richard Petty and Window World for two events.

43 returned as the entry, which was backed by Andretti Autosport, owned by John's cousin Michael.

In 2012, Andretti returned to the Rolex 24 at Daytona with Yellow Dragon Motorsports with support from long-time sponsor Window World.

The team retired with engine issues during the overnight hours and finished 50th overall in what ended up being Andretti's final professional race.

In 2007, Andretti began co-hosting The Driver's Seat with John Kernan on Sirius Satellite Radio's NASCAR channel 90.

Andretti's son, Jarett, currently races a GT Porsche in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship with co-driver Gabby Chaves.

[11] Jarett formerly competed in the USAC National Sprint Car Championship and the GT4 America Series.

On January 30, 2020, Andretti died of colon cancer in Mooresville, North Carolina, at age 56, eleven months before the death of his father.

Andretti's 1997 race car at Pocono Raceway
Andretti in the Petty Enterprise No. 43 Pontiac at Pocono Raceway in June 1998
Andretti with uncle Mario at the 2007 Indianapolis 500
Andretti's Sprint Cup car at the 2008 Daytona 500
Andretti driving the Roth Racing No. 24 car in practice for the 2008 Indianapolis 500