Andretti's unfinished business

[Down F0rce]

Micheal Andretti had confirmed he will retire after this year's Indy 500.

I Haven't won the Indy 500 in my career. I've decided that I want to be a team owner, but first there is a little unfinished buissiness"

I assume that Daniel Wheldon will take over car #7, it's gonna be great to see him race again. Gool luck to both drivers for this season

[Sato san]

yes , its been confirmed that Dan will take over his seat ......i think though , that if Andretti doesnt win the 500 this year , he will run him self next year as well.......i never believe drivers when the announce their retirement .

[marcus]

Arie Luyendyk point in fact

but I guess you cant blame him , its the race everyone wants to win.

[GTRMagic]

Do you think Mikey would be competitive enough to win it?

This season or indeed the next....

[marcus]

you can never underestimate Mikey, he is very quick as we all know and a very good driver , but sadly his mistakes or failures seem to stick in the mind more than his successes , Im sure he is very capable of winning the indy 500 but then again im pretty sure that there will be at least 15 guys also very capable too.

[GTRMagic]

Are the rumours that Andretti-Green are running 4 cars at the Indy 500 correct?

Thats a lot of equipment....

[marcus]

certainly is alot of equipment but perhaps that includes spare cars ??? im not sure on that though ???

[JamesJimmy]

Well, the 2003 liveries thread shows four AGR cars unveiled: two with 7-11 sponsorship for Andretti and Kanaan, one Alpine/Motorola for Franchitti, and one Klein Tools/Jim Beam(?) entry for Wheldon.

[marcus]

ahhhhh well there you go , I better pop over to that thread and have a look then

[Snrub]

Not to start a fight, I'm looking for some IRL opinions on this topic. One could draw the conclusion that Mike feels that now that his CART career is over, his racing career is over. In 2002 he really struggled on the road courses, but did fine on the ovals. I think he still has more in him than Unser did/does. He seems to want to go out with dignity. What do you guys think?

[marcus]

of course every driver wants to go out with dignity , and mikey is no different there , he hasnt had the best time in Cart for the past few years and as you say he did Ok on the ovals so maybe he is thinking he will give the 500 mainly one last shot and have a few oval races and see how he goes.

but of course his real reason for joining the IRL was money , there is no doubting that in fact all the converts have come across because at present its easier to get sponsors for the IRL than CART and if thats where the sponsors want to spend their money then thats where the drivers will drive.

[BootsOntheSide]

Plenty of guys have failed to go out with dignity. When Unser Jr switched to the IRL, it was at a MUCH lower standard than CART, and he failed to do anything imrpessive at first, although motivation may have been the issue - he's done well now that some big names are there to be rivalled.

Marcus is defiantely right about the money, but the question is - had the IRL option not come along, would Michael have retired outright and had the team running 3 entries in CART? Or, if his performance had faded out to this extent while he was still an Newman-Haas, would he have retired from driving on the spot rather than following Al Jr?

[Snrub]

To make it more pointed: If Michael could be competitive in the IRL, but he wants to go out with dignity, it would indicate that the IRL doesn't interest him as a driver. I think he's plenty capable of winning oval races in an open wheel series.