INDIANAPOLIS — Inside the Andretti Autosport Headquarters, located off Zionsville Road in Indianapolis, Marissa Andretti takes WRTV through what makes her line of work so special.
“It’s always great to go around and chat with all of our people and just have fun while we do some pretty cool stuff,” Andretti said.
Andretti says it begins and ends with the people.
“We’re always trying to look for the best talent we can,” she said. “We also have a lot of female engineers and mechanics.”
From the mechanics to the drivers, it’s a big business to oversee. That means women like Andretti take on multiple titles.
Andretti not only serves as the Vice President of Andretti Autosport on the team side of things but is also the Managing Director of Andretti Technologies.
“I am working on our new headquarters building in Fishers,” Andretti said.
That’s right, she is working with at least two titles and a $200 million project for a new Universal Motorsports headquarters.
“All of our different racing series are all under one roof. Of course, that it the massive undertaking with everything,” Andretti said. “We’re also going to have a museum element to it, and a restaurant portion too.”
Once the new facility is open in 2025, it will sit on 90 acres. It’s also expected to create 500 jobs by 2026, some of which women can fill.
WRTV Anchor Megan Shinn told Andretti that she is a leader at Andretti Autosport. There are not many women who are in the Autosport industry.
“Obviously it is a male dominated sport, historically speaking. We try to do the best we can to be able to support bringing women into our world,” Andretti said.
According to Deloitte, women accounted for only 26% of the total automotive workforce in the United States in 2020.
However, Andretti says they have a decent number of women within their team and driver’s table.
“Danika Patrick, who drive with us for a long time, won with us in Japan back in the day. She was the first woman in IndyCar to win,” Andretti said. “Simona De Silvestro was with us for the Indy 500, and for Formula-E for a long time.”
She said they have three female drivers right now. As a company, Andretti’s nearing 50% women for executives across the board.
While acknowledging that her family has a long history with racing, Andretti says it is a personal decision when it comes to staying invested in the industry.
“It’s a family business. I love the business side of what we do,” Andretti said. “It’s kind of crazy, but it’s always a lot of fun because my brother, Marco, still drives for us for the Indy 500, and working with my dad every day. And obviously, we see Mario around.”
Mario Andretti is one of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports.
Andretti says she calls him “Nonno,” which is grandfather in Italian. His work is crossing generations and genders through his granddaughter and other women in the industry.
As if she doesn’t do enough, Andretti is part of Women in Motorsports North America. It’s an organization made up of community professionals who are devoted to supporting opportunities for women across all disciplines of motorsports.
