Andretti Curse - Michael Andretti

Michael Andretti

Michael is the son of Mario, and is the driver whom the Andretti Curse is equally as associated. Despite a successful career including a CART championship and a stint in F1, he has so far been unsuccessful in 16 attempts at winning the Indianapolis 500. He has completed the most laps, as well as led the most laps, of any driver who has never won the famous race. He is considered by some the best driver never to have won.

1984: Michael Andretti starts his career at Indianapolis on a positive note driving for Kraco Enterprises with crew chief Barry Green, starting 4th, finishing 5th and sharing the Rookie of the Year award with Roberto Guerrero.

1985: Michael out-qualifies his teammate Kevin Cogan, but both cars are mid-packers at best. On race day, Michael finished 8th, four laps down, not as good as his rookie debut. Later in the year, Michael and Cogan are involved in a helicopter crash, but survive.

1986: Michael out-qualifies his father Mario and starts on the outside of the front row. He proceeds to lead the first 42 laps, and is among the fastest cars on the track. A poorly executed fuel strategy, however, forces him to pit with only 7 laps to go, and drops him to 6th place one lap down.

1987: Early on in the race, a pit fire halts his run. He ultimately drops out because a CV joint fails.

1988: With only a few laps remaining, a piece of bodywork falls off his car, bringing out the yellow, and forcing the race to finish under caution. Driving the now-aging Cosworth DFX proved to be a horsepower disadvantage, as Michael was unable to keep up with the Chevrolet Indy V-8's as well as the Buicks, particularly down the long straights. However, he still managed a 4th place, owing to the numerous yellows (14) which kept the field bunched up.

1989: Michael joins his father at Newman/Haas Racing. In one of his best races to date, Michael works his way to the lead in the second half. After leading 35 laps, his engine blows on the mainstretch just past the 400-mile mark.

1990: Early in the race, a brake fire causes Michael to lose considerable time in the pits. He eventually drops out with a vibration.

1991: Michael leads 97 laps, and appears to be on his way to win. With 18 laps to go, he leads Rick Mears, driving for car owner Roger Penske, by 15 seconds, but needs to make one final pit stop for fuel. A timely caution flag flies and loses minimal ground as he pits under the yellow. On the ensuing restart with 13 laps to go, he makes a daring pass on the outside in turn one to grab the lead from Mears. On the very next lap, Mears steals the thunder as he makes exactly the same counter-move and quickly pulls out to a lead. Moments lapse, Michael's father Mario suddenly coasts to a stop at the entrance to the pits. The yellow flag flies again, and bunches up the field. Many accused Mario of stopping on purpose in a ploy to aid his son. Whatever the case, the point is moot as Mears pulls away to the victory. Michael settled for second. This race was the first to feature four Andrettis, (Mario, Michael, Jeff, and John).

1992: Michael dominates the 1992 race, leading 160 of the first 189 laps. With only 11 laps to go he was leading by over half a lap. His fuel pump suddenly failed and he coasted to a stop. He settles for 13th place.

1993: Michael sits out the 1993 event, due to his now ill-fated participation in Formula One.

1994: Michael returns to the CART series and Indianapolis for 1994 driving for car owner Chip Ganassi. In the first half, however, he suffers a flat tire, and loses a lap to the field. He finishes fourth on the track, but a late-race pit road speed infraction earns a one-lap penalty. He drops to 6th in the final standings.

1995: While leading on the 77th lap, Michael approaches lap traffic and brushes the wall in turn four. His suspension is too damaged to continue, and he finishes 25th.

1996-2000: Due to the rift between the CART series, and IRL, Michael does not compete at Indy.

2001: Michael follows suit with other CART teams and returns to race at Indianapolis. He leads 16 laps, and is leading the race during a rain delay just beyond the halfway point. Had the race been halted due to the rain, he could have been declared the winner. The red flag, however, does not come out at the time and the race resumes. A punctured tire, and a minor collision in the pits with eventual winner Hélio Castroneves, driving for car owner Roger Penske, slow him down, and at the end of the day, Michael settles for 3rd place.

2002: Nearing the end of his full-time driving career, Michael is not much of a factor, starting 15th and finishing 7th.

2003: A highly-publicized "final start" at Indianapolis sees Michael a race favorite. After financial troubles in CART, Michael purchased majority ownership of Team Green and renamed it Andretti Green Racing. After leading 28 laps, Michael drops out of his final race before the halfway point, much like his father in 1994.

2004: Now a full-time owner, Andretti's team quickly became one of the top organizations in the Indy Racing League, and proved to be very competitive at Indy. Rain shortens the 2004 race, however, and Andretti's team finds itself in a notable but frustrating result of finishing 2nd-3rd-4th.

2005: Andretti's team breaks through as Dan Wheldon wins. After Wheldon's win, Andretti tells the media, "No more curse" as he shares in the milk celebration. Sitting on the sidelines, however, proved to be motivating, and in December, Michael announced he would come out of retirement to race in 2006 with his son Marco.

2006: In December 2005, Michael announced he would come out of retirement to race with his son Marco at Indy in 2006. Michael was an also-ran most of the day, but managed to stay on the lead lap all day. During a caution on lap 160, Michael (along with Sam Hornish, Jr.) ducked in to the pits to top of his fuel, in hopes of going the rest of the race without another stop. After the leaders sequenced through yellow flag pit stops, Andretti remarkably inherited the lead on lap 194. The race went back to green with 4 laps to go with Michael leading, and his son Marco behind him in second place. A lap later, Michael is quickly overtaken by Marco, who appears on his way to victory in his first race. Michael attempts some mild blocking, in order to protect his son's lead, but he is quickly passed by Sam Hornish, Jr., driving for long-time rival car owner Roger Penske, Marco ends up losing the lead on the final straightaway to the finish line, and the father and son Andrettis settle for 2nd and 3rd.

2007: In the wake of the 2006 near-miss, Michael returns for yet another encore, but experiences little success. He led one lap during a sequence of pit stops, but finished a lowly 13th. After the frustration, and in an effort to concentrate on his team cars, Michael announces he will again retire from driving.

Indy 500- Races involved in crashes

• 1995 (brushed wall)

Indy 500- Races suffering mechanical/engine failure

• 1987 (pit fire), 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994 (flat tire), 2003

Indy 500- Races leading the most laps without winning

• 1991, 1992