But the most consistent trend from the first page to the last is about his love for family and friends. “Those are the stories that are in there. “He’s one of the most versatile racers ever,” Gurss said. And he noticed that sharing stories from his life actually cheered him up in the middle of hefty cancer treatments.
Gurss wanted to get all of the information he could, but also make sure it didn’t take up much of Andretti’s time. When the duo sat down to begin the book, Andretti’s health started to decline.
“Our agreement with the Andretti family was 10 percent of the proceeds of the book would go to the hospital.” “He had a charity, Race for Riley, which raises money for the Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis,” Gurss said. Andretti immediately jumped at the idea to pen a book and spread awareness about colon cancer. Just a couple months later at Milwaukee, John lost to cousin Michael but beat Mario to complete an all-Andretti sweep of the podium, and John went on to finish eighth in the championship – a position he achieved again the following year thanks to a cluster of top-five finishes.ĭespite a couple of Top 10 finishes for AJ Foyt Racing in the Indy 500, Andretti spent the mid-late 1990s and early 2000s focused on NASCAR competition, scoring wins in the 1997 Pepsi 400 at Daytona and the Goody’s 500 at Martinsville in ’99.And a great story it is. In Indy cars, Andretti won the inaugural CART Indy car race at Surfers Paradise in 1991 driving for Jim Hall’s team. John also won USAC sprint car races on dirt and even made the semi-finals in an NHRA Top Fuel event! Andretti won the IMSA sportscar race at Watkins Glen in 1986 driving a March-BMW M12 with Davy Jones, and clinched victory in the 1989 Rolex 24 at Daytona, sharing the Miller High Life Porsche 962 with Bob Wollek and Derek Bell. Son of Mario Andretti’s twin brother Aldo, John initially followed the family’s path in open-wheel racing, while retaining his uncle Mario’s penchant for diversity.
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