Mario Andretti had a faraway look in his eyes and a wide grin splitting that familiar weathered face as he contemplated his grandson's future.

"I'd love to do Le Mans with him," Mario said. "But that could definitely be the impossible dream."

Marco Andretti is 15 years old. His famous grandfather is 62.

The elder Andretti raced against both of his sons, Michael and Jeff, and nephew John, before his retirement from CART in 1994.

Since then, his only competition has been in sports cars at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the only major auto race he has not won.

Now Marco, a precocious and unusually self-assured teen-ager, wants to add a generation to the family's racing resume. He's already racing go-karts in national events and winning some, too, his grandfather is quick to point out.

Both his father and grandfather insist, though, it is up to Marco how far he takes his racing career.

"The most important thing is that Marco has fun, that he really wants to be there, not because we want to see him do it," Mario said. "A career will come later, if it's meant to be.

"I've told Marco, `If you want to do it, I think I can open some doors for you.' I think Marco will find out in the next few years whether he really wants to pursue this. I don't want to influence his decision. He has to have the passion."

Mario passed that attribute on to Michael.

At 39, he remains one of the top stars in American open-wheel racing. Still, he wants to see the eldest of his three children - who began go-kart racing at 10 - to take it slowly and have fun along the way.

"He did it for about a year and I could see he wasn't having any fun," Michael said. "I had a little talk with him and told him he didn't have to do it if he didn't want to."

Marco stopped racing. Two years later, he changed his mind and his focus.

"He came to me and said, `I want to race.' " Michael explained. "I went through the exact same thing. I did start it for the wrong reason. I felt I had to do it. Then, about 14 or 15, I began to want to do it."

Michael believes the time off helped his son.

"When Marco started again, I could see it in his driving," his father said. "He was putting in a lot more effort. I keep telling him this a tough game. There's a lot of sacrifice - your home life, your leisure time."

Racing has always been part of Marco's life and he doesn't seem to have any qualms about the difficulties he will face. He's already dedicating himself to the task.

"When I'm not racing, I'm driving my ATV's or quads and getting the gardeners mad," he said. "I haven't been home much this summer, but when I am home, I'm in the gym every day."

Fortunately for him, his father built a fully equipped gym in their Nazareth, Pa., home.

"Some of my friends don't really understand what I'm doing, but that's OK," Marco said.

His father knows the spotlight will find Marco because he's carrying the Andretti name.

"Dad didn't know how I felt. I do know how Marco feels because I went through it," Michael said. "I felt pressure. He's got to feel it 10 times more."

But Marco seems to have a more relaxed approach to that.

"I'm happy being who I am and with the family I have," he said. "I wouldn't change my name even if I could. You just block that stuff out when you're in the race car."

Michael says his son's next step in racing probably will be a year or two in junior Formula cars at one of the Skip Barber racing schools.

"I'm not a good teacher," Michael said. "I had a lot of help that way and that's the way it's going to be with Marco. I'll make sure he's in good hands."

Michael isn't a good spectator, either.

"I don't go to a lot of his races and, when I do, I try to stay in the background," he said. "I get pretty exited. I guess he's probably better off that I'm not around much right now."

There's a good chance, though, that the two of them will spend a lot of time together in the future. Michael recently announced he and two partners have bought Team Green and will rename it Andretti-Green Racing in 2003.

"I don't know if Marco will take it that far," Michael said, smiling. "If he does, I guess he'll have a ride."

As for Mario, he's still dreaming about a day in France when he might share a ride with Michael and Marco.

"It'll have to happen pretty fast, I guess," he said, alluding to his age.

Then he brightened, thinking about Newman-Haas co-owner Paul Newman, still racing sports cars occasionally, and winning, at 77 years old.

"Maybe it's not such an impossible dream," Mario said.

On the Net:

The Andrettis: http://www.andretti.com

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