Formula 1 and IndyCar: The greatest lie ever told about open-wheel racing
By Asher Fair
Marco Andretti – 2006 Indianapolis 500
Marco Andretti entered the 90th running of the Indianapolis 500 in the 2006 IndyCar season as a 19-year-old rookie from Nazareth, Pennsylvania. As the son of the great Michael Andretti and the grandson of legend Mario Andretti, hopes were extremely high for Marco.
To this day, Marco Andretti’s name is associated with the 2006 Indianapolis 500.
With just over one lap to go, Marco Andretti held the lead over Sam Hornish Jr., who had just passed Michael Andretti for second place. Marco was able to slam the door on Hornish Jr. in turn 4 before taking the white flag with the race seemingly in hand.
The announcers thought so, at least.
Since hi second place finish in this race behind Hornish Jr., a finish that is the third closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history with just 0.0635 seconds passing from the time Hornish Jr. crossed the finish line to the time Andretti crossed the finish line, Andretti has never finished this high in the Indianapolis 500 again in 11 more attempts.
Andretti still hasn’t won the race, and his top finishes since the race in 2006 are third place efforts in 2008, 2010 and 2014.
However, even if he breaks what has become known as the “Andretti Curse” and wins the Indianapolis 500 before he retires, no one will ever disassociate his name with the 2006 Indianapolis 500.
Why? Because he finished in second place.