Another Andretti

This season Adam is gunning for Rookie of the Year in NASCAR’s Featherlite Southwest Series.

Adam started on the small side, with runs in go-karts, Legends and Mini Cup Stock Cars.

“He (Adam) never drives over his head, but is always competitive and gets better and better.” —John Andretti

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.”

John Andretti says he has been impressed by his brother’s racing. “He never drives over his head, but is always competitive and gets better and better,” John says. “The first time I saw him drive was in a shifter-kart at Charlotte. He was so smooth. It looked like he was going slow, but he was just so smooth and really relaxed. That is usually a good sign.”

No doubt having the name Andretti helped Adam pave his way in motorsports—and he will wholeheartedly agree with you on that. However, Adam will also tell you that it wasn’t always easy.

“The name Andretti is synonymous with motorsports,” he says. “It is a unique opportunity for a sponsor to be connected to a name that is already recognized and proven. I count my blessings everyday for who I am and where I came from. However, the road has never been easy. Everyone in my family has worked very hard for what they achieved.

“My cousin Michael said it best, ‘When you are an Andretti and don’t win a race, they wonder why. When you finally win a race, everyone thinks he is an Andretti, of course he should win.’ The credit is never there. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. Being an Andretti has been great for my career. I am a nephew of a racing legend, the son of his brother Aldo, who is also an incredible race car driver, brother to John, cousin to Michael—the list goes on and on. However, that just cracks the door open. I have to come through with my personality and my driving ability and kick the door open. You always have to work for it, but that is the sweetest part of it. When you gain the success, you know you worked hard for it and deserve it.”

As far as goals are concerned, Adam plans to concentrate on the Southwest Series and a few Craftsman Truck Series races this year. When it comes to long-term goals, he wants to one day race side by side with John.

“My brothers John and Mark got to race together, and they also got to race with my cousins Michael and Jeff. I never got to race or compete with any of my family. I really look forward to slamming some doors with John some day. That is my long term goal—to reach the ultimate level of Winston Cup and be able to compete against my brother and have a really good time with my career.”

John expects that moment will come. In the meantime, he says, Adam needs to gain more experience. “Adam is going to be tough, but I think you need to arrive when it’s the right opportunity,” John says. “Adam has to make sure he’s ready for it. There is no moving on from here. As far as stock car racing goes, Winston Cup is where it stops. He needs to take it one step at a time.”