INDIANAPOLIS — Marco Andretti is at the 106th Indianapolis 500 because he wants to be, not because he has to be.
By the end of his full-time NTT IndyCar Series career in 2019, he was beginning to feel that he was going to the other races on the schedule because that’s what he had to do.
At Indy, it’s not that Andretti has to; it’s because he wants to.
“That is the difference,” Andretti said. “That is why you see me smiling more. I’m smiling sometimes but I’m not. I’m definitely happier in overall life but also at the race track. I’m here. I’m looking forward to it. I’m molding my career the way I want it now.
“I’m here because I want to be.”
At one time in young Andretti’s career, he was hailed as the latest, greatest driver in the long line of great racers in the Andretti family. When he won his first career IndyCar race at Sonoma, Calif., in 2006 at 19 years old, he was the youngest winner in history at that time.
The future looked bright for Andretti, who had the full support and backing of his famous father, Michael, and his grandfather, Mario.
But as time went by, Marco was unable to achieve the very high expectations.
He scored his second career victory in a thrilling battle with Tony Kanaan at Iowa Speedway in 2011, but after that, Andretti began to struggle.
Every season, he would try to reinvent himself, but it was becoming obvious that full-time racing was making Marco miserable.
In 2020, Andretti finished 20th in points and decided to step back from full-time racing. He signed up for Tony Stewart’s SRX Racing Series, a six-event race featuring drivers from various forms of racing that begins in June and is televised on CBS.
He would compete in just one IndyCar race a year — the Indianapolis 500.
“It was eye-opening,” he said. “You don’t get to the next point in your life without some kind of ‘this is what I want to do’ type thing. There were a lot of elements that led me to that decision.
“I’m much happier now.
“What makes it tough for any athlete is you can sign 100 autographs, and the 101st will be pissed off because they didn’t get an autograph,” Andretti said. “That’s tough sometimes.
“I’m good without the grind of a full season right now.”
Andretti, who won the pole in 2020, is back for his 17th Indianapolis 500 and will start 23rd — the middle of Row 8 — in Sunday’s 106th Indianapolis 500.
Andretti’s 17th Indy 500 start will be one more start than his father and team owner, Michael, had as a driver in the Indy 500.
“This year, I’m going to have more starts than my dad, so when he tells me something, I’m going to say he doesn’t know what he is talking about.”
Mario’s career ended with one win in the 1969 Indianapolis 500. Michael was never able to win the race in 16 attempts.
But there is still time for another Andretti to celebrate a victory in the Indianapolis 500.
“That’s the goal,” Andretti said. “That’s my life goal. All of my effort and energy is going into this one race. I know we can do it. I’ve been on the front row a couple of times. On the pole. Top-10 six times.
“But there is one position left.”
Andretti has been more relaxed this year at the Speedway. The pressure is gone, and he is savoring his time at Indy, the one track that has suited his style in the past with the pole in 2020.
He was on his way to an apparent checkered flag in his first Indy 500 in 2006, only to have Sam Hornish zoom past to win just a few hundred feet from the finish.
He has finished third three times at Indy and fourth once.
“I’m ecstatic to be back,” Andretti said. “I’m as excited as ever.
“A lot of things during the couple of weeks before Indy can be grueling, but now I welcome all of it with open arms and I’m ready for everything.
“I’m trying to enjoy it more than when it was the continuation of a grueling season. There were circumstances to running full-time that, what I was putting into it, I was getting out of it in several areas. This is the race I live my life around and this is the one I think we can contend every time.
“I’m happy to be back,” he said. “I’m putting everything into this now. It’s not the continuation of another season. I feel right at home. I feel really comfortable. Now, I’m embracing everything. I look forward to every part of it now.”