Marco Andretti Returns to NASCAR With Major Daytona Surprise & Truck Series Announcement

Two-time IndyCar series winner Marco Andretti will be pulling off a double duty with a mix of NASCAR and ARCA races in 2024. Cook Racing Technologies announced on Thursday that they had signed the 36-year-old to compete in multiple ARCA Menards and NASCAR Truck Series races for the 2024 season.

Andretti will be starting off the season with the ARCA opener at Daytona International Speedway on 17 February. Meanwhile, his ARCA schedule comprises 14 races, and he will be driving the No.17 Chevrolet. Beyond this series, the Pennsylvania native will be also seen competing in seven Truck races piloting the No.4 Chevrolet in partnership with Roper Racing. His first Truck start will be in March at the Circuit of Americas.

Marco Andretti is excited to re-embark on his stock-car racing experience

For the past three seasons, the third-generation Andretti family racer has competed in the six-race SRX series, which is held on short asphalt and dirt oval tracks. He won a race in his very first season in 2021 and won the overall title a year later. However, the former IndyCar race winner will be all geared up as he now takes on the stock-car model approach aiming for the top tier in NASCAR ranks.

“I’m really happy with the program we’ve put in place for my racing schedule in 2024. This plan is a good mixture of races with the ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series that provides maximum track time, which is what I’m after. It will answer a lot of my unknowns in stock cars. I also want to do it the right way and not go right to the top of their sport on my IndyCar and SRX merit, as I respect the amount of talent in all of the various stock car series.” Marco Andretti said.

CRT is banking on Andretti’s experience over the years across different disciplines of racing. “Marco has a proven track record across multiple racing platforms. I think with some more seat time and guidance in the stock car world, he’ll be able to compete up front on a regular basis,” said team owner Bruce Cook. He will also serve as Andretti’s crew chief.

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Marco Andretti has already made his NASCAR national series debut in 2022, competing in the Xfinity Series. He also made three starts in the Craftsman Truck Series for Spire Motorsports during the 2023 season. However, the seeds for this move were already sown last summer.

Andretti had a good prep going into the Daytona event

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Now that his entire ARCA and Truck Series schedule is out, Marco Andretti will be looking to get his taste of the stock-car racing circuits. With the sponsors in place, he will feature in the ARCA season opener at Daytona. Before this announcement, Andretti made sure he left no stone unturned in his preparations for the event. He competed at the first ARCA pre-season test last weekend.

In the Cook Racing Technologies No.17A Chevy, Andretti managed to finish fifth in the timings. He was unable to break the 49-second mark as the top-four drivers did. However, considering this was his first ARCA experience, he sure put out a good showing of his racing skills. It was Venturini Motorsports leading the charts as Jake Finch took the top spot and Toni Breidinger finished second.

Marco Andretti will be sponsored by MMI Racing and Sun West Construction with additional sponsors expected to be revealed soon.

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