Michael Andretti’s strong run in the Indianapolis 500 last year just increased his desire to win the big race. He wants to take a shot at it again.

A year ago, the longtime open-wheel racing star came out of a two-year retirement to drive in the famed race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a race he and his family consider their Holy Grail and one that only his father, Mario Andretti, has been able to win.

Michael nearly won it in his 15th try, but wound up third, watching from the best seat in the house as Sam Hornish Jr. passed his son, Marco, on the final straightway to leave the Andrettis second and third.

“Last year, when I returned, at first it was all about getting to race with Marco,” Andretti said Tuesday. “Then, we both had a shot at winning it, and I knew it would be very tough for me to walk away knowing that I’m still very capable of winning that race.”

Michael led laps 194-197 of the 200-lap event and was doubly disappointed that neither he nor 19-year-old Marco, Indy’s Rookie of the Year in 2006, were able to join Mario as 500 winners.

“I’m obviously very excited to know that I’m going to have another chance to win the Indianapolis 500,” Michael said.

Except for Mario’s win in 1969, the family – including Michael’s younger brother Jeff and their cousin John – has been unable to reach Victory Circle at the Brickyard. And their collective mishaps and problems have given rise to the term “Andretti luck,” a synonym for misfortune at the famed speedway on the west side of Indianapolis.

But Mario is hopeful that Michael or Marco will end all that negative talk.

“That’s baloney anyway,” the elder Andretti said of the family’s Indy troubles.

“If I hadn’t won and Michael had never come close, then you’d say it’s some kind of luck. But I did win once and nearly won five or six other times, and Michael has finished second (in 1991) and, now, so has Marco.”

In 2003, at the age of 41, Michael walked away from Indianapolis as one of America’s best open-wheel drivers, still at the top of his game, to concentrate on his ownership role with Andretti Green Racing. His 42 career victories still rank among the career best and he has led more laps (430) than any other driver at Indianapolis who has not won the race.

His father, 54 when he called it quits in 1994, wasn’t surprised that Michael returned last year, despite his son’s repeated statements about loving the business of racing more than the racing itself.

“I knew Michael still had plenty left in his gas tank and could be competitive if he decided to keep driving,” Mario said. “When he got the chance to race with Marco, it was a done deal. I know how I felt racing against Michael, Jeff and John. It was an incredible feeling.”

Michael is one of five AGR drivers expected to race at Indianapolis in May, joining IRL IndyCar Series regulars Marco, Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan and Danica Patrick.

Now 44, Andretti, has recorded nine top 10 finishes at Indy, as well as qualifying nine times in the top 10. He started 13th last year in his first 500 since 2003.

AP-ES-02-13-07 1736EST