Racer: Son of his Father

Minutes before driver introductions at Watkins Glen, drivers have found shelter from the rain in a small room in the press box. Marco Andretti, Tony Kanaan and Danica Patrick chat amiably about the weather and other events of the day. Soon it becomes clear to the others that Andretti is mentally spinning in circles. His eyes dart; his words are fast and clipped; he is wound tight. He asks Kanaan to point him toward the nearest restroom. When he leaves, Patrick asks Kanaan what others are thinking, "Is he always this nervous before a race?" Kanaan smiles. "Apparently you've never seen his dad before a race," he says, breaking into laughter.

So it's true. The latest hot story of open-wheel racing is a bag of anxious mush before races, just like his dad was back in the day. Part of the anxiety can be traced to unfamiliarity. Marco hasn't seen most of these racetracks before, and with uncertainty comes nerves. That might be the best - and scariest - chapter of the Marco Andretti story. Once he's raced all of these unseen tracks, once he's been through the first round, he won't be quite as uneasy.

"I do get nervous," Marco acknowledges. "If it happens, I just lock myself in the motor home until it's time to race. I'm definitely an intense person when it comes to that. This year, I've been nervous before every single race, mainly because every time out, it's been something different. You go from a superspeedway to Indy, to a road course to a short oval. Get me to a track I've been to before, and I'm not quite as nervous."

Mario, Michael, and Marco Andretti © Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Dad smiles. The kid isn't just a chip off the old block, but a chip off the chip off the old block. In the nerves, the voice, the face, the way he attacks a corner...people see Mario and Michael. That pleases both, because they had much at risk by placing a 19-year-old at this level of racing.

They saw the ability, and they have been vindicated by his sudden rise since the runner-up finish at the Indianapolis 500 in May. Michael enjoys the comparisons, especially the nuances, about son being like father. More perceptively than anyone else, Michael sees himself in Marco. And right now, he sees the nerves and remembers what he went through.

"He definitely gets wound up, but if he didn't, he wouldn't be human," Michael says, part admiring, part reminiscing. "I got wound up when I was younger, especially in the very beginning. When you're in the year he's in, where everything is new to him, it's the worst. Next year you'll see. He'll still get wound up, but not in the same way. He'll be a little more relaxed, because he'll have an idea of what to expect."

"I can't say it's been better or worse than I've expected because I didn't know what to expect," Marco says. "Before the season, I didn't know how I would stack up against these guys. I definitely expected the world in terms of competition, and that's what I got. That's the thing: There haven't been any surprises. Things have gone very smooth. I have to say I'm happy with the way things have gone during my rookie year because there have been races this year that I had a chance to win. When I came into it, I dreamed of winning a race in my first year. Now I think it's a realistic goal."

So does the old man, who parks on a leather couch in the team's portable lounge, listens to praise for the kid and beams like a father at a T-ball game. If anything is obvious in the emergence of Marco, it's that Michael is enjoying it - the performance, the praise, the attention - almost as much as his son.

"We feel like the future is unlimited, we really do," Michael says. "I knew he was going to be good. I knew he was going to turn heads. But he's done better than I ever thought he could."

That's the thing. The people close to Andretti Green Racing - those who had watched Marco tear up the Infiniti Pro Series in three road races last year, those who had seen him test an IRL car at Michigan and Sebring, those who know he has enormous natural ability - knew he was going to be good. Those who saw Marco from a distance were the ones caught by surprise at his sudden success, especially the performance at Indy. Still, even the ones who were inside the story had to temper their shock. The young man had topped even their expectations.

"I surprised Dad at Indy, for sure," Marco says with a knowing smile. "I know I surprised him. He definitely knew I was a good race car driver, but he didn't know it would be that good. What Indy did was open everybody else's eyes. Going into the race, I said in the pre-race interview that I could win the race. I don't just say things like that. My eyes were already open, but Indy made people believe that maybe it's not too early."

Marco Andretti leading at Infineon Raceway © LAT

The change wasn't supposed to happen this quickly. Marco was being groomed to move up to the IndyCar Series in 2007 or 2008. When Dan Wheldon left Andretti Green Racing for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, a seat opened earlier than expected. The kid was ready, Dad surmised, so off they went. After a few early bobbles - namely issues with pit stops, which were largely unfamiliar to him - Marco began showing speed during early practice sessions at Indy. Even if Sam Hornish Jr. passed him at the finish line to win the 500, Marco Andretti made his point, and made himself known.

"The difference between a good driver and a great driver is very small," teammate Dario Franchitti explains. "Marco has all the talent he needs, and he's plenty smart, so the sky's the limit. I've been so impressed with what I've seen from Indianapolis onward. Just watch his in-cars; there's obviously a huge amount of talent there. He really did a good job at Indianapolis under all of that pressure, and in subsequent races he's really come alive. He's doing everything right."

Right enough that the inevitable (and occasionally goofy) questions are landing at his feet. Are you interested in NASCAR? Would you ever consider Formula 1? Truth is, he's getting those questions because he's shown skill at a variety of tracks and conditions since Indy. At then-unseen Richmond, he raced proficiently to fourth place, a difficult feat even for a short-oval veteran. At Watkins Glen, he was the fastest driver on the track before a now-famous scuffle with Eddie Cheever Jr. took him out of the race.

"In your career, you'll probably have four of five races like the one he had at Watkins Glen, in terms of conditions," Michael says. "It was as bad as it could get. For him to be the dominant guy out there during the race, in his first time there, under those conditions - that was really impressive. I don't know how it would have ended up, but it would have been an exciting story."

His best skill, quite plainly, is Marco's ability to adapt. Known as a solid road racer, his skill on ovals was questionable, both before and early in the season. Suddenly, he took to Indy, then impressed at Watkins Glen, then wowed 'em at Richmond. Three different venues, three promising performances.

"It's definitely a wide variety of racetracks," Marco says. "I'm settling in just the way I want to. I think it's possible to get a win this year. I wouldn't know where, but I definitely think it's possible. I really am looking forward to next year. All those unknowns will be answered. I won't have those times when I'm nervous and just thinking about how nervous I am. I can be thinking about the race."

Meantime, his father can be thinking about racing instead of making a point. Widely criticized for advancing Marco so early, Michael has been proven right.

Andretti-Green teammates Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan, and Marco Andretti © LAT

"People said, 'No, he shouldn't be in the car. He's too young,'" Franchitti says. "I've always felt he was capable of doing a good job, but I thought this would be a learning year. The learning curve was ahead of the window at Indianapolis. It's wonderful to watch. It's fun to have him on the team because you get to see things through the eyes of a 19-year-old again. You remember what it was like when you first came here and everything was new."

Wide-eyed wonder. It can be seen even when he tries to act cool. Marco Andretti is the toast of the IRL during the dog days of 2006. He's the story of the summer, the Danica of the season. He enjoys it - somewhat cautiously, of course - but he enjoys it nonetheless. "If we're not a story, then we're not a story," he declares. "Being the story means you're doing something right."

Or, it's not as complicated. Maybe being the story means you're just plain good.