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Marco Andretti is stepping up from the old-timers’ circuit to NASCAR’s version of the junior varsity in his next motorsports move. The newly crowned SRX champion revealed on Sunday the details of his Xfinity Series debut.

Marco Andretti is set to take on a new racing challenge

Marco Andretti stands on the grid during practice for the Camping World Superstar Racing Experience event at South Boston Speedway on June 25, 2022 in South Boston, Virginia. | Jared Tilton/SRX/Getty Images
Marco Andretti stands on the grid during practice for the Camping World Superstar Racing Experience event at South Boston Speedway on June 25, 2022 in South Boston, Virginia. | Jared Tilton/SRX/Getty Images

Marco Andretti made his IndyCar debut in 2006 and has focused primarily on open-wheel racing since. Though he has scored just two victories in 250 starts and no podium finishes since 2015, the family name remains magic in racing circles. Any announcement of plans to compete naturally piques the interest of motorsports fans.

That’s been true this summer, too. Andretti, the 35-year-old grandson of Mario Andretti, attracted a following during the six-race Superstar Racing Experience series co-founded by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart. He captured the second-season championship despite competing in the final event with a broken wrist.

The announcement of plans for Andretti’s next outing even attracted the notice of Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Twitter.

Marco Andretti will make his NASCAR debut in the Xfinity Series

Marco Andretti, who retired from full-time IndyCar racing after the 2020 season, disclosed he will make his NASCAR debut on Oct. 8, competing in the Xfinity Series on the Charlotte Roval. He’ll be driving a car belonging to music mogul and racing enthusiast Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Racing.

There hasn’t been an Andretti in NASCAR since Marco Andretti’s uncle, John Andretti, left in 2010 with two wins in 293 appearances.

“I’m grateful to Scott Borchetta for giving me this cool opportunity to try my hand at an Xfinity road course,” Marco Andretti said in the press release. “I have really taken a liking to the stock car experience and look forward to having some fun driving the Big Machine Vodka Spiked Coolers No. 48 Camaro in Charlotte.”

Big Machine Racing joined the Xfinity Series last season with Jade Buford in the No. 48 Chevy. Borchetta has split the duties this season among six drivers, and Cup Series standout Tyler Reddick produced the organization’s first victory on May 21 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Scott Borchetta made his fortune in the music industry

While many NASCAR fans are rooting for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to become the next celebrity owner of a Cup Series team, that honor may go to a music executive credited with helping launch Taylor Swift into stardom.

Scott Borchetta founded the Big Machine Label Group in 2005 and signed Swift the following year after two decades of working in the recording industry in Nashville.

Though he remained as CEO, Borchetta sold Big Machine Records in 2019, triggering one of the biggest business disputes in the industry because the assets included Swift’s master recordings. While he’s remained active in the entertainment industry, Borchetta’s No. 1 preoccupation now is racing, which was one of his loves while growing up in California.

While the likes of Michael Jordan, Pitbull, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. have hopped into NASCAR in recent seasons, Borchetta possesses real racing credentials. He scored a career-best third place on Saturday while competing in the Trans Am 2 series, which was a support race for the weekend’s IndyCar competition in Nashville.

All stats courtesy of Racing Reference.

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John Moriello

John Moriello started covering sports in 1982, began digital publishing in 1995, and joined Sportscasting in 2020. A graduate of St. John Fisher University, he finds inspiration in the underdogs and the fascinating stories sports can tell (both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat). John expertly covers all aspects of NASCAR.

Beginning with his 2014 coverage at Fox Sports of the aftermath of the dirt-race tragedy in which Kevin Ward Jr. died after being struck by a car driven by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, John has excelled as a journalist who specializes in the motorsports world. He previously spent more than three decades covering high school sports and worked as a beat writer covering Big East football and basketball, but NASCAR is now where the true expertise falls.

John is a member of the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame (2013), the President of the New York State Sportswriters Association, and a two-time Best of Gannett winner for print and online collaborations whose work has appeared on FoxSports.com and MaxPreps.com.