2006 Dallara IR6

2006 IndyCar Series Bombardier Rookie of the Year Marco Andretti of Andretti Green Racing had a remarkable inaugural season. He claimed rookie honors at the Indianapolis 500 and became the youngest person to win a major open-wheel race when he took the checkered flag at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, August 2006. The future is certainly bright for this third-generation Firestone driver.

Marco Andretti
Source: Andretti Green Racing
He has 'that' name. He has the talent. And in his heart, Marco Andretti has the burning desire to follow in what are perhaps the biggest footsteps in motorsports.

Turning 19 years of age just weeks before the 2006 IRL IndyCar Series begins, Andretti may not have a lengthy professional resume, but his previous forays have been nothing short of successful.

In 2005 alone he earned three victories from pole position and had four podium finishes in the IRL Infiniti Pro Series while making just six starts. He also finished among the top-five in the Star Mazda Series point standings. He has also taken numerous championships in the Skip Barber Series, as well as in various karting endeavors.

And now he finds himself driving for Andretti Green Racing; a team co-owned by his father and an organization which has won the past two IndyCar Series championships.

It's a scenario he's dreamed of. To race in the IndyCar Series; to compete in the Indianapolis 500; to go head-to head against his father in that fabled race, much as his father competed against his grandfather at the same venue.

But first things first: the testing, logging the countless miles; learning about the car and about his teammates. And they, in turn, learning about him. Having to take things one step at a time. It's a cliché, but one that holds so true, especially at this level of competition.

Because at this level of the game, the championships are very rewarding yet the stakes are also very high.

But, when you have 'that' name, it's in your blood.

Andretti Clinches IndyCar Series Rookie Title at Infineon Raceway

Marco Andretti, driver of the #26 NYSE Dallara/Honda/Firestone, not only captured his first career victory today at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway, but he also earned the 2006 IndyCar Series Bombardier Rookie of the Year title.

Andretti clinched the top-rookie honor by posting one victory, four top-five and seven top-10 finishes through the 13 events contested thus far on the 14-race 2006 schedule. The 19-year-old native of Nazareth, Pa., has recorded 313 points to runner-up Jeff Simmons' 193 points.

This also represents the fourth consecutive season in which Andretti Green Racing has garnered postseason honors, and is the second rookie of the year title for the team. The team captured the IndyCar Series driver's championship in 2004 (Tony Kanaan) and 2005 (Dan Wheldon), as well as fielding the 2003 rookie of the year (Wheldon).

Marco Andretti, #26 NYSE Dallara/Honda/Firestone:
It's an honor to be the top rookie in the IndyCar Series. My goals going into the season were to win a race, finish high in the point standings and be the top rookie. So far, the NYSE team has done a great job helping me achieve those goals.

I'm so proud of the job that Marco has done all year. He's done a fantastic job all year long. He qualified well here and then drove just a perfect race to get the victory. First he earned rookie of the year at Indianapolis and now in this series and he totally deserves it.

About Dallara
Since 1997, Dallara has designed and built chassis for teams competing in the IndyCar Series. Dallara cars won the series championship in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005, and the Indianapolis 500 in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2005. In 2001, the company was awarded the contract for the Indy Pro Series, the IRL s official development series. In 2005, Dallara began supplying the cars for the new GP2 series, which will be supporting the F1 races in Europe and supplying the cars to another prestigious championship in Europe The World Series by Renault.

For the first time since 1999, Dallara is also involved in the design and build of a Formula One car. This new project for the Midland F1 Team will see the car join the grid in 2006.

Dallara also has built a close working relationship with some of the most prestigious motor car manufacturers, including Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Audi and Honda. Consulting on design, research and production of racing projects for manufacturers is becoming increasingly a major part of the core business of Dallara.

The company has state-of-the-art facilities that include a new 50 percent wind tunnel and a 40 percent wind tunnel, a seven-post dynamic test rig, a Pro Engineer CAD system with FEA and CFD, a well-equipped modern machine shop with CNC machines and two five-axis routing machines and an in-house composites department. The latest acquisition is a rapid prototyping machine that allows the rapid production of test parts straight from CAD data without the need to produce molds.

Source - Andretti Green Racing