March 30, 2001 -
CART FedEx Championship Series career victory leader and 1991 Champion Michael Andretti recently talked to NYAutoRacing's Kevin Ma. They discussed his return to the Indianapolis 500 this May with team owner Barry Green and upcoming CART events with his new team, Team Motorola.
KEVIN MA: When did the Indy 500 deal come about?
MICHAEL ANDRETTI: When we finally signed everything and got it finished, I think it was the day at the Monterrey race.
KM: Do you think you've got enough time to adopt the IRL cars, since the Penske drivers already raced in Phoenix, and Chip Ganassi already has last year's winning car in the shop?
MA: Yeah, I think we do. We tested it at Homestead last week and it ran very well. I am quite happy with the way the test went. I think we should be competitive right away.
KM: How meaningful is it for you to have Barry Green and the sponsors to back you for the Indy 500 effort?
MA: I am so happy, Barry was just great. He worked very hard to get the deal put together and I got to thank him, and also Archipelago and Motorola, they were really good to make it all work, especially Jerry Putnam from Archipelago.
KM: Are your teammates Paul Tracy and Dario Franchitti jealous, since they are not going to race there?
MA: I don't think so. Indianapolis doesn't mean the same thing to them than it does to me. Dario's never driven there and Paul only drove there a couple of times.
KM: Speaking of Team Motorola, how do you feel about the changes around you with Reynard chassis, and more importantly, the Honda engine?
MA: It's been very good. Honda has been very good to work with and the whole team just comes together so well, I really couldn't be happier.
KM: You've been with Ford for so long, was it a tough deal to switch over since Mario [Andretti] had a long relationship with the blue oval?
MA: Nah. I don't think it was a hard decision. We were together for a long time, but it really has to deal with what racing team that I am with. Once the commitment is made, it has nothing to do with me. I am just quite happy to move on to Honda, and Honda's records speak for itself.
KM: So the relationship is being maintained?
MA: It is a small world. I always try to make everybody happy and have a good time together. I really had nothing to do with the decision [on engine side], it wasn't my fault so I have no problem with Ford at all.
KM: Are we going to see you in Le Mans 24 Hours, perhaps with Panoz, sometime soon?
MA: I doubt it. I don't think so.
KM: Going back to the CART program, you had a decent race in Mexico, but Cristiano da Matta won the race in your old car with Newman/Haas. What are your thoughts of the race?
MA: I was quite happy with the way it went, the whole weekend went well for us. We qualified pretty low but finished well. I think it is pretty good for a team that six months ago didn't even exist, we are all quite happy with the result down there.
KM: What's your long term prospects in Team Motorola?
MA: Well, obviously we want to win as many races as we can, but the ultimate goal is try to win the championship. I think we have all the ingredients to do it, and if we all do our jobs right, then we can win.
KM: Your team owner Barry Green is running 3 cars at this point, are we going to see Team Motorola eventually become Team Andretti in the near future?
MA: I don't do that. I would love to own an auto racing team when I retire, but I doubt it would be Team Motorola. Those are Barry Green's sponsors and he was the one able to get them. If I ever want to start a team it would be a total different deal.
KM: How do you feel about the lack of American drivers racing in CART? Jimmy Vasser had a hard time looking for sponsors and Bryan Herta has no major sponsor backing.
MA: Well, it is very competitive out there for all kinds of advertising dollars because in the United States, racing is up against a lot of sports. It is just not like in Brazil, where they have basically auto racing and soccer, so it is easier to get support over there and other countries as well. In the United States, it is very competitive for the advertising dollars, so it is difficult. Especially the times right now, the economy and everything, it is not an easy thing. I wouldn't blame it on an American thing or whatever, it is just the way our system here is different than the system in some other countries, which is easier to get advertising dollars for racing.
KM: Do you think NASCAR sucks in all the sponsorships from open wheel racing?
MA: I think NASCAR is part of that competition, so you compete for advertising dollars with them, and also basketball, baseball, hockey etc. They have to be involved in all of them and spread them a little more than other countries.
KM: You raced Formula One in 1993, and you were the last American driving in that series. The U.S. Grand Prix last year was a good turnout, but something is still missing there. How vital is it to have an American driver driving in Formula One, and do you think Bobby Rahal would eventually go for an American driver in his Jaguar Racing operation over there?
MA: I doubt it. I think it's just come down to if there is an American driver who wants to do it. For a racecar driver there are some really good series over here, you have CART, NASCAR and the IRL. There are probably many American drivers that can do it, but do they really want to do it? They have to move to Europe or whatever, so it's a little different for American drivers I think. It is also harder to get involved in Formula 1 because American drivers would probably have to go through all the European racing in Formula 3 and Formula 3000 to get more notice.
KM: What do you think of traction control coming back to Formula One? You were in one of those in a McLaren back then.
MA: I think it is good. I don't think it is going to change anything -- if you are a good driver you are going to take more advantage with the tools that you have, which is the way it was when Ayrton Senna was my teammate and I just saw that. The more advanced it became, the more things he was given to go fast, the more he was, and he was better than the other guys, I think it's not going to affect the competition at all, just make it more fair. You know everybody has it, and nobody's cheating.
KM: Have you talked to Al Unser Jr. since your Indy 500 announcement? Last time I talked to him he really wanted you to race there.
MA: I haven't talked to him since, but my agent is the manager of his as well, so I have contact with him through my agent.
KM: Finally, this is going to be the last year for CART to race in your hometown in Nazareth (PA), what are your thoughts of that?
MA: Oh yeah, I think it is going to affect me than the other people because I live two miles away from the race track. It's always been quite nice all these years to have the racetrack there, and it is going to be a little disappointing. I think for the series it is not a good thing because we need some sorts of race in the Northeast because it is such a huge market for us, and now moving away from Nazareth we don't have any race to replace it, so I am hoping that CART is looking for a race in that area, because it is very important to be up there.
KM: Maybe they should have a race here in New York.
MA: Yeah, you never know. I haven't heard anything, but who knows.
