Despite the newness of the Indy Lights car, Andretti noted that he’s relying on as much of his past racing experience as he can in order to get up to speed quickly, and that there are some aspects of his other endeavors that have helped him adapt already to the Lights team.
“I think the sports car deal really helps me, because I’d never worked with an engineer before that,” he said. “Now I’ve built that repertoire up as far as what I look for and what they look for, as far as feedback. Even though it’s two different cars and two different series, they all kind of look for the same stuff as far as how you break down a corner and things like that.
“From the sprint car side, there’s not a lot driving-wise that converts … but I work on my own stuff with my dad, so I know the mechanical side some and I understand that side of things maybe a little bit more than someone who’s never done that,” Andretti continued. “It’s been interesting and just good to work with different people. It’s good that I don’t have many bad habits to unlearn and we can push forward.”
When he takes to the track on Friday, Jarett will become the seventh member of the Andretti family to compete at IMS, joining his father John, great uncle Mario, uncle Adam and cousins Michael, Jeff and Marco.
Asked what it means to follow in their footsteps, Jarett Andretti admitted he’s still trying to soak in all the emotions of the week as he goes along. The greater impact, he said, will come afterward.
“I don’t think I really have a good answer to that yet,” he noted. “I feel like I’ll know what it means better after Friday’s race. Once I have some time to reflect on it, I think it’ll set in better than it has at this point. I’ve been in the shop for so long, Michael’s my godfather … and just with all the history that our family has at the speedway, it’s very special on multiple counts. It’s hard to put it into words.
“I will say that it wouldn’t feel right if I wasn’t doing it this way; that’s just how our family works.”
Though he’s a rookie at Indianapolis, Jarett’s goal remains the same as the six Andrettis who came before him and raced at the legendary, 2.5-mile oval.
“Every time you race, you have to believe you can win,” he said. “I don’t have as much experience as some of the other guys, but I have teammates to lean on and the team has won the Freedom 100 before, so I think we’ll be alright.
“Winning is the goal, and hopefully we can turn this into another opportunity in the future.”
As for his first real experience behind the wheel at the iconic venue?
“There’s nothing like it,” said Andretti, who was fifth-quick in both practices Monday. “It’s Indy.”