02/28/2017 – Pontiac was no different than any other manufacturer that had its share of drivers that may not have been high profile/championship caliber (i.e. Weatherly, Wallace, Labonte, Stewart) or that won a high-profile/historical race (i.e. Roberts, Yarborough), but that still managed to sneak in a win – perhaps their only win – before fading from the scene and/or never winning again.
John Andretti is this blog entry’s example of such a situation. Since coming to Petty Enterprises in 1998 for his second stint (but first full-time, since 1994), Andretti hadn’t exactly set the Cup world on fire. With 1 win to his credit (the 1997 July Daytona race, he dominates in Cale Yarborough’s RCA Ford in what would be Yarborough’s only win as a car owner) Andretti returned to Petty Enterprises and demonstrated consistency with 10 top-10 finishes and an 11th place finish in the Championship standings, but was never a clear threat to win. However, everything came together at the end of the Goody’s Pain 500 at Martinsville, April 18, 1999.
Starting 21st and battling his way through a typical short-track slugfest, Andretti came back from a lap down in the STP Grand Prix to pass Jeff Burton in the Roush Exide Batteries Ford with 5 laps to go to take the win. What made the win even more improbable was that Andretti ran the entire second half of the race without changing the left-side tires, something that Jeff Gordon at first didn’t believe. In a Pontiac era dominated by Bobby Labonte’s and Tony Stewart’s high-profile organization with numerous wins and two Championships, Andretti’s second career win (and probably his last) is an oft-overlooked accomplishment.
Pontiac Racing 