Andretti shows two hot shoes the door

Bryan Herta's won in every form of racing he's competed in. Christian Fittipaldi was a sold teammate to Michael Andretti for many seasons at Newman-Haas. But pedigree, fraternity and results just don't cut it in the sometimes cold hard world of auto racing.

Herta and Fittipaldi were told this week they have been dropped from Andretti Green Racing's American LeMans Series team, which fields Acura LMP2 prototypes in the series. Instead Frenchman Franck Montagny, a refuge of F1 who made his "North American Debut" at the final Champ Car series race at Long Beach this year, will take over the No. 26 car along with some as yet-to-be-named co-drivers.

In the end it must have come down to results and money, though neither side is saying too much. Certainly Herta and Fittipaldi command bigger paydays than Montagny, who also has a pail (not bucket) of cash to offer teams. Montagny has been shopping himself for months to various Indycar teams, and now has found a home, at least in the ALMS.

I'm not bashing Montagny here; he's a solid racer. But he's no Herta. He's no Fittipaldi. Maybe he will be; he's still young. But what American racing needs are heroes we can identify with, and when they are American, it's a bonus. Yes, with a run of endurance races facing the ALMS teams, I can understand why, based on the the results of Herta and Fittipaldi, the team would not want them as co-drivers in the same car.

But, instead of dropping them altogether, how about letting them share duties with Montagny in races. And, besides, Montagny doesn't have a wealth on endurance race results anyhow, though he does have a podium finish at this year's 24 Hours of LeMans on his resume. At the next race, being held July 12 at Lime Rock, Montagny will be team with Marco Andretti. For the rest of the season the Frenchman's teammate will left TBA.

Herta told the Daily News of Los Angeles, "It was a complete shock to me. I'm at a bit of a loss for words. It's their sandbox. Right now it's all kind of a bit of a surprise. I'm not going to jump at something. I want to see what happens."

Bryan's had a solid career in open-wheel racing, and made a great transition to endurance racing. He won twice for Andretti's IRL team before being asked by the team to switch to its ALMS program to make room for Danica Patrick.

He partnered with his former open-wheel teammates Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti in the race-winning car of the 2006 12 Hours of Sebring. According to the Daily News article, "Herta said he was not happy with the way the team dismissed him from his driving duties after all he accomplished. 'I don't think it's very good treatment in return,' he said."

"Making a change in the middle of the season isn't something you enjoy, and I think it's even tougher in this case because we're talking about Bryan and Christian," Michael Andretti told the Daily News. "Bryan has done everything we've ever asked him to do since he joined Andretti Green in 2003, including helping us win the 12 Hours of Sebring in our first ALMS start last year. Christian joined us this year and wanted to win as badly as we did. We will always appreciate the effort that both Bryan and Christian gave to the team."

This season, Herta and Fittipaldi had three top-10 finishes but struggled in the longer races, finishing eighth in Utah and 18th at Sebring. Herta told the Daily News that neither her nor the team were satisfied with the results. "I wasn't happy with them and they weren't happy with me," Herta said.