IZOD IndyCar Series: Milwaukee IndyFest

Topics:  Milwaukee IndyFest

Michael Andretti
June 15, 2013

WEST ALLIS, WISCONSIN

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys. Congratulations on a great race.
We're pleased to be joined by Michael Andretti, the winning team owner today.
Michael, fifth win for your team here in Milwaukee, talk about today's victory.
MICHAEL ANDRETTI: We love Milwaukee. I can tell you that. As a team, it was great. As a driver, it was great for me. Now as a promoter, it's great.
I'm excited about how today went obviously with the win, but also with the people that showed up to support the race. I think it's a great day. I think a lot of people had a lot of fun out there with the Indy festival. Hopefully we can get this figured out and get this thing to stay on the map.
THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions for Michael.

Q. For a while, it looked like Marco might be able to give you a Father's Day gift.
MICHAEL ANDRETTI: He let me down (laughter).

Q. Are you considering adopting Ryan as your son?
MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Maybe. He gave himself a Father's Day gift since he's a new father.
I felt bad for Marco. He was running really strong all weekend. I don't know what problem he had. Looked like kind of some sort of electrical problem. It was just a real bummer. It would have been nice to have him up there fighting for the win, as well.

Q. (No microphone.)
MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I don't know. I mean, we come here with a philosophy of what I had back when I was driving and we just carry that on, try to stress that to the engineering and the drivers on the way we used to do it then. There's things we used to do that really used to work. Seem to still be working.

Q. (No microphone.)
MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I think it actually ended up being not so bad. We were a little worried because of the weather. The last few days definitely hurt us with the forecast. It was a real shame because in the end, look at the sun shining. I'm thinking it kept some people home and they're going to be sorry they were home because it was such a great event.

Q. (No microphone.)
MICHAEL ANDRETTI: To me it was typical Milwaukee. It's all about traffic. Without traffic you normally don't have passing here. That's been since when I started racing here. That's what makes it exciting, is having a car that works in traffic. That's what won the race, to be honest with you.

Q. (No microphone.)
MICHAEL ANDRETTI: I think it's very possible. We sure hope so, for sure. I mean, we have Marco up there, as well. Hopefully he can get back on track.
But, yeah, I feel good about where we are. I think we're coming up to a lot of strong tracks for us. Like I said, hopefully history will repeat itself.

Q. (No microphone.)
MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Well, he's definitely in his prime, there's no question about it. He's at the perfect age. He's got all the experience he needs. He knows exactly what he needs in a racecar. He knows what he needs when he's at certain positions in the race. Those are the things you just learn through experience. Those are things that win you championships.

Q. (No microphone.)
MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, I mean, Ryan, he needed to have races where he didn't have mistakes. I'd say in the middle of 2011, from then on it just clicked for him. I think those are things that happen with experience. All of a sudden he just knew when he needed to be aggressive and when he didn't.
That's where it really clicked for me with Ryan, the middle of '11, he just started to see the bigger picture better.
I think he scored more points than anybody since then if you go back.

Q. (No microphone.)
MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Well, actually, I mean, let's face it, Helio got lucky. That yellow doesn't come out, Helio is going to finish probably 15th, 12th maybe. But when Marco brought that yellow out, that saved him because they pitted on that early yellow.
Had that not happened, I think it would have been a race between Ryan and E.J. to be honest with you. The race would have ended up looking totally different and a lot more dominant for Ryan and E.J. at that point.

Q. (No microphone.)
MICHAEL ANDRETTI: He's coming on. I just feel like he's going to win a race before the end of the year.

Q. (No microphone.)
MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Yeah, I think the team itself, he fit right in. I think he's learning from his teammates. He's learning that his teammates can help him. In return, he's been doing things that have been helping the teammates.
Yeah, he's falling into the system well. I think sooner or later he's going to end up in Victory Lane.
THE MODERATOR: Michael, thank you for your time.
MICHAEL ANDRETTI: Thank you.