December 27, 2013 — Audio, cover photo and story by Jacob Seelman for Speed77 Radio and Race Chaser Online — FORT WAYNE, IN — Everywhere it goes, the Andretti surname carries with it a weight that is unmatched by any other.
And this weekend, the legendary family name will take to the track at War Memorial Coliseum for the first time, as budding open wheel star and third-generation driver Jarett Andretti will attempt to qualify for his first Rumble in Fort Wayne.
Jarett, son of former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver John Andretti, will be behind the wheel of a second Knupp Racing car, driving the #15X as a teammate to team principal Brandon Knupp this weekend in Fort Wayne.
“I’m excited to make my debut this weekend at the Rumble,” Jarett said during practice day on Thursday. “It’s a lot different than anything I’ve ever raced before, but it’s a neat challenge and I think it’ll be a fun time.”
The Andretti name is no stranger to open wheel racing; Jarett’s great-uncle is the legendary Mario Andretti, 1969 Indianapolis 500 champion and former IndyCar (four times) and F1 (1978) Champion. Jarett has begun the path down the open wheel road in his own right, wheeling dirt and pavement sprint cars in 2013 in addition to several USAC Silver Crown Series starts.
“We haven’t put our feet down in any one series in 2013, but we’ve stayed in the open wheel side of things. I feel like I’ve learned a lot and I only feel like it’s going to build on our plans for 2014.”
Andretti has also recently stepped out of the open wheel ranks to test the waters as he looks to establish a foothold in the motorsports world. The 21-year-old phenom raced in the GT class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2012, and has made selected starts in a non-winged supermodified at the legendary Oswego Speedway in New York over the past two years.
“The supermodified, especially, has been a dream experience come true for me. To race on the same track that my grandfather, and my great-uncle Mario drove on, it’s a prestige like no other; it’s almost surreal really. Those cars handle you about as much as you handle them; they’re tough to drive but it’s a wild experience.”
Andretti hopes to run a similar schedule in 2014 as he has run this season, with the addition of the complete USAC Silver Crown schedule to his plans for the upcoming year. This will put the North Carolina driver behind the wheel of a Silver Crown car, a sprint car, and likely a supermodified over the course of the 2014 season.
“Next year is going to be really special for me; I’ll be hopefully running a portion of all three major classes of short track open wheel cars. Having a chance to experience all of that is going to be a lot of fun I think.”
But for now, as he looks at the fun down the road, the task ahead of him is what’s on his mind this weekend. And that’s adding another notch to the Andretti family legacy.
“My goal is to make the feature and put the Andretti name in the Rumble field. If we can do that, who knows? Anything’s possible.”
Listen in as we caught up with Jarett on pit road before the start of the 2013 Rumble in Fort Wayne:
