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Marco Andretti hopes Philadelphia embraces the Indy 500 - and brings him luck

In town to promote Sunday's Indianapolis 500, Marco Andretti said Tuesday that he had one idea for how to spark Philadelphia's interest in his sport.

In town to promote Sunday's Indianapolis 500, Marco Andretti said Tuesday that he had one idea for how to spark Philadelphia's interest in his sport.

"I need to win the race," he said with a smile. "That'd be good for back home."

That task has proved famously difficult for his family, whose history in the race runs as deep as any. Five days before his 12th appearance, Andretti stopped in Philadelphia along with fellow Nazareth native Sage Karam to speak with reporters at the Independence Beer Garden.

They also planned to run the Art Museum steps and throw the first pitch at the Phillies game. While in town, Andretti recalled his family's biggest moments in the Indy 500, some through stories he has heard, some through events in which he has participated.

"Not a lot of awesome memories," he said with a wry smile. "Just a lot of misfortunes and missed opportunities and unfortunate things taking [us] out of the lead."

In 1981, before Marco was born, his grandfather Mario, who had won in 1969, finished second to Bobby Unser after Unser appealed a penalty ruling and won. In 1985, Mario had a chance to win again but came in second after Danny Sullivan passed him.

Then there was 2006 - a good memory "up until the last one," Marco said - when his father, Michael, came out of retirement to race alongside rookie Marco. On the final lap, son passed father for the lead before Sam Hornish Jr. came from behind and stole the title by .064 seconds.

It has become known as the "Andretti Curse," and while Marco doesn't believe in curses and appreciates the family's success at Indianapolis, he understands the reality.

"The place has been good to us," he said. "But there's one position that counts at Indianapolis."

Five Andrettis have raced a combined 71 times at Indy. They have piled up 17 top-five finishes and led for 1,131 laps. They have one trophy.

They want to bring another back to Pennsylvania, as does Karam, who grew up across the street from the Andrettis in Nazareth. He shifted to the SportsCar Championship series this year but made it clear to his team that he wanted to drive in one other race - the Indy 500. He has a tattoo of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway logo on his right wrist.

He represents the area's other hope at a title, and he knows how much it would mean.

"This is your state, and what I do with racing, me and Marco, we want to be able to bring the Borg-Warner [Trophy] back to Nazareth, Pa.," Karam said. ". . . [Pennsylvania's] not a huge state for racing, but that's me and Marco's job, to try and change that."