About Jarett
The Basics:
Birthday: 12/13/1992
2022 Car: Ligier JSP320
Series: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
Hometown: Born in Indianapolis, IN. Raised in Mooresville, NC
Hobbies: Time with family
When I finally decided to move forward with a website after racing for about 10 years (a little late, I know), I wanted it to be a place where people could get to know me. With that in mind, I’ve written all of the content on the website myself with the exception of the press releases that announce our programs, drivers, and sponsors. With that in mind, a little more about my career can be found below.
Despite the last name, my racing career began later than most of my peers. It happened very naturally when my Dad, John Andretti, purchased a go-kart shortly after coming off the road from the Cup Series. Dad was so passionate about racing that he looked for any way to continue his enjoyment of racing and maintain his competitive edge. Even though Dad didn’t race the go-kart, he had the pleasure of running it, setting lap times, and spending the day at the track watching me attempt to beat the clock. Originally, the track didn’t have a race set for our kart class, until they decided to add it to the schedule. That was really just the start of it…
Over time, our go-kart racing days evolved into the opportunity to drive a USAC Midget for Tracy Trotter. Dad and I hit the road for about a season and a half taking care of the cars, and actually ended up winning the championship of our first full season! After the excitement settled, we continued searching for new opportunities to drive my career forward.
We weighed a number of options and while walking through the IMIS, the International Motorsports Industry Show (now the PRI Show) Dad said, “We should go dirt sprint car racing! We can race a lot–it’s relatively inexpensive.” Excited by the idea, we got a car and hit the road. Michael Andretti was even gracious enough to lend us a truck, trailer, and shop space, everything we needed to get started.
The Basics:
Birthday: 12/13/1992
2022 Car: Ligier JSP320
Series: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
Hometown: Born in Indianapolis, IN. Raised in Mooresville, NC
Hobbies: Time with family
When I finally decided to move forward with a website after racing for about 10 years (a little late, I know), I wanted it to be a place where people could get to know me. With that in mind, I’ve written all of the content on the website myself with the exception of the press releases that announce our programs, drivers, and sponsors. With that in mind, a little more about my career can be found below.
Despite the last name, my racing career began later than most of my peers. It happened very naturally when my Dad, John Andretti, purchased a go-kart shortly after coming off the road from the Cup Series. Dad was so passionate about racing that he looked for any way to continue his enjoyment of racing and maintain his competitive edge. Even though Dad didn’t race the go-kart, he had the pleasure of running it, setting lap times, and spending the day at the track watching me attempt to beat the clock. Originally, the track didn’t have a race set for our kart class, until they decided to add it to the schedule. That was really just the start of it…
Over time, our go-kart racing days evolved into the opportunity to drive a USAC Midget for Tracy Trotter. Dad and I hit the road for about a season and a half taking care of the cars, and actually ended up winning the championship of our first full season! After the excitement settled, we continued searching for new opportunities to drive my career forward.
We weighed a number of options and while walking through the IMIS, the International Motorsports Industry Show (now the PRI Show) Dad said, “We should go dirt sprint car racing! We can race a lot–it’s relatively inexpensive.” Excited by the idea, we got a car and hit the road. Michael Andretti was even gracious enough to lend us a truck, trailer, and shop space, everything we needed to get started.
The opportunities didn’t stop there. In 2012, we ran 12-15 sprint car races and won ‘Rookie of the Year’ at Oswego Speedway in New York, where I ran a supermodified car for the first time. While it was a great time, we decided to focus our energy back on sprint car racing the following year.
In the meantime, I was going to college at NC State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. From Raleigh, I would drive 2 ½ hours to Charlotte to pick up Dad. From there, we would drive another 8 ½ hours to Indianapolis, and then all the way back each weekend. While it was time-consuming (I still know the route by heart, even the best places to make a pit stop), it was worth all the fun we had together.
These adventures continued until my graduation from N.C. State in 2014, when I moved to Indianapolis to race full-time. Over the course of five years, from 2013 to 2018, we ran a total of 50-60 sprint car races per year and had a blast traveling together from coast-to-coast.
I learned so much from my time spent racing sprint cars… I still believe the best drivers in the world can be found on local, dirt tracks. I always wanted to road race, but I didn’t really get the chance to do much of it.
Thanks to Dennis Macchio, I was able to compete in some Formula 2000 races, but the turning point of my career arrived when David Tilton gave me the chance to drive his TCR (Touring Car Racing) car–just about the furthest thing from a sprint car.
The opportunities didn’t stop there. In 2012, we ran 12-15 sprint car races and won ‘Rookie of the Year’ at Oswego Speedway in New York, where I ran a supermodified car for the first time. While it was a great time, we decided to focus our energy back on sprint car racing the following year.
In the meantime, I was going to college at NC State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. From Raleigh, I would drive 2 ½ hours to Charlotte to pick up Dad. From there, we would drive another 8 ½ hours to Indianapolis, and then all the way back each weekend. While it was time-consuming (I still know the route by heart, even the best places to make a pit stop), it was worth all the fun we had together.
These adventures continued until my graduation from N.C. State in 2014, when I moved to Indianapolis to race full-time. Over the course of five years, from 2013 to 2018, we ran a total of 50-60 sprint car races per year and had a blast traveling together from coast-to-coast.
I learned so much from my time spent racing sprint cars… I still believe the best drivers in the world can be found on local, dirt tracks. I always wanted to road race, but I didn’t really get the chance to do much of it.
Thanks to Dennis Macchio, I was able to compete in some Formula 2000 races, but the turning point of my career arrived when David Tilton gave me the chance to drive his TCR (Touring Car Racing) car–just about the furthest thing from a sprint car.
By 2018, I was still racing sprint cars, while also competing in 5 TCR weekends.
During that time, I built a relationship with McLaren, and in 2019 decided to go GT4 racing in both Sprint and Sprint X (one-hour races with two drivers per car and a mandatory driver change). This was in addition to our sprint car program, so we got a semi and tractor trailer and started piecing together the road race team! In the fall of 2019, we were lucky enough to win an overall sprint race at Watkins Glen International, and Dad was there to witness it all! We capped the year off with two Sprint X wins at Las Vegas Speedway.
The final race of 2019 was the last that Dad watched of me… We won, and that’s something I’ll be proud of forever.
GT4 continued into 2020, when we won the championship at Indianapolis.
For the race, we decided on a throwback paint scheme of the last car Dad ran there. It was a very special moment for us all, especially my family.
Heading into 2021, we decided to jump straight into prototype racing, specifically the LMP3 class in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The team and I experienced a great deal of growth. Not only did we learn about a new type of car, we also learned multi-class racing in an endurance format.
The process has been challenging, yet rewarding as we get ready to compete for the championship in 2022. We continue to build towards our ultimate goal of racing at Le Mans under the Andretti Autosport shield.
By 2018, I was still racing sprint cars, while also competing in 5 TCR weekends.
During that time, I built a relationship with McLaren, and in 2019 decided to go GT4 racing in both Sprint and Sprint X (one-hour races with two drivers per car and a mandatory driver change). This was in addition to our sprint car program, so we got a semi and tractor trailer and started piecing together the road race team! In the fall of 2019, we were lucky enough to win an overall sprint race at Watkins Glen International, and Dad was there to witness it all! We capped the year off with two Sprint X wins at Las Vegas Speedway.
The final race of 2019 was the last that Dad watched of me… We won, and that’s something I’ll be proud of forever.
GT4 continued into 2020, when we won the championship at Indianapolis.
For the race, we decided on a throwback paint scheme of the last car Dad ran there. It was a very special moment for us all, especially my family.
Heading into 2021, we decided to jump straight into prototype racing, specifically the LMP3 class in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The team and I experienced a great deal of growth. Not only did we learn about a new type of car, we also learned multi-class racing in an endurance format.
The process has been challenging, yet rewarding as we get ready to compete for the championship in 2022. We continue to build towards our ultimate goal of racing at Le Mans under the Andretti Autosport shield.
When Dad and I started working on our sportscar team, the first person we brought on to start building the team was Robin Pemberton. Robin, who is very well-known throughout the motorsports community and had been friends with dad for years, always referred to us as JA1 (Dad) and JA2 (me). Incorporating JA2 into my brand resonated with me, including Dad and paying tribute to the generations that had come before me. I’ll always be proud to be JA2 and will continue to build upon my brand from this perspective.
