MOORESVILLE, North Carolina -- At 56, former driver John Andretti is involved in a difficult battle with Stage 4 Colorectal Cancer, but he finds time to groom his son, Jarett, in his racing career.

Jarett made his first Indy Lights start in last month’s Freedom 100 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Jarett started 11th and finished sixth in the Window World entry for Andretti Autosport, an INDYCAR team owned by John’s cousin, Michael Andretti.

“The big reason he’s at Andretti Autosport is because I know the owner,” Andretti told NTT INDYCAR Mobile.

Jarett was a standout soccer player before turning to racing, where father and son have worked together to build his career.

“We built a lot of stuff together – we built it all together,” the elder Andretti said. “We’ve had support from Michael, but Jarett and I have been arm in arm.”

Dealing with cancer means John hasn’t been able to work as closely with his son, whose program is based in Indianapolis. Jarett is at the shop every day, rolling up his sleeves and working.

“Now, I have to watch a webcast or on TV,” John said. “It’s unfortunate, but my time will come. I’ll get to come back to the track sometime, soon, I hope. Jarett keeps wanting me to get in a race car, but I would be huffing and puffing by the time I got down pit lane.”

John and his wife, Nancy, have two daughters. Olivia is in the pre-med program at George Washington University. Amelia, will attend the University of Tampa to study marine biology.

“My daughters are superstars, too,” John said. “To have an Andretti that is going to be a doctor, that’s pretty fricking cool.”

John and Michael were always close, although their personalities are different to those who know them from the outside. As a driver, Michael did his best to stay out of the spotlight and often came across as aloof. John always had a smile on his face and was willing to grant interviews and promote his sport.

“I grew up around Michael and always said I was the president of the Michael Andretti Fan Club,” John said. “At one time, I was probably the only member.

“I went everywhere with Michael. We went to Europe together. We raced go-karts together. I went to college in Pennsylvania. If it wasn’t for Michael and Mario, I don’t know if I would have ever gotten these opportunities.”

Michael had far more success as a driver, winning 42 Indy car races and a CART championship. John was the more versatile of the two, winning a CART race at Surfers Paradise, Australia in 1991, two NASCAR Cup races (including 1997 in the 400-miler at Daytona and 1999 at Martinsville) and competing in NHRA’s Funny Car dividing and claiming a Grand American Sports Car victory in a Porsche at Watkins Glen in 2001.

Michael’s IndyCar team has earned tremendous success, winning the Indianapolis 500 with five different drivers (Dan Wheldon, Dario Franchitti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Alexander Rossi and Takuma Sato). In one stretch, Andretti Autosport won the 500 three times in four years.

“Michael has earned a spot in the sport where they can quit leaving him out of the conversation with Penske and Ganassi,” John said. “The way Michael runs his team; I can’t say enough about it. He is as hard on the throttle as he was as a driver.

“Michael does it because of his passion of it and his love for it. He puts everything into it. I think he has done a phenomenal job as a leader and as the owner of the team. I don’t know that that Michael knew that was in his fabric, but he runs the team like he ran his race car.

“Nothing else matters, other than winning.”

That is the case with Andretti’s fight against Stage 4 Colorectal Cancer. He is determined to beat it despite the odds. He also strongly encourages everyone to have colonoscopies before they are 45 or if there is a family history of colon cancer in their family though the #CheckIt4Andretti program.