Second-half comeback source: indycar.com / Dave Lewandowski The second-year IndyCar Series driver would like to, but it smacks Andretti upside the helmet every time he glances at the IndyCar Series standings. There has been redemption, however, in the past seven races, in which he's recorded five top-five finishes. Throw out Mid-Ohio, which was (up and) over before it began, and Richmond, where he started toward the back of the grid when qualifications were rained out, and Andretti has been on a roll. Overshadowed by teammates Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan -- involved in the championship hunt with three races remaining -- and Danica Patrick (because she's Danica Patrick), Andretti enters the Motorola Indy 300 presented by Jackson Rancheria Casino & Hotel coming off a fourth place at Kentucky Speedway and a second place at Michigan (he averaged an 11-position jump in those two races). Oh, and Andretti is the defending race champion. He was fourth-quick on the combined speed chart on the first day of practice with a fast lap of 1 minute, 16.8541 seconds (107.737 mph). Helio Castroneves in the No. 3 Team Penske car topped the field with a lap of 1:16.5298 (108.193 mph) from the morning session. "Whenever we finish the race we seem to be in well into the top five, which is good because we're competitive," said Andretti, who last August became the youngest winner of a major open-wheel series race. "I couldn't get out of my own way in the beginning of the season. Something different would happen all the time; a lot of it out of my control and some of it driver error. Those lucky saves I was having last year didn't happen at the beginning of this year and all the bad luck kind of hit me at once. "I think the toughest part of any job is to overcome adversity, and so far we've been able to do that. It only makes you stronger." Mechanical issues derailed Andretti's season-opening run at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he started fifth in the No. 26 NYSE Honda-powered Dallara. He was running at the finish in only one of the next six events. "(At HMS), we went really out there on the setup because we were so overwhelmed by the other guys' speed," Andretti said. "So we went for speed and threw the car comfort idea out the window. I went the most on edge on the team so we just shot ourselves in the foot to start the season. I would summarize my season as Mid-Ohio the morning warm-up I can't wait to get the race started and I'm on my head before I know it. A mirror vibrates at Indy and I'm on my head. We have a pole car at Richmond and it rains for qualifying and I start 17th (on entrant points). "I know a lot of it is out of my control and we just have to keep pushing." The 2.26-mile, 12-turn Infineon Raceway circuit is among Andretti's favorites. "Throughout my career, I love coming back to this place," he said. "I've had a lot of success at this place. I couldn't tell you why; it just happens like that. Where last year I would be going into the race not knowing how it would play out, this year I have a better idea."
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