1. John Andrew Andretti was an American professional race car driver.
50 Facts About John Andretti
1. 2.
John Andretti won individual races in CART, IMSA GTP, Rolex Sports Car Series, and NASCAR during his career.
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John Andretti is the first cousin once-removed of Marco Andretti.
4.
John Andretti was born on March 12,1963, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to "Corky" and Aldo John Andretti.
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John Andretti attended Moravian College in Bethlehem, where he graduated in 1985 with a degree in business management.
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John Andretti later reflected that he likely would have been an investment banker or stock broker if he had not started racing.
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In 1986, John Andretti joined the BMW North America team for the 1986 IMSA GTP season.
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John Andretti finished fifth in points in the 1989 IMSA season, first among Porsche drivers.
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John Andretti finished a career-best fifth in the 1991 Indianapolis 500.
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John Andretti made his Winston Cup debut in 1993, driving the No 72 Tex Racing Chevy for Tex Powell at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where he started 31st and finished 24th.
11.
John Andretti finished tenth at Indy and 36th in the Coca-Cola 600 after suffering mechanical failures.
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John Andretti ended the season thirty-second in points and fifth in the Rookie of the Year battle.
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John Andretti won his first career pole at the Southern 500 and finished in the top ten five times.
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John Andretti returned to the No 43 Petty car in 1998.
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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.
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John Andretti fell to twenty-third in points after finishing in the top ten twice.
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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.
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In 2001, John Andretti teamed up with Kyle Petty to win the GT Class in the six-hour sports car race at Watkins Glen.
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John Andretti started the 2004 season driving the No 1 part-time for DEI, but departed midway through the season.
20.
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.
21.
John Andretti started 2005 still driving with ppc, but the team was forced to dissolve due to a lack of funding.
22.
John Andretti drove four races in the Craftsman Truck Series for Billy Ballew Motorsports, and finished eighth at Memphis Motorsports Park.
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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.
24.
In 2006, John Andretti returned to ppc to drive their No 10 Busch Series car.
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John Andretti finished runner-up to Danny O'Quinn for the award.
26.
When funding for the team became questionable, John Andretti left Braun Racing.
27.
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.
28.
John Andretti finished the season in the No 49 Paralyzed Veterans of America-sponsored Dodge for BAM Racing.
29.
In 2007, John Andretti returned to the Indianapolis 500 for the first time since 1994 when he competed in the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in the same day.
30.
John Andretti drove the third entry from Panther Racing, with Camping World as the sponsor.
31.
John Andretti started in 24th on the eighth row, but crashed on lap 95 and finished 30th.
32.
In 2008, John Andretti replaced Jay Howard in the Roth Racing No 24 Dallara-Honda.
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Also in 2008, John Andretti returned to 24 Hours of Daytona in the Rolex Sports Car Series.
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John Andretti drove for Front Row Motorsports in 2008, driving the No 34 Chevrolet Impala SS in the Sprint Cup Series.
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John Andretti raced his way into the 2008 Daytona 500 in the second Gatorade Duel race.
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John Andretti drove in the first ten races of the season in the 34 before leaving to focus on his IndyCar team.
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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.
38.
John Andretti's final start for the team was at Richmond International Raceway the following week, where he was knocked out by a crash.
39.
In 2009, John Andretti returned full-time to the 34 in a partnership between Front Row and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.
40.
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 NASCAR race.
41.
In March 2010, John Andretti announced that he would join forces with Richard Petty and Window World for two events.
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The No 43 returned as the entry, which was backed by Andretti Autosport, owned by John's cousin Michael.
43.
John Andretti crashed out of the race on lap 65, and was credited with a 30th-place finish.
44.
In 2011, John Andretti ran in the centennial Indianapolis 500, partnered with Window World, Petty, and John Andretti Autosport, where he finished 22nd.
45.
In 2012, John Andretti returned to the Rolex 24 at Daytona with Yellow Dragon Motorsports with support from long-time sponsor Window World.
46.
John Andretti's co-drivers were Taylor Hacquard, Anders Krohn and his son Jarett.
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John Andretti was active in the Indianapolis-area community, working with 93.1 WIBC, and Dave "The King" Wilson, and General Mills to hold the Race for Riley, benefiting James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children.
48.
John Andretti went through another round of chemotherapy for the rest of the year, which ended in January 2019.
49.
On January 30,2020, John Andretti died of colon cancer in Mooresville, North Carolina, at age 56, eleven months before the death of his father.
50.
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.