UPDATE: For the first time since the deal was announced in early July, Andretti explained exclusively to IndyStar how Gainbridge’s multi-year primary sponsor deal with Spire Motorsports in NASCAR Cup could help fulfill Andretti’s numerous attempts to join the series.
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“Andretti” wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the [Spire Motorsports] release, outside Marco’s Truck series appearance. But the driver’s father − the racing series owner with entries in IndyCar, IMSA, Formula E, Supercars, Extreme E and Indy NXT − confirmed that Towriss’ dual role as the team’s new co-owner, while keeping his executive roles within Group 1001, allowed the sides to pursue a variety of options for the future.
The cheaper option for control over a full-time entry in the Cup series would likely involve purchasing one of (or both) Spire’s charters.
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If he has his way, Andretti said, he’d like to take a different route – one in the image of the majority stake Andretti Autosport recently landed in IMSA juggernaut Wayne Taylor Racing. In that deal, WTR – now Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport – has continued its same day-to-day operations with the same folks in charge before it was announced in late December 2022.
See much more at the Indianapolis Star.
ORIGINAL POST 7-26-2023: While Andretti Autosport is focused on trying to get into F1, a recent move in NASCAR by its major sponsor Gainbridge is indirectly serving as an experimental step into the stock car series for Andretti, according to people familiar with the matter.
In early July, Spire Motorsports announced that it had signed a multiyear deal with Gainbridge, a fintech company, to be the primary sponsor of the team’s two cars in the NASCAR Cup Series for 16 of the final 18 races this year. The sides also revealed that day that former IndyCar driver Marco Andretti, Michael’s son, would make his debut in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in a Spire truck that month.
The team is not yet commenting on its talks to potentially enter NASCAR, and Andretti Autosport was not technically named in the press release with Spire. But SBJ understands that this move is a first step of sorts that will help the Andretti family get a feel for NASCAR if it decides it wants to take a more formal move into it.
See more at Sports Business Journal.