John Andretti  John Andrew Andretti (March 12, 1963January 30, 2020) was an American race car driver. He won individual races in CART, IMSA GTP, Rolex Sports Car Series, and NASCAR during his career. He was the son of Aldo Andretti, older brother of racer Adam Andretti, nephew of Mario Andretti, and first cousin to IndyCar champion Michael and Jeff Andretti. John Andretti was born on March 12, 1963 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to "Corky" and Aldo Andretti. As a member of the famous Andretti racing family he was predestined for a racing career. Starting with karts at a young age, he graduated in time to junior stock cars and USAC midgets. Andretti graduated from Moravian College with a degree in business management and later reflected he would have been an investment banker or stock broker if he had not started racing. He started racing actual sports cars in 1984. Andretti joined the BMW North America team for a full IMSA GTP season in 1986. He won that year at Watkins Glen, paired with Davy Jones. Andretti joined the PPG Indy Car World Series (CART) in 1987, winning the Rookie of the Year award. In his debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1988, he reached as high as seventh place before mechanical problems forced him to finish 21st. In 1991 he won the only race of his CART career, the Gold Coast Grand Prix in Surfer's Paradise, Australia. He finished a career-best fifth in the 1991 Indianapolis 500. The 1994 Indy 500 was his last appearance in that race until 2007. In 1986 Andretti drove a BMW M12 March, along with co-driver Davy Jones, in the 1986 IMSA GT Championship season. While the BMWs had limited success in IMSA competition, Andretti and Jones won the Kodak Copier 500 at Watkins Glen International on September 21, 1986. In 1989, Andretti drove the Miller High Life/BF Goodrich Porsche 962 to victory in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona (called the "Sunbank 24 at Daytona" at the time) along with co-drivers Bob Wollek and Derek Bell. Later in the IMSA season, Andretti and Wollek won the Pontiac Grand Prix of Palm Beach, driving the same Porsche 962. Andretti finished fifth in points (112) in the 1989 IMSA season, first among Porsche drivers. In 2001 Andretti teamed up with Kyle Petty to win the GT Class in the 6-hour sports car race at Watkins Glen.