Andretti Races; Children's Hospital Wins
17 December 1997
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - John Andretti laughed as he gained his "revenge on an obvious Jeff Gordon fan," but Riley's Childrens' Hospital was the big winner Monday. By lapping radio producer Matt Hibbeln 13 times at a go-kart track in Indianapolis, Andretti was able to raise nearly $4,000 for the well-known central Indiana children's hospital. The hospital is best known for admitting children regardless of their family's economic status. The race at Stefan Johannson's Karting Center - owned by the former Indy car star - brought in a crowd of nearly 400 people on a Monday afternoon. Andretti and Chris Gardocki, punter for the Indianapolis Colts and fresh from his team's 41-0 victory over the Miami Dolphins the day before, signed autographs throughout the three-hour event. Hibbeln, a producer at WIBC-AM in Indianapolis, had been ribbing Andretti for nearly a year during Andretti's regular weekly call-in feature. The good-natured joking escalated to a go-kart challenge, and Andretti responded by lapping Hibbeln 13 times on a track that takes an average driver 28-30 seconds to complete. Andretti turned laps around 20 seconds consistently. Local businesses had pledged donations for every time Andretti lapped Hibbeln. "Matt's nickname around the station now is 'Sand Wedge,'" joked Andretti, "because he's as far from a driver as you can get." Hibbeln still needled Andretti until just before race time, after which Andretti smiled and waved at him every time he passed. The crowd roared on every pass, pulling for Andretti. "It's not the type of thing you want to make a mistake doing," Andretti said. "Matt is just out there, kind of a moving chicane. Driving Indianapolis or Charlotte is a lot easier. At least there you know what to expect from the other drivers. If this track resembled anything, it resembled Bristol with one car out there running on six cylinders. "Seriously, the important thing was the money we raised and the attention we brought to Riley Childrens' Hospital. That's all I really cared about, all any of us really cared about. I think everybody had a really good time but we wanted to get some money to them. I think we did pretty well for something that was actually put together in about a week. "We're planning on making this an annual event. At least, it will be for me. Maybe we can find some radio producers who can drive next time," Andretti laughed. Andretti will drive the STP Pontiac of legendary Richard Petty in 1998, leaving the RCA Ford of Cale Yarborough. He is one of four drivers in motorsports history with major race victories in NASCAR Winston Cup (1997 Pepsi 400 at Daytona Beach, Fla.); CART (1991 Gold Coast Gran Prix in Australia); and IMSA (1989 24 Hours of Daytona being his highlight victory). Mike Snow - The Auto Channel