NASCAR: andretti to return to nextel cup racing

i don't understand how this guy keeps getting rides, there has to be 500 drivers out there with more talent than he has, he has been riding the andretti name for years....

Andretti gets ride with new Nextel Cup team

October 5, 2004

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- John Andretti and ppc Racing, one of the top teams in NASCAR's Busch Series, will get together on a Nextel Cup team that will begin racing Oct. 16 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Andretti will run five of the last six events of the season, excluding Martinsville, Va., and the entire 36-race schedule in 2005, the team announced Tuesday.

``A lot of people have been working hard to put this program together,'' said Andretti, a two-time winner in the Nextel Cup series. ``It's pretty exciting to have everything set and ready to go, and to know we are going to be a very competitive race team.''

The ppc team, owned by Greg Pollex, won the Busch Series championship in 2000 with Jeff Green and also has four runner-up finishes. The Nextel Cup team will be sponsored by Victory Brand cigarettes, Sunoco, APlus convenience stores and Ford.

Andretti, 41, lost his full-time ride with Petty Enterprises midway through last season and has driven sporadically for several other teams since. He has started just five races this year, finishing 16th at Chicagoland Speedway on July 11 in a DEI car in his latest start.

He is one of the few drivers to have won in Nextel Cup, Indy cars and endurance sports cars