Conversation: J. Andretti

John Andretti returned to the Nextel Cup circuit at Michigan, where he will start his first event in a BAM Racing car that he will drive for the remainder of this season. The veteran driver has been in and out of the sport since splitting with Petty Enterprises late in 2003, driving for a handful of Nextel Cup operations and a few Busch teams, making four Craftsman Truck starts, and even qualifying for this year's Indianapolis 500.

The nephew of racing legend Mario Andretti and a two-time winner on NASCAR's premier circuit, Andretti has never lost his smile or his positive outlook, even though lately he's bounced around the sport without a permanent ride. Buoyed by his family -- wife Nancy and children Jarrett, Olivia and Amelia -- and his charity work for the Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis, the 44-year-old Andretti is driven by a refreshingly positive outlook.

John Andretti

Q: At Michigan, you qualified the BAM Racing car 16th in your first race with the organization. How hard is it to jump into a new car in new surroundings, and make it go fast from the very beginning?

Andretti: I think, unfortunately, it's kind of what I've had to do the last year or so. It's not fun, because people don't know how you work, and you don't know how they work. You're kind of watching, but after a couple of weekends here it will be like old hat. When I went back to Petty [filling in this summer while Kyle Petty did television work], I knew everybody. I knew their names already. I know a lot of people from here, so they're not all strangers. But that's probably the hardest part, knowing who does what and how they think. Obviously, you want to get better as quickly as possible, but it's always easier to have a bad day in this series than a good day.

Q: This deal with BAM is for the remainder of this season. Is it a relief to have a ride?

Andretti: It helps you feel settled in, but I don't worry about stuff like that anymore. I've long gone past the days of worrying about tomorrow. All I worry about is my family. The rest will happen. I do the races, and I drive for different people I want to. When I went back to Indianapolis, I really had a great time. I went back to NASCAR so I could drive this car, because I knew I'd have a good time. At this stage of my career, I want to look forward to what I'm doing. I don't want it to be a paycheck, and that's all I'm there for. It's never been that way for me, and that's why I stayed at Petty for so long. That's the way I look at all of it. It's got to be a team. There are a lot of unhappy people in this garage, and I don't want to be one of them.

Q: How hard is to get to that point, when you're able to not worry about tomorrow and can focus on the now?

Andretti: I think it's because I've got a great wife and three great kids, and they're healthy. I raise money for the Riley Hospital for Children; we've raised over $1 million for them in our 11th year. I see families and what they have to struggle with, with kids. They don't deserve that. So I figure myself to be extremely lucky. So from that standpoint, anything I get above that is all a bonus. The fact that I get to do what I love to do, and get paid to do it, I'm still in the minority of people in this world.

Q: What have you been doing when you haven't been in the car?

Andretti: Just spending time with my family. We've been to a lot of places. When I did the deal with Petty Enterprises, my son was playing soccer over in England. My middle daughter Olivia and [wife] Nancy and the little one went to Indianapolis, and I didn't see any of them for two weeks. That was hard. Those are the things I don't like. We just spend a lot of time together. Our kids like being with us. They thank us for every dinner they have. They're just awesome. I go to the pool with them. Sometimes when we go to the movies we split it up, and I'll go to an older movie and Nancy will go to a younger movie. Everything is based on family. Everything we've ever done, if it benefits all of us, that's what we'll do. There are certain things I want, cars and stuff, but they don't benefit anybody but me, so I don't have them.

Q: You've done a little radio and a little television when you've been out of the car. Do you see yourself on that side of the microphone when you stop driving for good?

Andretti: I don't know. Honestly, I don't know if I'm good enough. Kyle Petty, he can do both. He can drive a racecar and then walk right into the TV booth, and be brilliant. There are certain guys that can do that. I don't know if I'm one of those guys. I don't know what the future holds. I want to be around motorsports, because I love it, but it won't be owning a race team. It might be TV, but I really like working with the radio guys. I've got a face for radio, so that works.