Familiar names return to Indy

INDIANAPOLIS -- Andretti, Rahal, Foyt. It sounds like throwback day at the Indianapolis 500.

Except this year, three of the biggest names in IndyCar history are hoping to give the 33-car starting field a brand new look.

Their more famous relatives are now watching from pit road as the next generation of Andrettis, Rahals and Foyts try to carve out their own niche in a sport where names mean everything.

"It's a new Indy, that's for sure," 21-year-old Marco Andretti said. "It's great to keep the names in it, the generations coming back. They're all very good drivers."

All Indy Racing League officials need now to re-establish the prominence of open-wheel racing in America is a few more wins from these Generation Y guys.

When CART and the IRL parted ways more than a decade ago, some of the brand names split, too.

Four-time Indy winner A.J. Foyt, the father of Larry and grandfather of A.J. Foyt IV, stayed with Tony George's series and continued bringing cars to the 2.5-mile oval as a team owner. Mario and Michael Andretti and Bobby Rahal remained in the CART series initially before returning to the Indy Racing League.

Now there's another kind of unification in the garage area: The old guard is back in a different form.

Marco Andretti has spent the last three seasons driving for his father's team, Andretti Green Racing, and posted the fastest lap in Tuesday's practice session, 226.599 mph. Pole qualifying is Saturday, and Andretti already is eyeing the top qualifying spot for race day, just like his grandfather, Mario, used to back in the day.

"I'm going for the pole," Marco Andretti said. "If I'm sixth or seventh, I'm going to get back in line and go again because I'm not going to be starting ninth again."

Foyt IV is the youngest driver to ever start at Indy, celebrating his 19th birthday on race day in 2003, and has been a regular on the circuit since then. He spent three years driving for his grandfather before switching to George's Vision Racing last year, although there are still times he meanders into his grandfather's garage.

"We really could have used the track time today, but instead I hung out at my grandfather's garage during parts of the rain delay," the youngest Foyt said after Wednesday's practice was rained out. "It's always pretty entertaining in there."

A.J. Foyt's son, Larry, primarily has been a one-race driver the past several years, starting three straight races at Indy from 2004 to 2006 before sitting out last year. Now he's back in the cockpit and ready to live up to the family name.

The newcomer this year is Rahal, the 19-year-old rookie who broke Marco Andretti's record as the youngest winner in IndyCar series history last month at St. Petersburg. The son of the 1986 Indy winner drives for Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing, while Rahal's father owns a two-driver team of his own.

Rahal doesn't seem to mind the competition or the recognition as long as he wins.

"I'm just starting to get out on my own. He's finally letting me go," the younger Rahal joked, drawing laughter. "After [winning at] St. Pete, it takes quite a lot of pressure off because a lot of people say 'You're with a great team, but you got out there because of your name.' Until you win, I think that question is always there."

For the Andrettis, however, Indianapolis has a different kind of legacy -- frustration.

Michael Andretti led more laps on this track than any other non-winner. His grandfather, Mario, won the race in 1969 and then spent nearly a quarter-century trying to win No. 2 despite the seemingly endless series of crashes, mechanical failures and bad luck at Indy.

Just when it looked like Marco Andretti was about to change the family history in 2006, Sam Hornish Jr. moved past him just yards from the finish to win the race and leave Andretti the runner-up.

But it hasn't changed Andretti's approach to the track that made his grandfather and father household names.

"You know, there's a lot of history here for my family, a lot of good and bad," he said. "But there's a lot of tradition, a lot of memories for my family. Heck, we've been trying to tackle this track since 1969."

To some children and grandchildren of celebrities, the link becomes a burden.

In racing, it's a gift, one the series believes will attract a new generation of fans to an old-style starting grid May 25.

"They do the same thing I do, which is turn it into a positive," Marco Andretti said. "I was lucky to be born into this family, and I have a lot of talent in my corner. You can't look at it as a negative. You just want to keep that tradition alive."