Andretti still competing for titles at 38

Mike Harris

Thursday, March 15, 2001 | 5:03 a.m.

One thing Michael Andretti has learned in 17 years of Champ car racing is that you never win enough races or championships.

"You're never satisfied with what you've done. You always want more," said Andretti, whose 40 victories make him the all-time leading winner in CART.

It's been 10 years since Andretti won his only series championship. Even at the somewhat advanced - for open-wheel racing - age of 38, the second-generation star wants more.

Now, with the new Motorola Racing team, Andretti is confident he has the tools to get the job done.

"There was no team six months ago, but it has come together so quickly and so well that it's very impressive," Andretti said. "It's like a team that's been together for years."

Andretti and the team formed by Barry Green, who also fields Honda-powered Reynards for Paul Tracy and Dario Franchitti at the separate Team Kool Green operation, got off to a strong start Sunday in the season-opener in Monterrey, Mexico.

He started fifth and finished fourth on the slick and treacherous new road course. It was a great debut for a new team.

"They do things very different from what I'm used to, but they're very organized down to every little thing," said Andretti, who spent 10 of the past 11 seasons with Newman-Haas Racing. "I had a good start with Newman-Haas, but this feels like my home now."

Perhaps the biggest difference is that Andretti is not working with engineer Peter Gibbons for the first time in many years. Instead, he has a new partnership with Eddie Jones, who moved up to be Andretti's engineer after spending the past few seasons in the developmental Indy Lights series.

"Barry and the rest of the people here felt very strongly that Eddie was going to do a good job," Andretti said. "He just hasn't had the break to get into bigger cars. But he knows what's going on. It was time for us to get used to some new blood and I've enjoyed getting to know Eddie."

Jones, who once raced against Andretti in Super Vees in 1983 - "Mike won and I finished" - isn't daunted by working with the biggest name in CART.

"He's got so much knowledge and wants to win so bad, it's a pleasure," Jones said. "I'm learning from him and from the other guys on the team."

Kim Green, Barry's brother and the man put in charge of the new team, says Andretti's talent has always been evident but that his ability to give feedback on the performance of the car is nearly as impressive.

Asked if he is surprised he's won only one championship, Andretti shrugged and said, "Yeah, a little. I've finished second five times."

After winning in 1991, Andretti never figured he'd still be looking for his second title 10 years later.

"It came so quickly and pretty easily. I'd really appreciate it this time because I know now how hard it really is," he said. "But I really believe I can still win some championships. I just need things to go my way."

Michael and father Mario, one of racing's all-time greats, have shared the burden of what has been described by some as "Andretti Luck" - roughly akin to "Murphy's Law."

That was never better illustrated than at Indy, where the great Andrettis - despite 92 open-wheel victories between them - combined to win just once in nearly three decades. Michael might get a shot at his first win there this year if his team is among those from CART going to the race, now an Indy Racing League event.

But Andretti doesn't bemoan his misfortunes.

"In other ways, though - like bad crashes and things like that," he added, rapping his knuckles on the table, "we've been the luckiest guys in the world, especially in the era of racing my dad went through."

Although he is now one of the older drivers in a series that seems to be attracting younger and more talented drivers every year, Andretti is among the favorites going into just about every race.

If his skills have diminished at all, it hasn't been noticeable.

"Maybe I'm not quite as fast as I used to be," he said with a grin. "I don't take as many chances. But I'm smarter, I hope. I think last year was the best I've ever driven in my career."

And he thinks he's still improving as a driver.

"As long as I feel that way, I'll stick around and try to win some more races and championships," he said.

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