Andretti Green Racing

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Dario Franchitti's car being pushed up to qualify for the 2006 Indianapolis 500

Andretti Green Racing is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series.

Founded in 1995 by Barry Green as Team Green, he and his brother Kim Green fielded two cars for Teo Fabi and 1995 Indianapolis 500 and CART champion Jacques Villeneuve in conjunction with Gerry Forsythe. In 1996 the Greens broke off and became known as the Brahma Sports Team for a season, with driver Raul Boesel. In 1997 KOOL tobacco took over as a major sponsor with Parker Johnstone, before switching back to a two-car effort in 1998 with temperamental yet talented Paul Tracy and rising youngster Dario Franchitti.

Those two stayed on as teammates for five seasons, the latter in 2002 when the team produced a striking new livery to coincide with their switch from Reynard to Lola chassis. The year before Michael Andretti joined the team in a separate effort headed by Kim Green, known as Team Motorola. Andretti won his last race as a driver at the '02 Long Beach Grand Prix.

After a major problems in CART surfaced (leading to the organisation's bankruptcy after the 2003 season and sale of interests to another team owner), Andretti, who had purchased majority interest in the team, switched the newly-renamed Andretti Green Racing in 2003 to the rival IRL series, as Honda and Toyota had exited CART for the IRL, mostly because of formula (normally aspirated vs turbocharged engines) and a format which does not favour "franchise" teams. Tracy stayed in Champ Car with Franchitti joining Tony Kanaan and Andretti. Andretti retired after the 2003 Indianapolis 500, with Dan Wheldon taking his place. AGR has ran four cars since the beginning of '04, with Bryan Herta behind the wheel of the additional car. Kanaan and Wheldon won consecutive IRL titles in 2004 and 2005, with Wheldon winning the Indianapolis 500 in 2005, leading to Andretti referring to the win as his very own, as an owner, as good as if he had won it as a driver, because of the nuances of car ownership and building his own team.

Wheldon's championship was his last before free agency, and joining the Target Chip Ganassi Racing team in 2006. He was replaced by Marco Andretti.

Michael Andretti came out of retirement to qualify for the 2006 Indy 500 to help his team defend their championship.

It was announced the week of the Firestone Indy 500, on Tuesday, July 25th, 2006, Danica Patrick would join the team for the 2007 IndyCar season. [1]

The team has been compared as the IRL's version of NASCAR's Roush Racing, for it being the largest team in the League.