Marco Andretti couldn ’ t have been happier at the beginning of the year after announcing his engagement to model Marta Krupa in February .
Then the Verizon IndyCar Series season began a month later . It ’ s been a struggle for Andretti to enjoy much of anything since .
The 29-year-old son of team owner Michael Andretti and grandson of 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner Mario Andretti is experiencing his worst season . It ’ s not just because the Andretti Autosport driver is 18th in points . He hasn ’ t been a serious contender in most of the races . His best finish was ninth at Detroit . His only other top-10 run was a 10th at Toronto .
“ I ’ m not going to hide it . It ’ s been miserable . It ’ s been one thing after another ,” Andretti said .
“ To be honest , it ’ s extremely trying , man . It ’ s hard to go home . I don ’ t relax . My poor fiancée has to deal with that . I ’ ll try to sit at the pool by her , I ’ m physically there but I ’ m not mentally there . I ’ m on the phone with my engineers . I ’ m training harder than ever , I ’ m in the best shape of my life .”
He points the finger first at himself first , but concedes his struggles can ’ t be attributed to only one factor . His team has made mistakes ; be it a costly pit stop in the 100th Indianapolis 500 or race strategy or the shocks package . His No . 27 entry carries a Honda engine and aero kit , which has been consistently outperformed by the Chevrolets that have won 11 of the 12 completed races this season .
“ It ’ s me qualifying ( poorly ), that ’ s a big thing ,” Andretti admitted . “ The team , I think our shock package is out to lunch , quite honestly . I ’ m being pretty blatant about it . That ’ s making life pretty miserable on bumpy tracks . I think the manufacturer is not the strongest manufacturer in the series . So there ’ s a lot of things .
“ My dad just says , ‘ Stay in it , keep at it .’ Right now , we ’ re not the best Honda team . And Honda is behind Chevy . And Penske is the best Chevy . So it ’ s like we ’ re in the fourth class right now .