Photo Credit: Shawn Gritzmacher/IndyCar
The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach has been a track that has been good and bad for Marco Andretti, driver of the No.27 United Fiber & Data/Snapple Honda for Andretti Autosports.
He has raced in the event six times previously, and when he takes the green flag on Sunday afternoon, it will be his seventh. Andretti’s first race at Long Beach was in 2009, where he finished sixth after starting 23rd. In 2010, he started ninth and finished 14th. In 2011 and 2012 he got a DNF (Did Not Finish) in both as 2011 was a steering rack issue and 2012 was a crash with Graham Rahal. In 2013, he finished the race seventh, followed by a pair of eighths the last two years.
Andretti has not had the best of start to the 2016 Verizon IndyCar season. In the first race of the season, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Andretti finished 15th after having an incident on track which resulted in him having to have a front nose change on pit road, leaving him laps down. The second race of the season, the Diamond Desert West Valley Grand Prix of Phoenix at Phoenix International Raceway, wasn’t any better. He had made a green flag pit stop just prior to a caution coming out and therefore was trapped a lap down. He eventually got back on the lead lap on the last caution but with the difficulty drivers were having passing, he finished 13th, the last car on the lead lap.
Now, Andretti is looking to Long Beach to bounce back from his woes of the first two races. Also winning at Long Beach would be awesome for him because the track has so much history for the Andretti Family as his dad Michael Andretti got his first win there in 1986 and again in 2002, and his grandfather Mario Andretti won the race a total of four times – 1977, 1984, 1985 and lastly 1987.
“Long Beach is my favorite street circuit and has a lot of family history for us,” he said. “It’s a great setting for a race and the fans are so supportive. The Indy 500 is obviously top on my desired win list, but Long Beach is in a close second. I can’t wait to get back this weekend and hope to put the UFD/Snapple car up front.”
