INDIANAPOLIS — It was less than two weeks after Alex Palou won his third NTT IndyCar Series Championship in three years at Nashville Superspeedway and IndyCar was preparing for its annual Victory Lap celebration.
That is when news struck by lightning that few people could see coming.
It was longtime team owner and former IndyCar racing legend Michael Andretti relinquishing control of Andretti Global. Dan Towriss, who owns Group 1001, was a major stakeholder at Andretti Global. Over time, his stake in the team was larger than Andretti’s, and Towriss decided to take over the team.
At the beginning of September, Andretti was still operating full-speed ahead with his desire to create a two-car Formula 1 team with Cadillac.
By Sept. 27, Andretti was out of racing.
Details of what happened remain sketchy.
According to sources, Towriss bought out Andretti’s share of the team and will keep him on board as an “ambassador.”
Andretti plans on returning for the 109th Indianapolis 500 as his son Marco will attempt to compete in his 20th Indy 500. Michael competed in 16 Indianapolis 500s in his career and the family patriarch, Mario, competed in 29 from 1965-1994.
The Andretti name has always represented excellence in auto racing, which made Michael Andretti’s sudden departure so puzzling.
Towriss will keep the Andretti Global name attached to the team, but the 62-year-old Andretti made it clear he is stepping out.
The fate of the proposed Formula 1 effort, which was met with bitter resistance from current Formula 1 team principals and team owners, and even from high-ranking members of Liberty Media, F-1’s rights owners, remains uncertain.
Towriss has not disclosed whether he will take over the F-1 effort, without Andretti.
Andretti Global will continue its participation in all current forms of racing that it is part of, with the NTT IndyCar Series team that includes drivers Colton Herta, Marcus Ericsson and Kyle Kirkwood as the anchor of the operation.
For much of the 2024 season, Michael Andretti was a vocal critic of IndyCar owner Roger Penske’s management style. He believed Penske needed to invest $100 million into marketing IndyCar.
Penske didn’t become a successful businessman and industrialist without making wise investments that brought a return on investment with steady gains.
The 87-year-old Penske returned a few volleys of his own to Andretti’s charges.
Penske told SPEED SPORT Andretti Global remains an important team in IndyCar with Towriss now in charge.
“Well Dan is a businessman and certainly Michael is, it looks like they’ve come up with a program and a consolation that everybody will be happy,” Penske told SPEED SPORT. “Andretti’s name is autonomous with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Michael and certainly Mario built their reputations here. I congratulate them on what they’ve done.
“I don’t know the background for the change in ownership, but Dan Towriss has been a big, big promoter, and a big supporter of IndyCar, IndyCar teams and drivers, so we’re glad to know that he’s still in the game.”
Colton Herta finished second in the 2024 IndyCar Series standings after claiming his first oval victory in the Sept. 15 Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway.
Twelve days later, Herta got the news that Andretti was no longer in charge of Andretti Global.
“Yeah, it was a little bit of a surprise, but I think I have full confidence in the team and their decision-making about what is the best going forward, and I think I’m excited for this new venture and see how it works out,” Herta told SPEED SPORT. “I think we’ll see.
“Dan has a great head on his shoulders. I think he definitely understands the business side of things and I think he has surrounded himself with great people to understand the racing side of things more and more each day.
“He’s been around it for quite a while now, so yeah, I’m excited about it.”
There was a time when Andretti and Towriss wanted to build a racing team that was the equal to Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing.
Andretti is the 1991 CART IndyCar Series champion and one of the most celebrated IndyCar Series drivers of his era. In 2003, he moved into team ownership when he purchased Barry Green’s CART-series team and moved it to the rival Indy Racing League.
During that time, Andretti’s team won four IndyCar Series championships beginning with Tony Kanaan’s title in 2004 continuing with Dan Wheldon in 2005 and Dario Franchitti in 2007. Andretti’s last IndyCar Series Championship was with Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2012.
Andretti is also the winning team owner for six Indianapolis 500 winners including 1995 when it was owned by Barry Green with Jacques Villeneuve the winner, 2005 with Wheldon, 2007 with Franchitti, 2014 with Hunter-Reay, 2016 with Alexander Rossi and 2017 with Takuma Sato.
Towriss joined IndyCar in 2018 with driver Zach Veach with his Gainbridge company as the sponsor of the No. 26. The combination created a growing business and Towriss and Andretti set out to find a Formula 1 operation in 2021.
They came close with Sauber, but the deal fell apart very late in negotiations when Sauber wanted to maintain control of the F-1 team.
Andretti Global was created in 2022 with Towriss and Andretti as partners. Another new company was created in 2022, Andretti Acquisitions Corp. The company grew rapidly, but it was not enough to convince Formula 1 team owners from allowing an Andretti-owned Formula 1 team with Cadillac as its partner into the F-1 “club.”
On a night when Chip Ganassi was honored with his 16th IndyCar Series Championship in 29 seasons, he admitted
It seems strange that for the most part, Andretti has left the series.
“I was a little bit surprised,” Ganassi told SPEED SPORT. “I know a lot about my team, but I don’t know
a lot about other people’s teams, so I don’t know the reason why.
“That’s why there are no other partners on my team.”