INDIANAPOLIS — Eight-year-old brothers Creed and Christopher Fritz eyed a shiny, blue and white, open wheel IndyCar, then quickly turned around as the car’s famous driver stood between them Monday for a photograph.
Retired CART and Formula One driver Michael Andretti, now co-owner of Andretti Green Racing, opened his championship IndyCar race shop in Indianapolis to five past and current patients of Riley Hospital for Children.
The car, one of two in the lobby of Andretti Green Racing, was driven by Andretti to victory in the 2002 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Andretti’s last victory as a driver.
In addition, Andretti’s cousin, NASCAR driver John Andretti, walked through the facility with the youngsters. He is preparing for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard race on Sunday. The Andrettis teamed with Riley Children’s Foundation for the tour.
The Fritz boys, both of West Terre Haute, will be third-graders at West Vigo Elementary School. They were part of triplets, born 12 weeks prematurely in September 2000. The triplets, which included a girl, Rae-Ann, each weighed less than three pounds at birth. Rae-Ann died at 18 weeks from medical problems. All three were at the newborn intensive care unit at Riley Hospital.
The children’s parents are Lauri and Christopher M. Fritz of West Terre Haute.
The Fritz boys seem to love all types of race cars. Since age 5, the two have raced quarter midget cars, primarily in Linton and in Charleston, Ill. Their cars even have Riley’s “R” and red wagon emblem on the side, as the cars are often used to help raise money for the hospital.
Creed, while the oldest of the two by a minute, is smaller than Christopher. However, Creed “is the best driver,” said his grandfather, Bill Selvia. The boy’s grandmother, Diana Selvia, stood close by in the lobby.
“Creed is aggressive and runs harder. A hole has to be pretty big for Christopher to go through, but Creed will bump and grind,” the grandfather said. “Now that is dirt racing, which of course is different than Indy cars.”
The boys had Indy cars on their mind Monday as they began a tour of the race shop.
Andretti Green Racing has 112 employees, of which 82 are on a traveling team, said J-F Thormann, executive vice president, who led a tour of the facility. The Indianapolis facility has four engineers and four assistant engineers who work on aerodynamics, simulations and mechanical design to increase the speed of the race cars, Thormann said.
“About 25 to 30 percent of our staff are from other countries, such as Australia, Great Britain or France,” Thormann said.
The facility is home to four IndyCar drivers — Tony Kanaan, Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti and Hideki Mutoh — and their race cars. Each car has five mechanics, Thormann said. The facility also has a machine shop, a repair shop that handles carbon fiber repairs, a paint shop and a practice pit area.
It also houses large RVs used during races, one of which hauls a kitchen trailer for the team’s full-time chef. Other trailers, which are fully equipped with tools, transport the race cars.
The facility also houses a graphic artist and business offices, including Michael Andretti’s office.
“I can’t get over how clean everything is, even when they are working on the engines,” Lauri Fritz said. Creed Fritz eyed a wooden tabletop made from the wood floor of an old bowling alley.
“I liked the painting shop,” Christopher Fritz said after the tour. A worker in the paint shop had been painting a spoiler that had been damaged and repaired from a previous race. “I liked the workshop,” his brother, Creed, said.
Christopher added he now likes Indy cars.
“I like the way they are designed. They don’t have bars on the top of them,” he said.
Asked if they would like to be race car drivers when they grow up, Christopher was quick to respond. “We already are race car drivers,” he said.
“This was wonderful,” Lauri Fritz said after the tour. “I know they were watching everyone working on the cars. They love racing and this [tour of Andretti Green Racing] is something I am thinking and hoping they will always remember.”
John Andretti had previously met the Fritz boys during a different event. Andretti has a long association with Riley Hospital. On Wednesday, he will participate in the 13th annual Kroger Race for Riley presented by Cheerios. Andretti races the bracket winners in a go-cart race.
The event has raised more than $1.4 million for Riley Hospital and Andretti hopes to raise $200,000 in the event at New Castle Motorsports Park.
“Last year I started looking at some of the facts of Riley Hospital. They see over 200,000 kids in a year. Our goal is to raise $200,000 in this event and that is only $1 per child. You think $200,000 makes a difference, but we are only contributing in a small way,” he said.
“We are trying to bring awareness of Riley and what they do. If you understand what the hospital does and how many people it does touch, then you are more likely to give if you get something in the mail or see something about the hospital,” John Andretti said.
Andretti said he got involved with Riley Hospital from experience with his family.
“I have an older brother [Mark] and an older sister [Carolyn] who both went to Riley as patients. One, believe it or not, was a go-cart racing accident. It took my brother’s heel off and they had to reconstruct his heel. My sister was in a car accident and was taken to Riley,” John Andretti said.
“And, just a few weeks ago my nephew’s twin daughters had to go to Riley because they were born at 30 weeks,” he said. “Riley touches people in many ways.”
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.
Local & Bistate
Related Photos
-
JOSEPH C. GARZA
Discussion
Riley & Racin': West TH youngsters get up close and personal with IndyCar during Andretti race shop tour
- Local & Bistate
-
-
Patriotism & Honor
From his vantage point, Sonner Faught could see almost every volunteer in the cemetery.
-
Graduation turns to mourning in Clinton
Jeana Lunsford’s graduation from South Vermillion High School Saturday should have been a time of celebration.
-
School choice proponents foresee growth of vouchers
Twenty-seven Vigo County students benefited from tax-supported vouchers during the first year of the Choice Scholarship Program, and that number is expected to grow for 2012-13, say Indiana school choice leaders who visited Terre Haute Thursday.
-
Tales of obstruction meet first takeover attempts
A decade after Indiana legislators gave the state the power to take over chronically failing schools, the first implementation of the law is meeting with resistance, skepticism and questions about its costs.
-
THE OFF SEASON: Raising a flag for my father, veteran or not
My daughter, Ellen, and I stood at my parents’ graves on Mother’s Day a few weeks back and talked about how it couldn’t possibly have been so long since we lost them. My dad, for instance, has been gone for 16 years, and that is nearly unimaginable
-
3 rescued from burning residence
Quick action on the part of some first-responders is credited with saving the lives of three people in a Vermillion County fire early Saturday morning, according to the Vermillion County Sheriff’s Department.
-
He never forgot a name: Friends remember victim of fire at Garfield Towers
When Freddie Poore met you, he never forgot you.
-
Hometown boy embraces ‘Promise I Made’: Clinton native Ken Kercheval takes role in Dreams Come True production
Thanks to some help from a hometown boy in Hollywood, “This Promise I Made” is still on track to be kept in Clinton.
-
STATE OF THE STATEHOUSE: Many say they don’t vote in primary because of tag that comes with it
A couple of columns ago, I posed a question about why most Indiana polling places on primary election day had so few customers.
-
Police looking for convenience store robber
Police are seeking a robbery suspect following a Saturday morning armed robbery at the Jiffy MiniMart at 25th Street and Eighth Avenue.
-
Graduation ‘responsibility’: Rose-Hulman stages 134th commencement exercises
Inventor Dean Kamen gave a first-hand demonstration Saturday of how to be an innovator.
-
THE OFF SEASON: To the seniors, one last lecture before you go …
It dawned on me one day last week, as I sat at my desk in my teacher clothes and shoes, a stack of ungraded essays calling to me from a rather tall and depressing pile, that I hadn’t missed a high school graduation in 33 years.
-
Water rescuers
Emergency personnel wheel a man who was removed from a vehicle that had been driven into the water at Crystal Lake on Boston Avenue near 14th Street at about 9 p.m. Friday.
-
For many, camping outdoors is the way to beat the heat, enjoy nature
Stringing up fishing poles in the shade of American flags, households full of Hoosiers are packing into parks across the state this weekend.
-
Towns along National Road readying for next week’s miles-long yard sale
Stretching 824 miles from Baltimore to St. Louis, the National Road — known as U.S. 40 through Indiana — will soon be the host site for perhaps the longest bargain market in the country.
-
Rose grads honoring late president Branam at commencement today
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s Class of 2012 will honor the memory of Matt Branam during today’s commencement ceremony by wearing special pins with the phrase “Make It Happen; Make It Fun,” a favorite saying of the former Rose-Hulman president, who died unexpectedly on April 20.
-
Vigo County Jail Log: May 26, 2012
The following individuals were booked into the Vigo County Jail by area law enforcement on Thursday and Friday, based on jail records. Charges are recommended by arresting officers but are not final until the Vigo County prosecutor reviews the case and files official charges.
-
A fallen soldier returns home
An Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Spc. Arronn D. Fields early Thursday morning at Dover Air Force Base, Del.
-
Official touts trade with northern neighbor
A top Canadian diplomat told a Terre Haute audience Thursday his country was “disappointed” when President Obama at least temporarily rejected a proposed transcontinental oil pipeline from Alberta to Texas.
-
Caution urged for summer’s kickoff
Lane restrictions in construction zones on Interstate 70 and other highways around the state will be lifted to accommodate holiday travel for the Memorial Day Weekend.
-
Letters delivered
Several positions will be eliminated this summer at the Terre Haute mail processing facility as the U.S. Postal Service begins moving the operation to Indianapolis, a U.S. Postal Service spokesman has confirmed.
-
Companies seek Vigo tax abatements
Two Vigo County companies are seeking tax abatements for expansion projects, one of which is included as part of a county incentive package.
-
High-speed chase suspect caught in West Virginia
The suspect in a cross-country, high-speed chase originating in Terre Haute last week was reportedly in federal custody Thursday evening.
-
Second victim of deadly I-70 semi-trailer crash identified
The Vigo County Coroner’s Office has identified the passenger of a semi-tractor crash on May 16 in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 near the 12-mile marker.
- VIGO COUNTY JAIL LOG: May 22-24, 2012
-
Burn ban in effect for Vigo County through holiday weekend
Vigo County officials have issued a burn ban effective Thursday and remains in effect until 8 a.m. Tuesday.
-
Brazil remembers a Fallen Son
A small town seemed sadly quiet Wednesday, waiting to honor a local fallen warrior.
-
ISU OKs four-year degree guarantee
Indiana State University has announced a four-year “graduation guarantee” for students enrolling this fall and beyond.
-
Dems tout good side of compromise
Indiana Senate Minority Leader Vi Simpson, chosen to run as the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor with gubernatorial candidate John Gregg, said during a stop Wednesday in Terre Haute that bipartisan experience is a key factor in creating jobs and legislation to help Hoosiers statewide.
-
Motorcyclist dies, motorist charged after accident
A Terre Haute man has died of injuries he sustained in a two-motorcycle, one-car crash that also injured another motorcyclist late Tuesday. The incident has led to the arrest of the car’s driver.
- More Local & Bistate Headlines
-
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast
Obama Honors Fallen Troops at Arlington Cemetery
Raw Video: National Mall Concert Shut Down
Raw Video: Cop Shoots Man Eating Another's Face
Beryl Threatens Rain, Winds on Southeast Coast
Tropical Storm Beryl Strengthens, Nears US Coast
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
UN Blames Syrian Forces for Shelling Houla
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Shell Readies Arctic Drill Ship
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Today in History
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Astronauts Enter World's 1st Private Supply Ship
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Raw Video: Obama Lays Wreath on Memorial Day
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
Woman, 80, Falls Out of Skydive Harness Mid-Jump
Dog runs alonside cyclists for 1,100 miles
Lady Gaga Cancels Indonesian Show After Threats
Long Story Short: Beyonce back on stage
Raw Video: Man Rescued From River in China
Celtics crush Sixers in Game 7
Alleged Lego Thief Faces Felony Charges
Has Snooki Named Her Baby?
Heat Wave Warms Holiday Weekend
Beyonce Entertains the First Family
Inspiration for the class of 2012
Colorado College Student Shot While Trespassing
Will Smith & Josh Brolin on "Men in Black 3"
80-Year-Old Skydiver's Nightmare Jump
JWoww Sizzles in a Black Bikini
Sliders on the Grill
Cruise ship crunch
Backstage With Beyonce
