"Never did I think I would have the opportunity to be part of the Indianapolis 500. I know how much this means to John Andretti and the Andretti family, and I'm looking forward to seeing John on the track in May. I'm not sure if I can be of any help to him, but he's going to have no bigger supporter than myself." - Richard Petty, unveiling John Andretti's Indianapolis 500 entry, which features a paint scheme that might look more than a little familiar to race fans.
All that bad boy needs is some "STP" stickers and it is good to go!
Photo: IMS/Ron McQueeney
Long Beach Preview
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Is it just me, or does it seem like we have gone months without an IndyCar
race? If you want to get technical, we have. The last points-paying race
was run...
20 hours ago
The more the merrier!
That car is a crime against humanity. I mean, I like N-word, and I like IndyCars, but this is just... no.
No.
NO.
I'm sure if John qualifies the car STP will find its way onto the car, eh???
I am pulling for King Richard to win. What better way to thumb it to the N-word than to be forced out because of the super expensive budgets, team up with a solid IRL team who is growing, and win the Indy 500! I'll bet you a bank-sized-bailout if John does well, in 2010 Tony Stewart will be at the 500 as a car owner/driver and Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson will not be far behind!
SonicAD,
I think it's a very cool retro-scheme that invites comparisons to another light blue and dayglo red Indy Car that was pretty successful at Indianapolis back in the day. So if you look at it that way, maybe it's easier to accept.
Now, can John pull off what Gordie did? Well there is that Andretti curse thing . . .
Robert, the problem is still the start time. While I immediately thought of him running Indy when Stewart became an "owner/driver", he's still probably not going to until the start time is set back. Also, there's a question if he's athletic enough considering he's a bit bigger than he was in 2001. In Andretti's case, he hasn't been full-time often in the past five years, and isn't quite as committed to Cup. Robby I don't really understand considering he said he'd never go back due to safety reasons, and considering his precarious top-35 position but I'll be happy if he does show up.
Johnson? He's not coming unless the start time is moved back (or the 600 is moved forward), but I think he WOULD come then despite no OW experience. He's actually proven to be one of the more versatile Cup drivers, solid in the Rolex 24 at least...
Gordon? Despite his USAC experience, I actually don't see him running it ever, because he hasn't driven outside of Cup much (yes, one third-place at the Rolex, but he hasn't driven it as much as Johnson or Stewart, and a couple solid performances at the Race of Champions...but that's really it for him out of Cup, and the time demands of superstardom I'd imagine are much greater for him than even Stewart or Johnson.) I'd see Kyle Busch running it first...
John is class act. Glad to see him in a car. I think he'll do well. I mean didn't the guy qualify 7th or something like that in a Roth car last year? (somebody correct me if I'm wrong, IIRC Texas?)
Maybe a top-10 out of this team, but a few things would have to break right on race day. Wouldn't be surprised to see them as a solid, second-day qualifier.