By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
When the Verizon IndyCar Series hits the green flag Sunday at Pocono Raceway, no competitor will be closer to home than Marco Andretti.
Growing up less than an hour form the raceway in Nazareth, Pa., Andretti, 31, relishes in the opportunity to race in his home state. It’s where the hometown crowd comes out in support and when the weeks of motorhome stays come to a short end.
“Selfishly, I can sleep in my own bed,” Andretti told Kickin’ The Tires. “We have that hometown support which has been awesome for me here so my goal is to make them all proud.”
Despite the close connection, bad timing kept the third-generation racer from growing up at the track, which ran its final IndyCar race in 1989 when Andretti was only two years old.
And when the series returned to the 2.5-mile triangle in 2013, Andretti saw the place for the very first time… and was quick instantly.
“The first time I was at the track, the second day ever I was on pole, which was pretty cool in 2013,” he said. “The track has changed, it’s a bit rougher now. They repaved it for ’13 and we had a solid weekend going until the end.”
Finishing 10th that day, the results since haven’t been much better for the Andretti Autosport veteran. Finishing ninth in 2014, he has failed to hit the top 10 in the three years since, entering Sunday’s ABC Supply 500 with an average finish of 12.0 in five starts.
The performance at Pocono, too, speaks of his performance in 2018, a season that has seen teammates Alexander Rossi fight for the championship and Ryan Hunter-Reay return to Victory Lane. Andretti, however, sits 11th in points.
“We all learn from each other,” he said of his teammates. “There’s a lot to be learned from every one of my teammates. [Rossi] has been driving awesome. That is expected. So is the Hunter-Reay thing, he was able to get a win in Detroit. They’re both in it.”
Though behind in points, Andretti scored his first pole in five years back at Belle Isle in June and has a better average finish and points position versus 2017.
Still, it’s not enough.
“There are definitely improvements but I’m not where I want to be right now,” he said. “Our consistency is there but I want to be that next step better.
“I don’t want to be a flash in the pan, a couple great results here and there. We need to run there every weekend.”
(Below is a video capture of our conversation with Marco Andretti)
