On Thursday Andretti Autosport announced that John Andretti had passed away.
Born in 1963, Andretti was the son of Aldo Andretti. He married Nancy Andretti in 1987 and they had one child, Jarrett Andretti.
Andretti revealed in April 2017 that he had stage four colon cancer but was ruled cancer free later that year. His most recent relapse occurred in March 2019.
While Andretti competed in both IndyCar and Cart, he will best be remembered for his time in the NASCAR Cup Series where he made 393 starts scoring a win in the 1997 Summer race at Daytona and the 1999 spring race at Martinsville.
The following statement was released:
It’s with the heaviest of hearts we share that John Andretti has today lost his battle with cancer. John was a loving husband and father, a devoted son and a trusted cousin. He was a philanthropist, an advocate for the sport, a dedicated teammate, a driven competitor and most importantly a dear friend.
Through Race4Riley, John spent decades dedicating his time and fundraising attention to Riley Hospital for Children. When first diagnosed with colon cancer in 2017, John vowed to fight back and use his voice to help spread the word of prevention and early detection. He fought hard and stole back days the disease vowed to take away. He helped countless others undergo proper screening, and in doing so, saved lives.
We will forever carry with us John’s genuine spirit of helping others first and himself second. Our prayers today are with Nancy, Jarett, Olivia and Amelia, with our entire family, and with fans worldwide. We urge all our followers to, please, #CheckIt4Andretti.