Cook Racing Technologies (CRT) announced on Thursday it had signed the 36-year-old grandson of racing legend Mario Andretti to compete in multiple ARCA Menards and NASCAR Truck series races throughout the 2024 season.
Andretti will compete in 13 ARCA races in CRT’s No. 17 Chevrolet, beginning with the Feb. 17 season opener at Daytona International Speedway. Andretti participated in last weekend’s preseason test at the track and has been cleared to compete on all series tracks.
In addition to the ARCA events, Andretti will also compete in seven Truck races, driving the No. 04 Chevrolet fielded in an alliance with Roper Racing. His first Truck start will be in March at the Circuit of the Americas.
For the past three seasons, Andretti has competed in the six-race SRX Series, which is run on short asphalt and dirt oval tracks during the summer. He won a race in his first season and won the series championship in 2022.
His most recent IndyCar start came in last year’s Indianapolis 500, when he finished 17th in an entry fielded by Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian.
“I’m really happy with the program we’ve put in place for my racing schedule in 2024,” Andretti said. “This plan is a good mixture of races with the ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series that provides maximum track time, which is what I’m after.
“It will answer a lot of my unknowns in stock cars. I also want to do it the right way and not go right to the top of their sport on my IndyCar and SRX merit as I respect the amount of talent in all of the various stock car series.
“I’m looking forward to having a lot of fun with (team owner) Bruce (Cook) and the team. I’m confident that we can be pretty competitive right out of the gate.”
Andretti made his NASCAR national series debut in 2022 in the Xfinity Series, competing at the Charlotte Roval. During the 2023 season, he made three Truck starts, all with Spire Motorsports.
CRT, the defending ARCA Menards Series West championship team, is co-owned by Cook and Steve McGowan.
“Marco has a proven track record across multiple racing platforms. I think with some more seat time and guidance in the stock car world, he'll be able to compete up front on a regular basis,” said Cook, who will also serve as Andretti’s crew chief.
In an interview with Motorsport.com last summer, Andretti said he believed “the ship has sailed” on a return to full-time IndyCar competition but would “never say never” to a NASCAR career.
“I’m really loving the stock car stuff,” he said. “So, who knows if it’ll keep going?”
MMI Racing and Sun West Construction will serve as sponsors for Andretti’s races. Additional sponsors will be announced at a later date.
