RACE TWO: Marco's race ends early after starting in 12th at St Pete.
Nineteen-year-old Graham Rahal won his first IndyCar Series race – in his first IndyCar Series race – beating defending, two-time St Pete winner Helio Castroneves to the checkered flags by 3.5192 seconds in this weather-infested contest. He beat Marco's record of being the youngest ever Indy winner - He scored an IndyCar win 74 days sooner than the previous record holder (Marco at Infineon) at 19 years and 93 days of age. READ MORE

RACE ONE: SECOND PLACE.
Marco second at season opener in Miami! Pole-sitter Scott Dixon overtook Tony Kanaan on a restart with three laps left and went on to win the Gainsco 300 at the Homestead Miami Speedway. He beat Marco Andretti by 0.5828 seconds to give Chip Ganassi Racing its fourth straight win at Homestead.

Marco led 85 of 200 laps, almost twice as many as he did in all of 2007. Read More

12HRS AT SEBRING, 2008
Marco Andretti was the designated driver of the XM Satellite Radio Acura at the start of the 12hrs at Sebring on Saturday March 15th.

Marco had an early spell on the grass during the first lap, but then he worked his way up to the front of the LeMans Prototype Two class, at one point leading the race in the XM Satellite Radio Acura car.

Soon into Marco's second stint in the car the car developed mechanical problems and a series of lengthy pitstops began to take its toll on race position.

At around 8pm, after 287 laps, the car was retired due to persistant overheating. The team will pick up points for 7th place in class.

SEBRING : AGR STARTS 5th
Marco Andretti admitted he was disappointed after the Andretti Green Racing team was unable to fight for pole position for the 56th running of the Sebring 12 Hours. Qualifying at the Florida circuit was declared null and void after an accident for the BK Motorsports Lola of Ben Devlin early in the session, with the grid being formed instead by the times posted during practice.

MARCH SEBRING TESTS
During March IndyCar Series teams put in 10 solid hours of testing under the lights on the Homestead-Miami Speedway oval. This was quickly followed by 11 hours available for two groups on the Sebring International Raceway road course. EXCLUSIVE GALLERIES

NEW BACKING FOR MARCO
Andretti Green Racing debuted a new sponsor for its IndyCar Series program during the Homestead-Miami test session, with Meijer onboard as one of the backers of the #26 entry of Marco Andretti.

Meijer, the Midwest-based retail and grocery supercenter giant, will serve as an associate sponsor on the car driven by the 2006 IndyCar Series rookie of the year at all but two events. Meijer will be featured as Andretti's major sponsor during event weekends at Kentucky Speedway and The Raceway at Belle Isle.

"We're excited to see Meijer's program evolve with us in this way and feel it will be a great step forward for both Meijer and Marco," team co-owner Michael Andretti said. "Meijer has always done a great job activating its program through all 181 of its Midwest stores, but having an opportunity to stand tall as a major sponsor at Kentucky and Belle Isle will surely take the program to a new level.”

Frank Guglielmi, director of public relations for the company was equally pleased with the deal.

"Meijer is proud of its heritage as a family business," he said. "It is only fitting that we continue our strong motorsport commitment through a relationship with the third generation of an iconic racing family."

HOMESTEAD TESTS AND REUNIFICATION

"We were able to run quite a few laps over the two days and I feel like we got a lot of valuable information out of the test. We would have liked to have been quicker, but we feel good about the car we have. We didn't come here to work on our qualifying setup. We came to work on getting a car that was capable of winning the race and we made a lot of progress over the two days."

The unified version of the IndyCar Series made its first official public appearance Wednesday at Homestead Miami Speedway as the IRL teams got back on track for two days of testing.

Marco had a good test  and was upbeat about the future of open-wheel racing in 2008.

"It's awesome," Marco Andretti said. "For the drivers and for everybody, they have to be happy it worked out. Now as a driver it's the best of the best, everybody under one roof. It's great for sponsors and for publicity. I'm real happy.

"You want to know as a driver when you beat these guys you have beaten the best of the best. We're welcoming every one of them. It will be a big challenge for them because of their lack of oval experience. I've gone through it and a lot of guys have gone through it. It will be a character builder for the first couple of races but they are race car drivers so they will be fine.

"My initial reaction -  I had a smile on my face. That's how I feel. If you ask me they never should have split. Maybe one year it's going to take a little bit but after a couple of years we will start to rebuild everything again. I don't see why one day we can't be back to where we were again. It's the right way - it's the only way - if you ask me. I'm so happy it was now instead of later."

Andretti wants corporate America to see the value in IndyCar racing and view it as a viable alternative in motorsport.

"That's what we want," he said. "Now if I'm a sponsor I have another series to look at. Now it's obvious. It might take a bit but I think we are going to get there.

"Once we get sponsors, we'll get the money back up, we'll get the prize money back up. I don't see why it can't be what it once was. If it is, we might be seeing NASCAR drivers come back."

ANDRETTI OFFICIAL ONLINE STORE
We thought you might like to see the great deals on Marco apparel, race gear and diecast models at the Andretti store.

Click here to see gift ideas and one-of-a-kind race collectables, like the 2007 autographed helmet that you see here.

New 2008 Andretti Racing hats and polo shirts are just some of the goods you can pick up.

Marco - Podcast Interview "Just one of those years"
Bridgestone Motorsport's latest podcast features exclusive interviews with Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti about their 2007 season.

Click here to download and MP3 of the show, or go to the Bridgestone Motorsport website to subscribe to the podcast. Marco said "In any profession, to overcome adversity is the toughest part. We learn so much about staying focused and staying with it the whole year if a little bit of luck swings my way we should be right up there again."

MARCO HONORED
The National Italian American Hall of Fame honored Marco as its 2007 Athlete of the Year (for his outstanding rookie year achievements) on Saturday 3rd November. "This is really pretty special, as an athlete and a person of Italian heritage," Marco Andretti said. He is the great grandson of Italian immigrants, the late Alvice 'Gigi' and Rhina Andretti, with all four of his grandparents Italian-born.

For as long as he can remember he's had the 'Italian feeling.' "With my grandfather (Mario), how could you help it?" Marco said. "I can tell you I was going crazy when Ferrari won (the F1 championship). It was just for that reason. You can ask a couple of buddies who were watching the race (on TV) with me. I was jumping up and down. I had goose bumps because of that feeling."

RACE ONE
Saturday, March 29 2008

XMSatellite Radio Indy 300
Homestead, Florida

2007 Winner: Dan Wheldon
Distance: 200 laps/300 miles

FEB 30th: HOMESTEAD
Unified IndyCar makes public debut

"It's awesome," Marco Andretti said. "For the drivers and for everybody they have to be happy it worked out. Now as a driver it's the best of the best, everybody under one roof. It's great for sponsors and for publicity. I'm real happy.

"You want to know as a driver when you beat these guys you have beat the best of the best. We're welcoming every one of them"
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Detroit, Mich.: During Auto Racing Day, at the 2008 North American International Auto Show, IndyCar Series Driver Marco Andretti signs a tire brought in by a fan.