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Marco
preparing for Watkins Glen
Marco
said "Watkins Glen is a great track. It's
very flowing and is a rhythm track with many different types
of corners. It's a track where you have to keep your
momentum up in order to do well."
Marco
to race twice in one day - July 12th!
Marco
Andretti will be attempting to win two major races
in one day when he races in both the American
LeMans Series at Lime Rock Park, then flies 808 miles
back to Nashville Superspeedway to compete in the
Firestone Indy 200 later that night.
Race
Nine: Richmond Bad Luck.
At
the SunTrust Indy Challenge Marco ran well but would
eventually finish in ninth place. Marco got bitten
by the race-record ninth, and final, caution of the
night on this notorious short-track oval. Round
9 of the 2008 IndyCar® Series at Richmond International
Raceway, Richmond, Va,
was plagued by accidents in the early stages.
On
lap 116, he passed Kanaan for second and then Jaime
Camara for the lead. Camara had led since lap 71, when
Kanaan had pitted for four tires and fuel. Andretti remained
in the lead until lap 206, when he pitted under green
for fuel. He ran 135 laps without pitting, thanks
to five cautions that allowed him to conserve fuel.
But by pitting under green he lost two laps and dropped
to 12th. He would have made up those laps had the
cars in front of him had to pit under green as well.
They didn't. Andretti finished ninth, a lap down, shielding
Tony as he raced on to win.
Marco
Andretti on the SunTrust Indy Challenge: "I
am incredibly disappointed. The Blockbuster car was the
best car on the track today but good job to Tony for getting
his first win of the year."
" It is a great shame for the Blockbuster team today.
Marco drove a terrific race. It seemed like we had the car to win. Unfortunately
that is the nature of these short ovals. We got caught out there when the other
guys got to pit under yellow and that put us right to the back of the field.
It is awfully tough from there for Marco to work his way back through. It is
tough because I think a win was snatched from us, but our teammate won so it
is a good day for AGR." - Eddie Jones - #26 car engineer.
Race
Eight: Third place at Iowa.
A
solid race for Marco at Iowa, racing within a second
of the leader for most of the race and leading several
laps.
Dan Wheldon, in a spare car on his thirtieth birthday, took the checkered flag
- pushed close to the final lap by AGR's duelling teammates Hideki Mutoh and
Marco Andretti. The pair raced very closely for the final stages, Marco looking
to take Hideki and make a run for the lead.
"We
were racing... It was good clean racing - I think it had
to be good for the fans. It was good fun from the cockpit
for sure. I'm proud of the Blockbuster boys - I think we
were towards the front for most of the day. The rookies
are good - they're a pain already! Hideki's on it this
year for sure! ” said Marco after the race with Hideki
in the final laps.
On the risky restart manoever past Danica on the final
re-start: "I knew I could trust my teammate. Danica
was looking out for me. She could have made it very tough on
me and put me below the line. But you get a good run you've
got to go with it. We just have to look after each other on
the track - we always did but more so today. That's what we've
have to keep doing and you'll see four Andretti Green cars
towards the front, every race".
Marco remains in eighth place in the Championship - Watch
out for Hideki: He's up to fifth as we get ready for Richmond.
 Race
Seven: Texas Motor Speedway Bombardier Learjet 550k.
Marco Andretti was the leader of Saturday’s
Bombardier Learjet 550k with less than 15 laps remaining
but was involved in an accident while in second place with
six laps to go and finished 19th.
Race Photo Gallery
Despite starting 14th, the Blockbuster
car was one of the quickest cars on track from the opening
lap. Only 70 laps into the 228-lap affair, Andretti was running
in the top three. Shortly thereafter, Andretti maneuvered around
lapped traffic and took the lead for the first time.
Over the
next 100 laps of the race, Andretti never fell from the top-five
drivers on track. He regained the lead on lap 207 and was
battling for second place when Hunter-Reay’s Ethanol car made
contact with the Blockbuster car sending both cars into the
wall. X-rays of Andretti’s knees were negative following
the incident.
Marco took a big rear end hit but was fine - just disapointed
as this was a race he was poised to win. "I
really feel bad for the whole Blockbuster crew. We were running
so well, as was Ryan (Hunter-Reay). I feel kind of bad for
both of us but the fact is, there are some guys you can run
close with and some guys you can't. He clearly hit the white
line and that is that. We ran well today, but to me, that doesn't
matter. We need to bring home results. It's very disappointing"
Qualifying
Most drivers struggled again with windy conditions,
as they did on Thursday night in practice. Gusts were estimated
in the region of 30 mph, not as bad as Thursday's estimates
of nearly 45 mph.
A
pair of Andretti Green Racing cars fills the seventh
row with Tony Kanaan 13th and Marco Andretti 14th. Kanaan
was not pleased. "We don't have the speed this weekend
and I don't know what to do," said Kanaan. "My
teammates have the speed but our race car isn't very good
so we have our work cut out for us."
Marco was more
optimistic: "I figured we would
qualify about where we did. I'm looking forward to the
race, though. I think the Blockbuster car will be pretty
competitive in the race, but for whatever reason, it didn't
have the speed in qualifying. This place is tough and anybody
can win here."
MARCO FAST AGAIN IN PRACTICE - after 90
minutes under the lights on the high-banked 1.5-mile Texas
Motor Speedway oval in preparation for the Bombardier Learjet
550kThe session was run in wind that gusted to 35 mph.
Marco Andretti in the No. 26 Blockbuster
car for Andretti Green Racing (213.465 mph; 24.5380 seconds)
was second fastest behind Scott Dixon. Marco's uncle, John
Andretti in the No. 24 Roth Racing car was third.
"The wind
was interesting. Even when we were running on our own,
we were treating it like we were in traffic because of
the wind. If you can get the car good in the wind, then
it won't be bad in traffic. We ended up working on our
racecar the whole time. We had ideal conditions with the
Blockbuster car so that is why we were able to put it near
the top. I think we're a couple of changes away from our
racecar yet."-
Marco Andretti at TMS Friday.
Andretti Family's 100 start at Milwaukee
By virtue of Marco Andretti and John Andretti starting
the IRL IndyCar ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt 225 at Milwaukee Mile
on June 1, the Andretti family recorded its 1,000th open-wheel
start.
Racing legend Mario made more than half
the family's starts to date with 536 (408 Indy car starts
and 128 Formula 1 starts). His son Michael made 317 starts
(317 Indy car starts and 13 F1 starts) while John, son
of Mario's twin brother Aldo, has made 76 starts.
Marco
Andretti, son of Michael has made 37 IndyCar Series starts,
while his uncle Jeff, younger brother of Michael, made
21 Indy car starts. In the 1,000 starts, the family has
won 108 races, recorded 398 top-five finishes and 531 top-10
finishes.
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RACE
TEN
Race 10 of 16
Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix
Sunday
July 6th
Watkins Glen, New York
2790 County Road 16,
Watkins Glen, NY 14891
2005/6/7
Winner:
Scott Dixon
Distance:
60 laps/204 miles
Our Preview
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