It'd be easy for driver-turned-owner Michael Andretti to lose count of all the racing programs Andretti Autosport fields.

The 1991 Indy Car champion is hardly the first driver to trade his Nomex for a business suit and a second career as an owner, but rather than focus on running one team in one series, Andretti has amassed a private army of motorsport efforts.

Under the old Andretti-Green Racing banner, Andretti and his co-owners fielded four IndyCar Series entries, won multiple Indy 500s and IndyCar championships, and ran a factory Acura prototype in the American Le Mans Series.

Marshall Pruett

After taking sole control of the business and rebranding it as Andretti Autosport, the 51-year-old Andretti added programs in all three steps of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder.

Leaving the 2012 season, Andretti had IndyCar, Indy Lights, Pro Mazda, and USF2000 teams running from under the same roof, and even claimed the IndyCar Series championship with Ryan Hunter-Reay.

As if four teams weren't enough, Andretti made it five in 2013 as the first to confirm an entry in the new 2014 FIA Formula E championship. Then, at the Chicago Auto Show this month, he made it a clean half-dozen with the announcement of a factory Global RallyCross effort with Volkswagen and drivers Tanner Foust and Scott Speed.

"We made a decision a few years ago that we wanted to diversify," Andretti told RoadandTrack.com. "It's one thing to say, another thing to do it—and where should you do it? We had an opportunity with VW to go into Global RallyCross, so we jumped on that, and then we had a chance to get into Formula E. I'm honored we were one of the 10 teams picked and that we were the first ones to sign on."

Unlike the NBA and the NFL, motor racing is having a hard time building new fans in America. Open-wheel racing, in particular, faces a crisis with a demographic whose average age has crept up into the 50s. Attracting sponsors to IndyCar with an audience loaded with grandfathers and grandmothers is a challenge, making Andretti's addition of youth-friendly Formula E and GRC teams a commercial no-brainer.

Marshall Pruett

"We're looking at the future, and especially in those two series, they're targeting the younger demographic, which is smart," he added. "The biggest problem in racing is our fans are getting older. We need to figure out a way to get more young fans, which Global Rallycross is doing, and that's what Formula E is all about. The way they're going about it—I think they're going to pull it off."

Andretti nearly added a NASCAR Sprint Cup team to his growing empire, but with the brand's exit from stock car racing in 2013, he shifted his attention to Formula E and GRC. Andretti's time as Ayrton Senna's McLaren-Ford Formula 1 teammate in 1993 didn't leave him with a lot of positive memories, but given the right circumstances, he'd jump at moving this team into F1. He also says having another shot at NASCAR is of interest.

"Would we like to be in NASCAR? Yeah. Would we like to be in Formula 1? Yeah. But we're not going to do it unless we can do it the right way, and if the right opportunity comes up, we'll do it. We almost did NASCAR with Dodge a few years ago; we had contracts in place, but they pulled out. We don't want to do it to just do it."

Marshall Pruett

Three distinct business models can be found in Andretti's six racing programs. At the lower open-wheel levels, the drivers (via their parents) pay to play. In IndyCar and Formula E, Andretti Autosport seeks and finds, for the most part, all of its funding through corporate backing. Global RallyCross is made possible through the most desirable of all deals, thanks to the partnership and backing to run VW's factory effort.

"We do the smaller series only to support IndyCar racing," explained Andretti. "We think they're important to develop new talent for IndyCar's future. We don't do it for money; it's not a big money maker. We try to do our part to help. Obviously, for a team, if you can get connected with a manufacturer, that's what you do.

"Any other types of racing we get into, that's the way you want to do it. With Formula E, it's a bit early for that, but eventually, we want to get together with [a manufacturer], which I think is possible. And if we get into NASCAR, it's the same thing, and the same with Formula 1, too."

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