Marco Andretti talks about his transition to NASCAR Truck Racing - “I think this suits me more naturally”

In a recent podcast, IndyCar winner Marco Andretti opened up on his transition from open-wheel to stock-car racing. The 37-year-old Andretti currently competes part-time in the ARCA Menards and NASCAR Truck Series.

Marco, the grandson of motorsports legend Mario Andretti drives the #4 Chevy for Roper Racing in the Truck Series and the #17 Chevy for Cook Racing Technologies in the ARCA series. The former SRX Series champion competed for 15 years in the NTT IndyCar Series, accumulating two wins before transitioning to stock car racing.

According to a recent episode of Kelly Cranall's The Racing Writer's podcast, Andretti claimed to enjoy the challenges of high-octane NASCAR racing, saying,

"I think this suits me more naturally than anything because I love racing."

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"IndyCar is very cutthroat" - Marco Andretti compares his IndyCar and Stock car racing experiences

In a conversation with Racer.com journalist Kelly Crandall, Marco Andretti discussed the differences between open-wheel and stock car racing.

The 37-year-old believes IndyCar is very predictable and lacks the "combat" of stock car racing. He said,

"I just really love the actual racing. And I think if you draw a parallel with IndyCar, IndyCar is very cutthroat. It's very track position-dependent. It's very hard to pass. You have to set up a pass for sometimes a whole stint and just see where the guy's weak and then pounce. It might take 20 laps to pass an IndyCar sometimes." [0:26]

"But here, even if you feel like you're struggling with the car, you might pass four guys a lap. I mean, it's so fun. And you're always in combat. You're always racing and going backwards, going forwards, sliding. I really enjoy that. The pure racing of Stock car. You know, just the movement and the anticipation of where everything's going to end, net out at the corner exit," he added.

With three ARCA Menards and four Truck Series races remaining in his 21-race schedule for the 2024 season, Andretti's racing program includes:

• September 13 – Watkins Glen (ARCA)
• September 19 – Bristol (ARCA)
• September 19 – Bristol (Trucks Series)
• September 27 – Kansas (ARCA)
• September 27 – Kansas (Trucks Series)
• October 26 – Homestead (Trucks Series)
• November 8 – Phoenix (Trucks Series)

In his three Truck Series starts, Andretti has had one DNF and finished inside the top-25 once. Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania native accumulated one top-5 and four top-10 finishes in his eight ARCA starts.

Andretti will next be seen in action at Watkins Glen International for his ARCA Series race on September 13.