John Andretti: Racing Driver Who Attempted the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 60

John Andretti was an American racing driver from the famous Andretti racing family who competed in IndyCar, NASCAR and sports cars. Born on March 12, 1963, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, he was the nephew of Mario Andretti and the cousin of Michael Andretti.

Andretti raced in the Indianapolis 500 in 1988 to 1994 and 2007 to 2011, with a best finish of fifth in 1991. In 1994 he became the first driver to race both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. In NASCAR he won twice in 393 Cup starts, at the 1997 Pepsi 400 and the 1999 Goody's Body Pain 500. He also won the 1989 24 Hours of Daytona with Porsche.

In April 2017 Andretti disclosed a stage four colon cancer diagnosis and launched the #CheckIt4Andretti campaign to promote colonoscopies. He died of colorectal cancer in Mooresville, North Carolina, on January 30, 2020, at age 56. His son Jarett races sports cars. His campaign became a foundation that provides colonoscopies to uninsured people.

Achievements: First driver to race the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on one day (1994), NASCAR Cup wins (1997, 1999), won the 24 Hours of Daytona (1989), won a CART race (1991).

Birth: March 12, 1963 - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Profession: Racing driver.

Interesting Facts: He died eleven months before his father, Aldo. He co-hosted a NASCAR radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio starting in 2007.