Mario Andretti

Mario Andretti

Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	American
Active years	1968 - 1972, 1974 - 1982
Teams	Lotus, STP Corporation, Ferrari, Parnelli, Alfa Romeo, Williams
Entries	131
Championships	1 (1978)
Wins	12
Podiums	19
Pole positions	18
Fastest laps	10
First entry	1968 Italian Grand Prix
First win	1971 South African Grand Prix
Last win	1978 Dutch Grand Prix
Last entry	1982 Las Vegas Grand Prix

Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940 in Montona d'Istria, Italy (now Motovun, Croatia) is an Italian American racing driver, arguably the most successful U.S. citizen in auto racing.

During his career, Andretti won four Champ Car titles, the 1978 Formula One World Championship, and the 1979 IROC championship. To date, he remains the only driver ever to win the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500, and the Formula One World Championship.

In the USA, the name Mario Andretti has become synonymous with speed, similar to Stirling Moss in the UK and Barney Oldfield in the early twentieth century in the United States.

Early life

Mario Andretti was born in the town of Motovun in then Italian Istria. He was born with a twin brother, Aldo Andretti. After World War II Istria (which is part of Croatia) passed to Yugoslavia and his family, like many other Italian Istrians, fled in 1948 and spent the next seven years in a displaced persons camp.

The Andretti family eventually resettled in Nazareth, Pennsylvania in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley.

Racing debut

Andretti began racing cars in 1959, just after his family had moved to the United States, on dirt oval tracks near Nazareth, Pennsylvania, in an old Hudson. His twin brother, Aldo Andretti, raced on the same tracks in the same car (at different times), but quit after an accident. Andretti placed 3rd in the Indianapolis 500 in his first year.

Mario made his debut in the USAC series in 1964, and won the championship the very next season. He took part in many different categories of racing including drag racing, and by 1969, he had won the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500 and the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Formula One career

Andretti also started driving in Formula One, taking the pole for his first race at Watkins Glen in 1968, and winning his first race in 1971 for Ferrari. By the mid-1970s, Andretti started to focus on Formula One, driving for Parnelli Jones's fledgling Parnelli Formula One team and Colin Chapman's famous Lotus outfit. In 1977, at Long Beach, he became the only American to win the United States Grand Prix West, in the Lotus 78 "wing car". With the revolutionary "ground effect" Lotus 79 of 1978, Andretti won six races in 1978, and took the title—a bitter-sweet victory in the light of the death of his teammate Ronnie Peterson, whom Andretti had grown to regard as a close friend. However, Andretti would find little success after 1978 in Formula One, failing to win another race in that series. In the following year, 1979, he was summarily outclassed by his Argentinian teammate Carlos Reutemann. In 1980, he was paired with Italian ace Elio de Angelis. Again, Mario was usually beaten by his team-mate. Nearly two years later, hired by Ferrari to enter the final two races of the 1982 season, he took an impressive pole position at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza (the Italian-born Andretti's success causing what Nigel Roebuck said was the loudest roar the famous circuit had ever seen), just as he did at Watkins Glen in his debut race in 1968.

Champ Car career

He returned to Champ Cars in the 1980's, and won his fourth title in 1984, the first series title for Champ Car owner, sports car driver, and actor Paul Newman. His last victory in that class came in 1993. Andretti kept racing to try to win the only important missing award—the 24 hours of Le Mans, but failed to do so. His best finish is 2nd in 1995, and 3rd in 1983 (Porsche 956), both with his son Michael.

NASCAR career

Template:NASCAR former driver Mario ran only a few NASCAR races, but he captured the crown jewel in the series by winning the 1967 Daytona 500 for legendary car owners Holman-Moody.

Legacy

Many people, particularly Americans, still consider him to be the finest all-around driver ever, and in 2000, the Associated Press and RACER magazine named him "Driver of the Century." The same year, he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the United States National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1996. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1990.

Legacy at Indianapolis

Andretti also made the saying "Mario is slowing down!" famous at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. While no one doubts his credentials as one of the greatest drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti's futility at Indy is also, unfortunately, legendary.

In the 1985 Indianapolis 500, he was passed by Danny Sullivan who then spun in front of him, pitted on his own caution, and then passed Mario again to go on for the win. His frustration came to a head in the 1987 Indianapolis 500 when he dominated the month of May and led most of the race but was taken out by an electrical problem.

Mario finished all 500 miles just five times with the 1969 Indianapolis 500 victory included. Andretti suffered broken ankles in the 1992 Indianapolis 500 crashing hard in turn four during the race. His last race at Indy was the 1994 Indianapolis 500.

While shaking down a car for his son in tire testing at Indianapolis before the month of May in 2003, Andretti survived a horrifying accident. His car hit a piece of debris left on the track by another car and went flying end over end between turns one and two. The crash was captured by a local television station helicopter. Luckily, the car landed right side up and Andretti walked away from the crash with very minor injuries.

For all his greatness and legendary skill, Andretti, and, by extension, the Andretti family, will long be associated with what many consider to be simply bad luck at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500.

Racing family

Both of Mario Andretti's sons, Michael and Jeff, are also involved in auto racing, and Michael has won the Champ Car title as well. As of 2003, he was Champ Cars' winningest driver. Mario's nephew, John, has had success in both Champ Cars and NASCAR, winning races in both series. His grandson, Marco, won a championship in Champ Cars' "Stars of Tomorrow" kart racing series, before moving into the Star Mazda single-seater series. Marco is currently running his first full season in the Indy Racing League (IRL), driving for his father Michael's Andretti-Green Racing Team, and upon finishing second in the 2006 Indianapolis 500, became the first third-generation-recipient of the race's Rookie of the Year Award, following in the footsteps of both his father and grandfather.

Mario Andretti and son Michael Andretti both reside today in their respective close sitting mansions overlooking the town of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, from the north side of the town, home to Mario Andretti and his family since the 1950's. Andretti continues day-to-day work as a spokesman for Texaco and Firestone (his longtime sponsors). He is also something of a spokesman for CART, although he has been spotted at IndyCar races recently as he watches over his grandson Marco.

Trivia

• There is a movie about Mario and Michael Andretti and the making of the Newman/Haas Racing cars, called Super Speedway, available in DVD and Imax.

• In the Pixar Animation Studios film Cars, Mario Andretti does a cameo, playing himself as the 1967 Ford Fairlane on which he won the Daytona 500.

• Andretti is mentioned in the Beastie Boys song Shadrach with the line "You love Mario Andretti cause he always drives his car well."

• In her song Crash, Gwen Stefani sings "I picture you driving just like Mario Andretti."

• The Charlie Daniels Band paid tribute in the song Uneasy Rider with the line, “Mario Andretti would’da sure been proud of the way I was movin’ when I passed that crowd…”

• Amy Grant sings "You like to drive like Mario Andretti, I like it taking my time" in her song Good For Me.

• Alan Jackson mentions Andretti in his song Drive (for Daddy Gene), singing "Just a dirt road with trash on each side, but I was Mario Andretti when daddy let me drive"

• Andretti is mentioned in "Award Tour" by A Tribe Called Quest with the line, "Lyrically I'm Mario Andretti on the MOMO, ludicrously speedy or infectious with the slow-mo."

• In the movie Beverly Hills Cop II, after crashing the Ferrari, Inspector Todd calls Jeffrey "Mario Andretti Freidman."
• Andretti operates a winery in Napa Valley, California. [1]

External links

• Andretti Family Official Web Site.
• Mario Andretti Photos.
• Biography of Istrian-born Mario Andretti.
• Mario Andretti's World Championship Season, Race-by-race.
• Grand Prix History - Hall of Fame, Mario Andretti.
• Mario Andretti statistics.

• NASCAR and IROC statistics
• Super Speedway at the Internet Movie Database.