The most impressive was his diverse resume, which included wins in Cup, Ind圜ar, the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona and sprint cars. The smartest thing John ever did was marry Nancy.” A year later, Nancy agreed to go out with John again, they got married for 30 years and had great kids.

“Nancy decided no more with this guy, but that wasn’t what John had on his mind. “It was a complete failure,” Burton said with a laugh. When her parents got her to relent after Andretti’s nonstop phone calls, they went to dinner at an expensive French restaurant. If something was on his mind, he’d make it happen.”īurton recalled the best example as Andretti’s pursuit of his wife, Nancy, who initially rejected his overtures. “I knew John to be a guy who made stuff happen. We spent a lot of time at racetracks, on airplanes and at holidays together. We were always together and became really close. “I wanted to understand what he was about. “To be blunt, I didn’t know why an Andretti was coming to NASCAR racing,” Burton said, drawing chuckles from an audience that included Ind圜ar legends Mario and Michael Andretti. NASCAR on NBC analyst Jeff Burton, who entered the Cup Series with Andretti as rookies in 1994, eulogized his close friend as a fierce competitor with bedrock principles, a redoubtable spirit and a devoted family man. The versatile racer, who died of colon cancer at 56 last Thursday, was remembered during a three-hour visitation and 45-minute memorial service at Saint Mark Catholic Church that drew hundreds (including NASCAR president Steve Phelps and several drivers, crew chiefs and team executives) to a suburb just north of Charlotte, North Carolina. – Whether excelling in myriad racing disciplines, tirelessly raising awareness (and money) for passionate causes or relentlessly wooing his wife, John Andretti and his indomitable will were celebrated Monday night.

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