THE ANDRETTI FILE

The up-coming Indy 500 got the Agent to thinking. There are only a handful of drivers who have driven competitively down the quarter mile and in the Indy 500, most notably Art Malone, Danny Ongais and John Andretti. You may have heard that former nitro pilot John Andretti got a ride in the No. 24 Roth Racing, Indy Racing League, Honda-powered Dallara for the 92nd running of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

During Wednesday’s rain-shortened Indy 500 practice, Andretti clocked 221.386 miles per hour, which was the fastest lap among the non-qualified drivers for the Memorial Day classic. In the early ‘90s Andretti drove Jack Clark’s Taco Bell-sponsored Top Fuel dragster. He has been racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series for over a decade.  (Jeff Burk photo) [5/15/2008]

SPEED MERCHANTS READY FOR DEBUT

Owner Brad Green of Siloam Springs, Ark., sent us a photo of the Speed Merchants AA/FD making its first shakedown run May 10 at the Texas Motorplex. David Pace of Longview, Tex., is the driver and John Dearmore of Alba, Tex., is crew chief. A brand new full-length body is being painted and will make its debut at the Goodguys event in Indianapolis June 6-8. The team also plans to be at the Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green the following weekend. [5/15/2008]

AL ECKSTRAND PASSES

Elton "Al" Eckstrand, who campaigned "The Lawman" series of Dodge Stockers and toured them overseas to entertain and inform U.S. troops in the 1960s, died May 10 in Naples, Fla., after a short illness. He was 79.

Eckstrand, a former Chrysler Corporation lawyer, won the 1963 Winternationals and was runner-up at that year’s Nationals in Indianapolis. When he retired from competition in 1965, he worked with upper management at Chrysler and was given a 1966 Hemi Charger to use in a tour of U.S. military bases in Europe and in Vietnam. A large number of American servicemen were returning to civilian life after their tours of duty in Vietnam and were a growing statistic among the 50,000 fatalities on the highways at the time. In the eight years that the program existed, Eckstrand and the USA Motorsports Association that he founded gave demonstrations to hundreds of thousands of outgoing soldiers.

After living in Europe for three decades, Eckstrand, a member of the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, returned to the United States in 1999, bringing with him the famous Dodge, which was selected to join the collection of the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, Mich. [5/15/2008]