It Ain't Easy Being With Green - Michael Andretti, racing car driver - Interview

Auto Racing Digest, Sept, 2001 by Chris Dolack

Michael Andretti could have eased into the IRL or stuck with Newman-Haas, but the veteran instead is traveling a more demanding path with Barry Green's Team Motorola--and he's pleased with his choice

FOR MICHAEL ANDRETTI, THE grass really is greener on the other side. Andretti, America's most recognizable active driver this side of NASCAR, bolted Newman-Haas after the 2000 season and formed Team Motorola with owner Barry Green, who also fields cars for veteran drivers Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy.

Entering the season, Andretti--the 1991 series champion--had 40 career victories, trailing only A.J. Foyt (67) and his father, Mario (52). He had been on the pole 32 times. And he has at least one victory in each of the past 13 years he has competed in the series. What Andretti did not have was a victory in the Indianapolis 500--and that, probably more than anything, is why he left one of the most respected teams in the paddock. Newman-Haas was not ready to return to The Brickyard, so Andretti sought greener pastures. "I had been wanting to back there for a while," says Andretti, 38. "I know watching it last year was pretty difficult. When I did my deal with Barry, I stressed that I wanted to go back."

Andretti's desire for a return to Indianapolis was so great that he considered following Al Unser Jr. and leaving CART altogether for a ride in the Indy Racing League, which sanctions the Indianapolis 500. "I almost drove in the IRL this year," he says. "I did a lot of research and I understand a lot more now."

That understanding led to a working relationship with Panther Racing and driver Sam Hornish Jr., who won the IRL's first two events this season--including a race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where only CART and NASCAR had raced previously. "I think we helped him out," says Andretti. "Sam went out and dominated the race."

When CART and the IRL went their separate ways after the 1995 season, the dialogue between the two series was often heated, and it deepened the wedge between series founder and Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George and the owners and drivers in CART. Until CART drivers began to come to Indianapolis in 2000, there was little hope the two sides would ever reconcile.

Now, with Ganassi, Penske and Andretti back home again in Indiana, it appears the two sides have found a way to peacefully coexist. "I actually apologized for some of the things I said early on," says Andretti. "I know there's going to be two series. I don't know that the two sides can race together, but maybe the rules will come together and make that more cost-effective."

Despite the allure of Indy, the early CART season was anything but typical--and anything but a smooth ride. For Andretti the season was to start at the new Texas Motor Speedway, but the race was suspended for safety reasons. At speeds reaching near 240 mph--and on a 1.5-mile oval with 24 degrees of banking--some drivers almost blacked-out on long practice runs because of G-forces pulling against their bodies. "In my 25 years of auto racing, I never experienced the kind of forces I experienced there," says Andretti.

After that disappointment--and the subsequent media crush, much of which honed in on the elder statesman--Andretti began May in his eastern Pennsylvania hometown, at Nazareth Speedway, where CART likely raced for the final time. After the race, while the IRL drivers were able to sit back and relax and prepare for Indy, Andretti was off to Japan to compete in a CART event. He was able to sneak back home for a couple of days, before returning to Indianapolis for the race. The next CART event wasn't until Milwaukee in early June, so what could have been a long rest following Japan was anything but. "Had I won the Indianapolis 500 in the past, I probably wouldn't have done it," says Andretti. "The month of May [was] a joke.

"But you just do it. When I'm at each event, I focus on that event."

Despite the setbacks in the early part of the CART season--in addition to the Texas catastrophe, the race in Brazil was canceled--Andretti's new team is functioning well. At a new track in Monterrey, Mexico, Andretti finished third in his Honda-Reynard behind Cristiano da Matta, who took over his car at Newman-Haas, and Kenny Brack, the 2000 rookie of the year.

Engine failure at Long Beach made him the first driver out of the event, but he was still within shouting distance of the points lead. "It's been OK," says Andretti of his start. "I wouldn't say there were any surprises. Actually, if I thought there was a track we needed to work on it was Monterrey."

Andretti says his relationship with Green has made for a smooth transition to Team Motorola and it's partnership with Team Green. "I worked with Barry at Kraco before I worked with Haas," says Andretti. "We get along great. This are a really professional, close unit here. They know what they need to do to win."

Nobody will ever accuse Franchitti and Tracy of being passive behind the wheel. In fact, the two have taken each other out of events while trying to gain an edge on the track. But what turned many heads in the paddock after Andretti's deal was announced late last season, was that he would become a teammate of Tracy.