52 Facts About John Andretti

John Andrew Andretti was an American race car driver.

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

John Andretti was born on March 12,1963, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to "Corky" and Aldo Andretti.

John Andretti graduated from Moravian College with a degree in business management and later reflected he would have been an investment banker or stock broker if he had not started racing.

John Andretti joined the BMW North America team for a full IMSA GTP season in 1986.

John Andretti won that year at Watkins Glen, paired with Davy Jones.

John Andretti joined the PPG Indy Car World Series in 1987.

John Andretti finished a career-best fifth in the 1991 Indianapolis 500.

In 1986 John Andretti drove a BMW M12 March, along with co-driver Davy Jones, in the 1986 IMSA GT Championship season.

John Andretti finished fifth in points in the 1989 IMSA season, first among Porsche drivers.

In 2001 John Andretti teamed up with Kyle Petty to win the GT Class in the 6-hour sports car race at Watkins Glen.

John Andretti returned to the 24 Hours of Daytona in the Rolex Sports Car Series in 2008.

In 1993, John Andretti drove the Taco Bell Express Top Fuel Dragster for owner Jack Clark.

John Andretti drove the No 72 Tex Racing Chevy for Tex Powell at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where he started 31st and finished twenty-fourth.

John Andretti finished tenth at Indy and thirty-sixth in the Coca-Cola 600 after suffering mechanical failures.

John Andretti ended the season thirty-second in points and fifth in the Rookie of the Year battle.

John Andretti won his first career pole at the Southern 500 and finished in the top ten five times.

John Andretti placed fifth at the Hanes 500 and had two more top-ten finishes.

John Andretti returned to the No 43 Petty car in 1998.

John Andretti won his second career race in 1999 at Martinsville Speedway, where he made up a lost lap and took the lead with four laps to go.

John Andretti fell to twenty-third in points after finishing in the top ten twice.

John Andretti ran a couple of races for Haas CNC Racing and Richard Childress Racing before finishing the season in the No 1 Pennzoil-sponsored Chevy for Dale Earnhardt, Inc His best finish that year was eighth at California.

John Andretti started the 2004 season driving the No 1 part-time for DEI, but departed midway through the season.

John Andretti ended the year driving the No 14 Victory Brand-sponsored Ford Taurus for ppc Racing and finished twenty-second at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

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

John Andretti drove four races in the Craftsman Truck Series for Billy Ballew Motorsports, and finished eighth at Memphis Motorsports Park.

John Andretti attempted a handful of Cup races for Morgan-McClure Motorsports' No 4 Lucas Oil-sponsored Chevrolet, finishing twenty-eighth at Michigan International Speedway, one lap down.

In 2006, John Andretti returned to ppc to drive their No 10 Busch Series car.

John Andretti finished runner-up to Danny O'Quinn for the award.

When funding for the team became questionable, John Andretti left Braun Racing.

John Andretti drove four races for Petty Enterprises in the No 45 car, where he filled in for Kyle Petty, who was working as a broadcaster for Turner Network Television's race coverage.

John Andretti finished the season in the No 49 Paralyzed Veterans of America-sponsored Dodge for BAM Racing.

John Andretti drove for Front Row Motorsports in 2008, driving the No 34 Chevrolet Impala SS in the Sprint Cup Series.

John Andretti raced his way into the 2008 Daytona 500 in the second Gatorade Duel race.

John Andretti drove in the first ten races of the season in the 34 before leaving to focus on his IndyCar team.

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

John Andretti did not have a full-time ride for 2010, but drove the No 34 Front Row Motorsports entry to a 38th-place finish after an accident on lap 117 in the Daytona 500, his final race in NASCAR.

In 2007, John Andretti returned to the Indianapolis 500 for the first time since 1994 when he pulled the double.

John Andretti drove the third entry from Panther Racing, with Camping World as the sponsor.

John Andretti started in 24th on the eighth row, but crashed on lap 95 and finished 30th.

In 2008 John Andretti replaced Jay Howard in the Roth Racing No 24 Dallara-Honda.

John Andretti's run with Roth Racing produced some notable results for the team.

John Andretti began the race at Iowa Speedway with a rough 23rd position start, but steadily worked his way through the field to capture an 11th-place finish, the best for a Roth Racing machine.

John Andretti's final start for the team was at Richmond International Raceway the next week, where he was knocked out by a crash.

On March 31,2010, John Andretti announced that he would join forces with Richard Petty and Window World for two events.

The No 43 returned as the entry, which was backed by Andretti Autosport, owned by John's cousin Michael.

John Andretti crashed out of the race on lap 65, and was credited with a 30th-place finish.

John Andretti ran in the centennial Indianapolis 500, partnered with Window World, Petty, and John Andretti Autosport.

John Andretti's son, Jarett, was a USAC sprint car driver and later a driver in the GT4 America Series.

John Andretti went through another round of chemotherapy for the rest of the year, which ended in January 2019.

John Andretti died of colon cancer on January 30,2020, at age 56.

In 2021, John Andretti Motorsports announced a partnership with Jarrett and Unite Health Share Ministries for the "Steer Clear of Cancer" campaign, to raise donations for the foundation during Colon Cancer Awareness Month.