Andretti SURE to defect (& Good Riddance!)

[Dave S]

excerpts from autoweek article on Mikey
"When the Andretti-Green deal was announced in July, Andretti said he wasn't even sure if he'd be driving next season. Now he's almost certain he'll be in one of his cars. Where would he LIKE to race? Andretti pauses before he answers.
``To be honest I don't know, because at this point I'm not sure where CART is going to be next year,'' he says. ``If I knew for sure that CART was going to survive, I'd want to be here.''
Are there any guarantees in racing?
``There's a guarantee that there is going to be an IRL,'' Andretti says. ``You can't guarantee that there's going to be a CART. That's the biggest problem I have now.''
Does Andretti feel loyalty to a series where he's accumulated $18 million in race earnings? Which welcomed him back a star in 1994, after an abortive partial season in Formula One? ``I can say that my heart is with CART, because I love the basic principals of CART, the concept, the format,'' he says. ``But whose to say that if it comes back to one open-wheel series, it won't be the same format three or four years down the road?
``I have to be careful, because I don't want to be misunderstood. But I feel there were times I was used--that I didn't get my fair share, like when they went public and the owners got very wealthy and not just me, but all the drivers, got nothing. The whole deal was sold on the drivers and the drivers got zero. To say that I got wealthy off CART is not fair. The owners got wealthier off us.
``If there wasn't a CART I'd have been racing somewhere else. It was open-wheel racing, not CART. I think together we did well. But to say I owe CART something, I don't think so. It's not going to be an issue (in making decisions), no.''
Just go, you ingratefull, Ever Whining Punk.

[Liz]

Oh dear, Mikey's only a millionaire not a billionaire and I'm supposed to feel sorry for him ... sorry, Mikey, I just can't work up any tears today.

If you think you're going to get rich in the Invisible Racing League, let me remind you that the only people making any money in that league are the ones being subsidized by He Who Must Be Destroyed.

[The Beer Baron]

All Mikey wants to do is win the Indy 500, he came soo close on many occasions, i think it would be nice for him to win it!

he has nothing left to prove in CART! (that also means he has nothing left to prove in the EARL)

[Jay]

"...I feel there were times I was used--that I didn't get my fair share, like when they went public and the owners got very wealthy and not just me, but all the drivers, got nothing..."

Ahh..boohoohoo... He sounds like a baseball player!

[Rachel]

"I don't want to be misunderstood." Oh don't worry - you're coming across loud and clear. And it's repulsive.

I wonder what Mario has to say...

[Dave S]

I'm also sure his sponsor (Motorola) is THRILLED that he spewed this rancid mess just prior to their sponsored race weekend.

[Jay]

Like I said, he sounds like one of the greedy baseball players that think their 5 million/year is not enough for playing a few games and not giving a **** about the fans.

If this is his attitude toward racing and his fans, I can't see why ANY series would want him. He should just retire while people still remember who's son he is.

[Emfa]

It's no wonder that PT & Dario are in such a hurry to bail out!

[JohnSSC]

Every time I saw his picture at Mid Ohio all i could think of was that this man has a look like he could care less about being in racing. Like he was just bored with the racing, bored with the appearances/PR and he just wanted to be anywhere else but there! I hope he enjoys the IRL. Maybe TG can fix him like he fixed Barry at the Inconsquential 500 next May. "Sorry Mikey, but the decision of the Race Steward is not subject to appeal..."

[BootsOntheSide]

I just hope everyone who thinks signing Andretti to the IRL is a real coup will realise their mistake when they see this. He's a vindictive ungrateful swine, so him and TG is a match made in heaven.

[f1manoz]

That whole interview just shows what a greedy pig Andretti is. Anyway, the series would be better off without the old fart, but it would be sad to lose another two cars, but the series will get them back.

[DNQ]

Why the hell would ANY driver want to race in IRL? I just can not understand why anyone would, it's bloody hopeless, slower, less quality drivers, worse tracks, less fans...guess money comes before all that.

[Dave S]

Well, theres the 10 Mil Honda will pay him to move to the Iresponsible Reject Leftovers. Plus, TG will undoubtable pay him out of his own pocket as well to augment 'Lil Opiate'. He'll probably also name a road in the IMS Retirees Trailer Park for him as well. He's so poor & all.

[Lee Janotta]

Damn traitor. I hope Red Bull puts Mario in charge of whatever team they back next season, now that he's not attached to any other CART teams.

Just what was Tony George's winning bid for your soul, Michael?

Have fun in driving in circles, you lousy has-been. You'll be losing there too!

[racer69]

Firstly, i will say that i am a great fan of CART, and really hope the series survives, which at the moment looks promising, at the same time, i am also a big fan of the IRL, i follow both series with great interest.

Firstly, can you blame Michael's decision if he does go. His situation is similiar to Penske, he owns the team, and has sponser's willing to pay for his team to race rather than he having to put some money into it. He has Honda willing to pay for the IRL, meaning all the development of the Honda engine will go to him first, plus his current sponser's are so far undecided for next year.

Also, whether we like it or not, there is an air of uncertainty about CART next year. Sure, the series will go ahead, but what will the quality be like, teams like Ganassi, Newman-Haas and Players Forsythe will be there, but what about the rest. Sure we have heard about more teams joining, but where are they, i know it is only August, but if it was being talked about before, why not now?

Surely also the IRL bashing can stop. There is no problem with not liking the series and having no interest in it, but what is constant bashing going to do? The series isn't going to go away.

[greg.n]

The IRL may go away but only after TG destroys CART. If what I have read is true its costing Tony 80 Million! a year to keep the show on the road and once CART disappears 9and I hope it doesn't ) do you think tony is going to keep throwing money at? No way.

[Speedworx]

Michael is an arse for giving the team an aweful name. If he really wants to kiss IRL's balls, then he is very welcome.

Just as long as Tracy and Franchitti remain in CART, I'll be happy.

[Jay]

This isn't about the IRL... It's about a driver that has quite openly said "I'm not rich enough, even though I have many millions, so I'm going to take a big bag of money and drive around in circles for the rest of my career"

SEriously, why would anyone want a driver with this attitude in their series?

[Liz]

I agree with Jay and others who have said that this isn't about WHERE Mikey goes to drive, but the fact that he thinks they're not paying him ENOUGH to drive.

Kenny Wildeon of Canada has not driven a race car in 2 years because he has no money. Yesterday he was put in Justin Bell's Trans Am car and put it on the pole. Here is a man who DESERVES to be bankrolled by somebody who wants to see a good man succeed, and he would reward whoever backed him with good results and whatever else they wanted from him. Why would anybody choose to throw more money at a greedy gut like Mikey and ignore someone who really wants to race and has proved he can?

If you saw the Autosport cartoon in which Mario is shown whacking Mikey and telling him "You re not going to play in the IRL, young man!" it is time for Mario to whack him again and add, "And you are ****ing rich enough!"

[macdaddy]

What she said.

[Flatspot]

Releative to other "American" professional sports I don't think that any of the drivers in CART get paid enough for what they do. Granted they all do extremely well compared to you and I but, and not in defense of Michael's comments, it has taken Michael 20 years to accumulate what many basketball, baseball, and football players get paid in a year.

I beleive he has a point about many owners, like Penske, taking the company public then grabbing the cash and hitting the high road at the drivers ultimate expense. They took a lot of cash, crushed the series they once had, and left the lot for Chris Pook to clean up.

I wish Micheal would learn, at the very least, to just go about his business and keep his mouth shut. I long for the days when you'd here a guy like Emerson Fittipaldi say; "I'd race if they didn't pay me. I just love to drive."

[Speedworx]

Liz: what Autosport issue was that in?

[macdaddy]

What Andretti is saying:
"But to say I owe CART something, I don't think so."

What Andretti should be saying:
"But to say I owe my fans something, well, I owe them everything."

[Liz]

I don't care how long it took Andretti to get to the point where he (who is younger than I am) makes 200 times as much money as I'll ever see in my life. When I was growing up, Greed and Avarice were two of the Seven Deadly Sins and people who concentrated their thoughts on whether they had more money than other people were considered vulgar and without class.

I have never heard Mario say that the world owes him a billion dollars.

And I remember hearing Michael Alboretto, may he rest in peace, say that same thing that Fittipaldi said. "I will race for nothing -- just let me race."

If Michael Andretti thinks we ought to pay him more money because he continues to breathe, then he better not hold his breath. Michael Andretti is an Ugly American in the classic sense of the word. And I am ashamed of him.

[macdaddy]

It's a good thing you were mentioning the driver by name, Liz. Otherwise I might not have known if you were talking about Michael or Jacques. Too bad it's more of a business than a sport.