For his 13th season in the series, Marco Andretti will have a new team. Well, almost. The heir to the Andretti dinasty will be driving the 98 car this season, which still falls under his father Michael’s stable, but is officially run under the tongue-twisting Andretti Hertha Austosport with Curb Agajanian banner. Andretti debuted his new ride in an all-black livery during Sebring testing.
Effectively, he swapped seats with Alexander Rossi, who will pilot the number 27. On the surface, it would seem like a simple cosmetic issue as both drivers will keep their head engineers and sponsors. However, the move points towards a closer collaboration between Andretti and team co-owner Bryan Herta, who acted as his race strategist in 2017 and will continue to do so in 2018.
The two of them have a long history in common. Andretti’s first IndyCar season, in 2006, was also Herta’s last. They were teammates and Herta indirectly aided Andretti to take his first series victory by spinning and bringing out a yellow flag that solved the then-rookie’s risky fuel strategy at Sonoma.
Years later, Herta founded his own IndyCar team, which was eventually absorbed by Andretti Autosport in 2016. That year, Herta masterminded the fuel strategy that saw Alexander Rossi take a dramatic rookie Indy 500 victory.
“My goal is to bring the No. 98 another Indy 500 win along with many other victories," said Andretti. "Working with Bryan has been refreshing – he is very committed to getting me all the tools I need to get back into victory circle. He believes in my talent and is dedicated to turn that into results.”
