Andretti to decide soon whether he’ll stay with Newman-Haas

Tim Puet

Sunday, Aug. 13, 2000 | 3:16 a.m.

LEXINGTON, Ohio - Michael Andretti might leave Newman-Haas Racing in 2001 and either join another CART team or switch to the rival Indy Racing League next year.

"I've received serious offers from several other teams in both CART and the IRL and am negotiating with at least three of them besides Newman-Haas," Andretti said before the start of Sunday's Miller Lite 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. He declined to specify which teams were involved.

Andretti also said he did not know when he would make a decision, but Newman-Haas co-owner Carl Haas said he expected one shortly.

"I think we'll have a result on what Michael's plans are for next year fairly quickly, probably in the next couple of weeks," he said. "We're still in negotiations and trying to work things out."

Haas said reports that he didn't plan to renew his contract option on Andretti were premature, but Andretti said it appears that's what Haas has in mind.

"I think Carl can't commit to more than a one-year deal, and at this stage in my career, I can't do that," he said.

Andretti has been in CART for 17 seasons and has won 40 races. Both marks are tops among active drivers.

He has been with Newman-Haas for 10 seasons, including the last six, and is in the third year of what was supposed to be a five-year contract with the team.

Andretti and his father, Mario, have been longtime critics of the IRL, which split from CART five years ago and which controls the Indianapolis 500.

But Andretti said Sunday that he would like to go back to Indianapolis in hopes of duplicating his father's achievement of winning that race in 1969.

"I've always wanted to go back to Indy," he said. "I'm running out of years and I'd like to be back there if I could.

"I've been doing a lot of research about the IRL and I like the direction they want to go and the goals they want to achieve. They've been around for a few years, so it wouldn't be as though I were jumping into something new."