The Andretti family has had deep ties in all of auto-racing, but Marco Andretti has long had a calling for stock-car racing.
The grandson of Mario Andretti (who himself won the 1967 Daytona 500), will be jumping behind the wheel in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the ARCA Menards Series in 2024, in addition to yet another attempt at winning the Indianapolis 500.
Marco has dabbled in stock-car racing over the last several years after stepping away from full-time IndyCar racing. That has included a SRX Championship win in 2022 and a couple of Truck starts in 2023.
Cook Racing Technologies (CRT) has announced that it has signed the 36-year-old to compete in 13 ARCA races in the team's No. 17 Chevrolet beginning with the season-opening race at Daytona in February. He was cleared to compete on all of the series' tracks after completing the preseason testing for ARCA at Daytona last weekend.
Those 13 ARCA starts aren't the only NASCAR events that Andretti has on his schedule. He will also jump behind the wheel of the No. 04 Chevrolet fielded by Roper Racing in alliance with CRT for seven races in the Camping World Craftsman Truck Series. The first of those races will be at Circuit of the Americas in March.
Andretti spoke with Motorsport.com about his 2024 schedule and is happy to be getting the opportunities in NASCAR, as he tries to pursue a full-time stock-car gig.
?I?m really happy with the program we?ve put in place for my racing schedule in 2024,? Andretti said. ?This plan is a good mixture of races with the ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series that provides maximum track time, which is what I?m after.
?It will answer a? pic.twitter.com/G4EqVJukPC— Marco Andretti (@MarcoAndretti) January 18, 2024
"I'm really happy with the program we've put in place for my racing schedule in 2024," Andretti said. "This plan is a good mixture of races with the ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series that provides maximum track time, which is what I'm after. It will answer a lot of my unknowns in stock cars. I also want to do it the right way and not go right to the top of their sport on my IndyCar and SRX merit as I respect the amount of talent in all of the various stock car series."
Twenty races at some of the best tracks in NASCAR is a good opportunity, given he has already made four total (1 Xfinity Series, 3 Truck Series) NASCAR starts to date. While his IndyCar career didn't quite go as well as he and his family had hoped, perhaps he will enjoy far more success in NASCAR.
