Michael Andretti explains long-term plans for latest NASCAR Cup team pursuit

It feels like we’ve seen this story before.

Gainbridge – or its parent company, Group 1001 – finds an opening in a major racing series with a sponsorship deal. And within a year or two, they become a major player.

Michael Andretti and his new Andretti Autosport co-owner Dan Towriss, the president and CEO of Group 1001, have long been a dynamic pairing in IndyCar. They have also been laying the groundwork for an appearance on the Formula 1 grid in 2025. If the pair has their way, it could lead to Andretti’s long-held wish of joining NASCAR Cup.

For the first time since the deal was announced in early July, Andretti explained exclusively to IndyStar how Gainbridge’s multi-year primary sponsor deal with Spire Motorsports in NASCAR Cup could help fulfill Andretti’s numerous attempts to join the series.

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Towriss sponsored Zach Veach's 2017 Indy 500 ride, then funded the young driver’s three-year program with Andretti Autosport. He shifted to backing the No. 26 Honda after Veach and Andretti parted ways. Gainbridge has also been the 500’s ‘presenting sponsor’ for some time. Andretti said setting an early groundwork with solid connections in the series is a first, all-important step.

“We’re working on relationships and things like that,” Andretti said of Ganbridge’s multi-year primary sponsorship deal with Spire. “It’s possible we want to, but right now, we don’t want to focus on that. We’re 100% focused on Formula 1, and that’s where it all has to be at this point."

Gainbridge jumped into stock cars a year ago, backing the two-car ARCA Menards series program of Rev Racing, which serves as the competition arm of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program. Cup regulars Daniel Suarez, Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson have passed through its ranks. In November 2022, Gainbridge announced an increased commitment to Rev Racing as the team expanded into the NASCAR Truck series, becoming the primary sponsor of the No. 2 Chevy of Nick Sanchez. Ahead of the final round of the regular-season schedule, Sanchez − who won the 2022 ARCA title − sits 9^th in the Trucks points (10 make the playoffs) as the top rookie.

July 5, Gainbridge and Spire jointly announced they had a multi-year deal that would feature frequent primary sponsorship signage for Spire’s Nos. 7 (Corey LaJoie) and 77 (Ty Dillon) Chevys in the Cup series – alternating between the pair in 16 of the final 18 races of the season. The deal also included Marco Andretti’s debut Truck series start at Mid-Ohio in Spire’s No. 7 Chevy with Group 1001 branding.

“We undertook this journey to prove ourselves in the industry, while positioning our team to work with and represent global brands," said Spire Motorsports co-owners Jeff Dickerson and T.J. Puchyr in a release. "This announcement validates that journey. We recognize the work is still just beginning, and we’re each to continue elevating our program to position Gainbridge as one of the most visible and influential brands on the starting grid.”

Andretti looking for 'turn-key' entry into NASCAR

“Andretti” wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the release, outside Marco’s Truck series appearance. But the driver’s father − the racing series owner with entries in IndyCar, IMSA, Formula E, Supercars, Extreme E and Indy NXT − confirmed that Towriss’ dual role as the team’s new co-owner, while keeping his executive roles within Group 1001, allowed the sides to pursue a variety of options for the future.

The cheaper option for control over a full-time entry in the Cup series would likely involve purchasing one of (or both) Spire’s charters – NASCAR’s version of a franchise system – that would give Andretti Autosport the right to run one or two full-time entries in each race. Owning a charter guarantees its holders entry into each race, and therefore a constant portion of race purses. Non-chartered entries can run most races, as the field size cap of 40 cars allows, but some are virtually always bumped from the Daytona 500, far-and-away the biggest race of the year.

In recent years, prices for NASCAR charters have sky-rocketed, with one of the most recent sales – 23XI’s purchase from StarCom near the end of 2021 – going for $13.5 million, according to Sports Business Journal. In recent months, rumored asking prices for charters have topped $20 million, with SBJ reporting recently that the cost for one could soon top $30 million.

And that purchase price, notably, wouldn’t include the shop space, race car parts and assets, or the manpower and institutional knowledge to run a competitive program.

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If he has his way, Andretti said, he’d like to take a different route – one in the image of the majority stake Andretti Autosport recently landed in IMSA juggernaut Wayne Taylor Racing. In that deal, WTR – now Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport – has continued its same day-to-day operations with the same folks in charge before it was announced in late December 2022. The Brownsburg-based team could move into Andretti Global’s gargantuan HQ when it opens in 2025.

In such a deal, Andretti could reap the benefits – financial, exposure and otherwise – of playing in the NASCAR space, without a massive reorganization. He could keep Spire’s personnel and monitor things from afar while taking in occasional races from the timing stand, as he does with the rest of his portfolio.

“That would be awesome,” Andretti said of the possibility of taking majority ownership of an existing NASCAR Cup team. “That deal (with WTR) was turn-key, and ‘boom.’

“Right now, that takes no time of mine. It’s an awesome deal. They’re great guys. I trust them. Look at their track record. Those are the types of deals we’re looking for. Those are the best ones. I’m not saying that’s the only way to do it, but that’d be best way to do it.”

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And yes, Andretti said, should he, Towriss and company acquire the rights to a Cup team, it would have a purpose-built space in the team’s $200 million, 575,000 square-foot facility scheduled to open in 2025.

“The drawings you’ve seen are nothing like what it’s really going to be. There’s just nothing like it in the world. I can’t wait. You guys will die when you see it,” Andretti said. “The whole building won’t be done (to start 2025), but parts will, so we can move in with IndyCar and Indy NXT. We’ve got to get those in because we sold our building, and then the rest will still be under construction, but we’ll be able to get in and do the racing side of things.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: After Gainbridge's Spire deal, Andretti eyeing turn-key entry into NASCAR