Jarett Andretti Follows Famous Family Footsteps Into Racing USAC Sprint Cars
- May 2, 2017
Andretti Autosport Short Track is an off-shoot of Andretti Autosport, which is operated by Jeff Andretti, Mario’s nephew, Michael’s cousin, and an accomplished driver in his own right. His son Jarett is leading the team on the dirt for the 2017 season. After being named the 2014 USAC National Sprint Car Rookie of The Year, then winning a track championship at Lawrenceburg in 2016 as well as recording several wins and multiple Top-Five and Top-10 finishes, in 2017 the team is competing across the country seeking victory in more than 70 Sprint Car races. After two early races in Florida where K&N-supported Jarett finished ninth and 11th, USAC kicked off the season in earnest with a double-header at the Bloomington Speedway in Bloomington, Indiana. According to Jarett, “Bloomington is always a tough place to go because the red clay is so much different than all the other surfaces we run on. Because of that difference in surface, there are a lot of local cars at Bloomington that are really good there; combined with the USAC regulars; it makes for a tough field of cars.” Engine problems limited Jarett’s qualifying efforts to 18th place, but he remained optimistic. “We changed a couple things on the motor for the heat race and seemed to have fixed the problem. A second place run in the heat would have transferred us into the feature and line us up in the 15th starting position,” Jarett recalled. It was not to be. He passed a few cars, however a few ill-timed yellows limited his forward progress with his race ending in 15th place. The team felt they had at least solved the motor issues and moved on to the next event at Tri-State Speedway. But first a quick stop.
“We were ready for night number two of the weekend,” the young Andretti commented. “I always really liked going to Tri-State Speedway, but haven’t run the spring race the past couple years so I was excited to get the opportunity to run there so early in the year,” he added. “We unloaded fast and were able to set quick time in qualifying, which was my first quick time with USAC. Setting a fast time with USAC was definitely a bucket list item for me so I am glad I was able to check that off my list,” he stated with considerable pride. “Due to the invert, we would start sixth in the first heat but only the top four would transfer into the feature. We received some good breaks and made the right moves in the heat and moved from sixth to third at the finish. This would line us up starting sixth for the feature,” Jarett recalled. Then came the race itself. “We were up to fifth at one point in the feature and then fell back to ninth after some contact with another car, but by the time the checkered fell we had clawed our way back to sixth,” he recalled. “It was a solid run and a good points weekend; we moved into the top-five in USAC points heading into another double header weekend coming up at Plymouth and Montpelier.”
The next race in the USAC Amsoil Sprint car National Championship will be at the world-famous Eldora Speedway in Rossberg, Ohio. Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, Andretti Autosport Short Track is focused on short track racing competing on both pavement and dirt including a national presence under the USAC National Sprint Car Series and USAC Silver Crown banners among other sanctioning bodies. Owned by NASCAR, IndyCar, Sports Car, and NHRA race winner John Andretti, Andretti Autosport Short Track is located in the same facility as race and championship winning organization, Andretti Autosport. The team mirrors the philosophy of winning on the track with an equal focus on professional representation. | |||
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