You might think that a guy with the last name Andretti would have started racing before he was able to walk-not in Adam Andretti's case. The younger brother of NASCAR Winston Cup driver John Andretti didn't get his start in racing until he was 15 years old-ancient in some circles. So what did the kid do before strapping into a real race car? "A lot of dreaming," says the now 23-year-old. "I have always wanted to race. I used to harp on my dad and my brother to get me started. When I was young, I would put on one of John's old racing helmets, get on my bike, and make racetracks around the neighborhood. I did the commentary and all the noises inside the helmet."
Today, Adam has his own helmet and runs around real racetracks. The 2002 season sees Adam competing in the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series with Countryman Motorsports. "The plan this year is to aim for the Rookie of the Year honors. In doing so, we also hope to compete for the championship," says Adam. "I feel very comfortable where I am and with the hands my career is in. I couldn't have picked better people-with my crew chief Roger Bracken and my car owner, Preston Countryman."
Adam met Countryman, a businessman from Northern California, through the Richard Petty Driving Experience. Adam was working as an instructor with the driving experience and schooled his future car owner in an advanced course at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. A year later, Countryman called Adam and told him he was starting a team in the Southwest Series and wanted Adam to drive the car. The two met and made the deal with a handshake.
It isn't surprising that Adam's racing career started with the help of brother John in 1994. "John had just made the move to Winston Cup and was making a name for himself," Adam says. "A new race car called the Mini Cup Stock Car had just come out. They were basically a half-scale Winston Cup car. John knew of Terry Lingner of Lingner Group Productions who was going to own some of these to run in the Saturday Lightning races on ESPN2 at the Velodrome in Indianapolis. John got me that ride."
After his stint in the Mini Stocks, Adam raced go-karts. His brother Mark bought him a 125cc shifter kart and they raced for the next two years. In 1999, he finished second at the World Karting Championship held in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"From that success, (Lowe's Motor Speedway President) Humpy Wheeler, a good friend of ours, invited me to come down to Charlotte to race in the Wendy's Weekly Summer Shootout in the Legends cars," Adam says. "That is what moved me down to North Carolina, what had me living with John, what had me working at the Richard Petty Driving Experience, and ultimately what has me here in California running the Southwest Tour. It is a perfect example of how life can treat you."