Michael Mario Andretti was born on October 5,1962 and is an American semi-retired auto racing driver and current team owner.
54 Facts About Michael Andretti
2.
Statistically one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, Andretti won the 1991 CART PPG Indy Car World Series and amassed 42 race victories, the most in the CART era and fourth-most all time.
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Michael Andretti is the son of Formula One World Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Mario Andretti, and the father of current IndyCar Series driver Marco Andretti.
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Michael Andretti was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania to race car driver Mario Andretti, a four-time IndyCar champion and one-time Formula One champion, and his wife Dee Ann.
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Michael Andretti obtained his SCCA National License in 1980, then won six races to claim the SCCA's Northeast Division Formula Ford championship in 1981.
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Michael Andretti drove in a number of Formula Vee races in regional SCCA events.
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Michael Andretti won the opening race of the 1983 Super Vee season before he moved up to drive in Formula Atlantic, and won his second title by winning the FIA Formula Mondial North American Cup the following season.
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Michael Andretti made his CART debut in 1983, racing for the Kraco Enterprises team.
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Michael Andretti re-signed for Kraco for the 1984 season, where he managed five third-place finishes and ended his rookie season in seventh overall.
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Michael Andretti went on to win his first IndyCar race in 1986 in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
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Michael Andretti would take the points lead with his victory on the Milwaukee Mile.
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Michael Andretti remained with Kraco and won only a single race, the Marlboro Challenge, for which no championship points were awarded.
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Michael Andretti won two races that season, Molson Indy Toronto and the Marlboro 500 at the Michigan International Speedway, placing third in points.
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Michael Andretti managed only a sixth-place finish, and could not capitalize on Unser's misfortune.
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Michael Andretti was the drivers' champion of the 1991 CART PPG Indy Car World Series.
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Michael Andretti won a total eight of 17 races, eight poles and led more than half of the laps during the season, but Rahal still took the championship battle down to the final race of the season.
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Michael Andretti's season started slowly, recording DNFs in the opening two events, then the heartbreaking second place at the Indy 500.
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Michael Andretti recovered from this, winning four of the last five races of the season and with Rahal retiring during the title decider at Laguna Seca, he cruised to the title.
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Michael Andretti would leave for F1 at the end of the year, with his seat going to the reigning Formula One World Champion, Nigel Mansell, who would win the 1993 CART title in his rookie season.
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Michael Andretti shared Rookie of the Year honours with Guerrero in 1984, when he finished fifth.
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Michael Andretti dropped out while leading the Indy 500 in 1989,1995 and 2003.
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Michael Andretti holds the record for most laps led in the Indy 500 without having achieved a victory.
23.
Michael Andretti signed during the summer of 1992 and the deal was announced at Monza over the weekend of the 1992 Italian Grand Prix.
24.
However, his showing was criticized by former McLaren World Champion James Hunt because Michael Andretti was lapped by his teammate Senna.
25.
At the time, McLaren's Special Projects Manager, long-time Andretti family friend Tyler Alexander, who had been involved in F1 since the mid-1960s, had urged Michael to relocate to England as he knew times had changed from when Mario had raced to the 1978 World Championship.
26.
Michael Andretti was able to continue and fought back up to third, holding off Wendlinger.
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Michael Andretti returned to the IndyCar racing after his unsuccessful season in Formula One with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, where he proved very successful.
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Michael Andretti went on to win in his very first race back in the series at the 1994 Australian FAI Indycar Grand Prix, around the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Queensland, Australia, having led every lap along the way.
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In 2000 the team used Lola chassis and Michael Andretti won the Firestone Firehawk 300 held at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan, and again in Toronto.
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Michael Andretti tried again to win Le Mans in 1997, again alongside Mario, but joined on this occasion by Olivier Grouillard.
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Michael Andretti ran in a third Team Green car with Motorola sponsorship and ran at Indianapolis.
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Michael Andretti led 16 laps, and was leading the race during a rain delay just beyond the halfway point.
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Michael Andretti achieved this during his championship-winning season of 1991.
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Michael Andretti entered in the first four IRL events in 2003, culminating with the 2003 Indianapolis 500, after which he retired from full-time IndyCar racing.
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Michael Andretti led the race for 28 of the opening 94 laps before a throttle linkage failure put him out of contention .
36.
Michael Andretti returned to the driver's seat for the 2006 Indianapolis 500 in a one-time effort to assist the development of his son, Marco, an IndyCar rookie for the 2006 season.
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Michael Andretti led the race with four laps to go, before falling to second behind his son a lap later.
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Michael Andretti then announced that this would be his last Indy 500 as a driver.
39.
Michael Andretti leaves driving competition at Indy with a frustrating distinction: the driver who led the most laps without winning the race.
40.
Michael Andretti competed in 16 Indy 500s, with a top finish of second in 1991, but led the race nine times.
41.
Michael Andretti served not only as the team owners, but as the strategist on Ryan Hunter-Reay's four race victories.
42.
At the beginning of 2018, he partnered with Ryan Walkinshaw's Walkinshaw Racing and Zak Brown's United Autosports to create Walkinshaw Michael Andretti United which competes in the Australian Supercars Championship.
43.
On February 18,2022, it was announced that Michael Andretti had submitted a request with the FIA to enter Formula 1 under "Michael Andretti Global".
44.
In 1996, Michael Andretti invested in a Toyota dealership in his home state of Pennsylvania.
45.
Michael Andretti joined the show as a last-minute replacement for his son Marco, who dropped out when Marco's friend Dan Wheldon was killed in the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship hours before Apprentice filming was scheduled to begin.
46.
Michael Andretti was fired in the fourth episode, after a presentation for Buick executives of the Buick Verano.
47.
Michael Andretti promoted the Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana, the Miami ePrix and the Global RallyCross Championship events at Washington and New York.
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Michael Andretti is the son of Formula 1, CART and NASCAR racing legend Mario Andretti.
49.
Michael's uncle Aldo Andretti was an open wheel racer until an accident ended his racing career.
50.
Michael Andretti returned to IndyCar in 2007,2008,2009,2010 and 2011, where he raced in the Indy 500.
51.
The Andretti family became the first family to have five members compete in the same series.
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Michael Andretti remarried on December 24,1997 to Leslie Wood.
53.
Two years later on July 15,2006 Michael Andretti announced his engagement to former Miss Oregon Teen USA 1994, Playboy Playmate of the Year 2000, model and actress Jodi Ann Paterson.
54.
Michael Andretti was inducted into National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in 2002, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2008, the Long Beach Grand Prix Walk of Fame in 2010, the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2012, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 2012.