Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
,
IndyCar
INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapoli ...
, the
World Sportscar Championship
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.
The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and ...
, and
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...
(the other being
Dan Gurney
Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner who reached racing's highest levels starting in 1958. Gurney won races in the Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, ...
). He has also won races in
midget car racing
Midget cars, also speedcars in Australia, is a class of racing cars. The cars are very small with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four cylinder engines. They originated in the United States in the 1930s and are raced on mos ...
and
sprint car racing
Sprint cars are high-powered open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, N ...
.
During his career, Andretti won the
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government).
* January 6 ...
Formula One World Championship
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
, four
IndyCar
INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapoli ...
titles (three under
USAC sanctioning, and one in
CART
A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people.
It is different from the flatbed ...
), and
IROC VI. To date, he remains the only driver ever to win the
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
(
1969
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.
Events January
* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
**Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
),
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of thre ...
(
1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
) and the
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
World Championship, and, along with
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian racing driver.
He won the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999 in his debut year in the series, and the IMSA WeatherTech ...
, the only driver to have won a race in the
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...
Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...
, Formula One, and an Indianapolis 500. As of 2021, Andretti's victory at the
1978 Dutch Grand Prix
The 1978 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zandvoort on 27 August 1978. It was the 13th race of the 1978 Formula One season. It was the final career victory for Mario Andretti, who went on to win the championship after Ronnie ...
is the last Formula One win by an American driver. Andretti had 109 career wins on major circuits.
Andretti had a long career in motorsports. He was the only person to be named United States Driver of the Year in three decades (1967, 1978, and 1984).
He was also one of only three drivers to have won major races on
road courses
Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on pu ...
, paved
ovals, and
dirt tracks in one season, a feat that he accomplished four times.
With his final IndyCar win in April 1993, Andretti became the first driver to have won IndyCar races in four different decades
and the first to win automobile races of any kind in five.
In American popular culture, Andretti's name has become synonymous with speed, similar to
Barney Oldfield
Berna Eli "Barney" Oldfield (January 29, 1878 – October 4, 1946) was an American pioneer automobile racer; his "name was synonymous with speed in the first two decades of the 20th century".
After success in bicycle racing, he began auto ...
in the early twentieth century and
Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of com ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
.
Early life
Mario Andretti and his twin brother
Aldo
Aldo may refer to:
* Aldo (given name), male given name
** Aldo (footballer, born 1977)
** Aldo (footballer, born 1988)
* Aldo Group, a worldwide chain of shoe stores
* Aldosterone
Aldosterone is the main mineralocorticoid steroid hormone pro ...
were born to Alvise Andretti, a farm administrator, and his wife, Rina, in
Montona,
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
, now
Motovun
Motovun (, it, Montona or ''Montona d'Istria'') is a village and a municipality in central Istria, Croatia. In ancient times, both Celts and Illyrians built their fortresses at the location of present-day Motovun. The name of the village is als ...
,
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capi ...
.
Istria was then part of the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
, but it became part of
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...
at the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, as confirmed by the
Treaty of Paris and
Treaty of Osimo
The Treaty of Osimo was signed on 10 November 1975 by Italy and Yugoslavia in Osimo, Italy, to definitively divide the Free Territory of Trieste between the two states: the port city of Trieste with a narrow coastal strip to the north-west (Zone ...
. The Andretti family left in 1948, during the
Istrian–Dalmatian exodus
The Istrian–Dalmatian exodus (; ; ) was the post- World War II exodus and departure of local ethnic Italians ( Istrian Italians and Dalmatian Italians) as well as ethnic Slovenes, Croats, and Istro-Romanians from the Yugoslav territory of ...
, ending up in a refugee camp in
Lucca
Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957.
Lucca is known as one ...
, Italy.
Andretti told author
Paul Stenning: "My father left everything behind, we left our home and took what we could carry and went further into Italy. They had to swallow all of these families that were dispersed and they formed all different camps over Italy and we were shipped to a place in Tuscany. Life was a bit weird at the time but the one thing that my father always did, he always provided for us. As kids we were never cold, we were never hungry, we went to school, he always provided quite well."
Racing career
Childhood involvement in motorsports
The twins' mother Rina said that when they were two years old, they would take pot lids out of the cupboards and run around the kitchen, going "Vroom, vroom," like they were driving cars before the twins had even yet seen a car.
In 1945, at age five, he and Aldo were racing their hand-crafted wooden cars through the steep streets of their hometown.
Later, the brothers were hired by a garage to park cars, Andretti described the experience in his book ''What's It Like Out There'': "The first time I fired up a car, felt the engine shudder and the wheel come to life in my hands, I was hooked. It was a feeling I can't describe. I still get it every time I get into a race car." Andretti's first racing experience was in a new youth racing league called Formula Junior in
Ancona, Italy
Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...
when he was thirteen years old.
Years later, in an interview during an ''RRDC Evening with Mario Andretti'', Andretti implied that he and his brother made up the story of racing in the Formula Junior league when they moved to
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
to improve their chances of competing in dirt track racing because they looked the part after having purchased racing suits in Italy.
Marco De Cesari and Danilo Piccinini, the owners of the garage, noticed the Andretti brothers passion for racing and brought them to the
Abetone
Abetone was a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pistoia in the Italian region of Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence and about northwest of Pistoia. It has been a frazione of Abetone Cutigliano since 2017.
History
Ab ...
pass to watch a stretch of the
Mille Miglia
The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...
race in 1954 which caused him to become captivated by Italian two-time Formula One world champion
Alberto Ascari, who won the race. Later in the same year, Piccinini brought the brothers to the
Monza
Monza (, ; lmo, label= Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of Mo ...
for the
Italian Grand Prix
The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been held since 1921. In 2013 it ...
, where Andretti saw Ascari and
Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio (American Spanish: , ; 24 June 1911 – 17 July 1995), nicknamed ''El Chueco'' ("the bowlegged" or "bandy legged one") or ''El Maestro'' ("The Master" or "The Teacher"), was an Argentine racing car driver. He dominated t ...
race against each other.
"I remember being just mesmerized, overwhelmed by the sound, by the speed" Andretti recalled years later. "We didn’t even have a grandstand seat, we were up on that bank before the Parabolica on the left. You know, we had a good view of things ".
Stock car racing
Move to the US and start in racing
Andretti's father had maintained contact with his brother-in-law who had lived in the U.S. for many years. It took the family three years to obtain a U.S. visa. Alvise Andretti initially told the family they would move to the U.S. for five years and then return to Italy. In 1955, the Andretti family emigrated to the U.S., settling in
Nazareth
Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...
in the
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...
region of eastern
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
with just $125 to their name.
Mario has explained, "When I looked at my life in many ways out of so many negatives here comes a positive and this was certainly one of them, here was an opportunity created for us, the kids, and my dad always cited that. He would say in a sense I am looking at your future, where I think would be the best solution for you kids to have opportunities and he was correct, he was right because if we had remained in Italy I don’t know whether I could have pursued what my first passion was and the only passion I really had career wise."
While getting acquainted with Pennsylvania, Mario and Aldo were surprised to find a half-mile dirt racing track
Nazareth Speedway in Nazareth.
The twins worked on a 1948
Hudson and raced it in the Limited Sportsman Class, funded by money that they earned in their uncle's garage in 1959.
They took turns racing the old
Hudson on oval
dirt tracks near Nazareth. After finishing high school, Mario planned to become a welder, but he falsified a driver license so he could pass for 21 and enter an amateur race.
Mario and Aldo did not tell their parents that they were racing.
The twins each had two wins after their first four races.
Aldo was seriously hurt near the end of the season, and their parents were unhappy to find out that the twins were racing.
Mario had 21 modified stock car wins in 46 races in 1960 and 1961.
USAC stock car
Andretti became a
naturalized
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...
U.S. citizen in 1964. He competed in
United States Automobile Club
The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapol ...
(USAC) stock car events in 1965, and finished twelfth in the season points.
He won a USAC Stock Car race in 1967, and finished seventh in the season points.
He won three 1974 USAC stock car races on road courses, and won four road course races in 1975.
NASCAR
Andretti competed in fourteen
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...
Grand National/Winston Cup (now
NASCAR Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...
) events in his career. He competed in
Holman Moody cars for his final ten events. Holman Moody was one of NASCAR's most successful teams at that time, as the team won NASCAR championships in 1968 and 1969 with driver
David Pearson. Andretti won the
1967 Daytona 500 for
Holman Moody.
International Race of Champions
Andretti was invited to race in six
International Race of Champions
International Race of Champions (IROC) was a North American auto racing competition, created by Les Richter, Roger Penske and Mike Phelps, promoted as an equivalent of an American motorsports All-Star Game. Despite its name, the IROC was primar ...
(IROC) series in his career. His best years were his first three years. He finished second in the final points standings in
IROC III (1975–1976) and
IROC V
IROC V was the fifth year of IROC competition, which took place over three weekends in 1977 and 1978. It saw the use of the Chevrolet Camaro in all races, and the schedule was held over in its entirety from IROC IV. Al Unser won two races en rou ...
(1977–1978). He won the
IROC VI (1978–1979) points championship with finishes of third, first, and second. He won three races in twenty events.
Open-wheel racing
Early open-wheel racing
Andretti's goal was to race in single-seater
open-wheel cars. Andretti said "Aldo and I were winning in the modifieds. But my objective was to get into open-wheelers."
Andretti raced
midget cars
Midget (from '' midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a medical term like " dwarfism", a medical condition with a number of ...
from 1961 to 1963. He started racing 3/4 (sized)
midget cars
Midget (from '' midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a medical term like " dwarfism", a medical condition with a number of ...
in the American Three Quarter Midget Racing Association in the winter to be seen by full-sized midget car owners.
He raced in over one hundred events in 1963.
Andretti won three feature races at two different tracks on
Labor Day
Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...
in 1963.
He won an afternoon feature at
Flemington, New Jersey, and swept twin features at
Hatfield, Pennsylvania.
The next rung on the racing ladder on the
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...
was to race in
sprint cars in the United Racing Club (URC).
Andretti was able to get a ride for individual races in the URC sprint car racing series, but was unable to secure a full-time ride.
He once drove from
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
to
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
Mechanicsburg is a borough in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. The borough is eight miles (13 km) west of Harrisburg. It is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 8,981.
...
hoping to find a ride in an event, but he went empty-handed. He bypassed the series when he was offered a full-time ride in a
United States Automobile Club
The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapol ...
sprint car for 1964.
USAC sprint cars
Andretti won the 1964 Joe James-Pat O'Connor Memorial USAC sprint car race at
Salem Speedway in
Salem, Indiana. Andretti continued to race in USAC sprint cars after moving into champ cars. In 1965 he won once at
Ascot Park, and finished tenth in the season points.
In 1966 he won five times (
Cumberland, Maryland
Cumberland is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland. It is the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 19,076. Located on the Potomac River, ...
,
Oswego, New York
Oswego () is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 16,921 at the 2020 census. Oswego is located on Lake Ontario in Upstate New York, about 35 miles (55km) northwest of Syracuse. It promotes itself as "The Port ...
,
Rossburg, Ohio,
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
, and his second win at the Joe James-Pat O'Connor Memorial at
Salem Speedway), but finished behind
Roger McCluskey in the season championship.
In 1967 he won two of the three events that he entered.
IndyCar career (1964–1974)
From 1956 to 1979, the top
open-wheel racing
Formula racing (known as open-wheel racing in North America) is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. The origin of the term lies in the nomenclature that was adopted by the FIA for all of its post- World War II single ...
series in North America was the USAC National Championship. It was often referred to as
Champ Car
Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ...
racing, or Indycar racing, referring to the famous
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
race which was the centerpiece of the championship. The races were run on a mixture of paved and dirt ovals, and in later years also included some road courses.
Andretti made his Champ Car debut on April 19, 1964, at the New Jersey State fairgrounds in
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.[Chuck Hulse
Chuck Hulse (October 3, 1927 – July 13, 2020) was an American racecar driver.
Hulse raced in the USAC Championship Car series in the 1959-1964 and 1966-1968 seasons, with 60 career starts, including the Indianapolis 500 races in 1962, 1963, 19 ...]
, had been critically injured.
Chris Economaki
Christopher Constantine Economaki (October 15, 1920 – September 28, 2012) was an American motorsports commentator, pit road reporter, and journalist. Economaki was given the title "The Dean of American Motorsports Journalism." recommended Andretti to Brawner, so Brawner watched Andretti race at
Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...
.
Brawner was convinced that he had found the new driver for his team.
The two stayed together for six years.
Andretti finished eleventh in the USAC National Championship that season.
Andretti won his first championship car race at the Hoosier Grand Prix on a road course at
Indianapolis Raceway Park
Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (formerly Indianapolis Raceway Park, O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, and Lucas Oil Raceway) is an auto racing facility in Brownsburg, Indiana, United States, about northwest of downtown Indianapolis. I ...
in 1965.
His third-place finish at the
1965 Indianapolis 500 in the Brawner Hawk (a mechanical copy of the current Brabham Formula 1 design) earned him the race's
Rookie of the Year award, and contributed towards Andretti winning the series championship. He was the youngest national champion in series history at age 25.
He repeated as series champion in 1966,
winning eight of fifteen events.
He also won the pole at the
1966 Indianapolis 500
The 50th International 500-Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Monday, May 30, 1966. The official program cover for the race celebrated both the 50th running of the race, and 150th anniversary of ...
.
Andretti finished second in the IndyCars in 1967 and 1968. He also won a single non-championship
drag race
Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most ...
in 1967 in a
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best selli ...
. In both 1967 and 1968, Andretti lost the season USAC championship to
A. J. Foyt and
Bobby Unser
Robert William Unser (February 20, 1934 – May 2, 2021) was an American automobile racer. At his induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1994, he had the fourth most IndyCar Series wins at 35 (behind his brother Al, A. J. F ...
, respectively, in the waning laps of the last race of the season at Riverside, California—each by the smallest points margin in history.
Andretti won nine races in 1969, the
1969 Indianapolis 500, and the season championship. He also won the
Pikes Peak International Hill Climb
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), also known as The Race to the Clouds, is an annual automobile hillclimb to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado, USA. The track measures and has over 156 turns, climbing from the sta ...
, which was part of the USAC National Championship.
He was named
ABC's
Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year. Between 1966 and 1969 he won 29 of 85 USAC championship races.
In 1973, USAC split its National Championship into dirt and pavement championships.
Andretti had one win on the pavement and finished fifth in the season points, and finished second in the dirt championship.
He competed in USAC's dirt track division in 1974, and won the dirt track championship while competing in both series.
Andretti also competed in the North American
Formula 5000 series in 1973 and 1974, and finished second in the championship in both seasons.
Formula One career
=Part-time status (1968–1972, 1974)
=
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
is the highest form of open-wheel racing sanctioned by the
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...
(FIA), motorsport's international governing body. Although originating in Europe, by the 1960s it included races worldwide. At Andretti's first Indianapolis 500, in 1965, he met
Colin Chapman, owner of the
Lotus Formula One team, who was running eventual race winner
Jim Clark
James Clark Jr. OBE (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965. A versatile driver, he competed in sports cars, touring cars and in the Indianap ...
's car.
Andretti told Chapman of his ambition to compete in Formula One and was told "When you're ready, call me." By 1968 Andretti felt he was ready. Chapman gave him a car, and the young American took the pole position on his debut at the
1968 United States Grand Prix
The 1968 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 6, 1968, at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. It was race 11 of 12 in both the 1968 World Championship of Drivers and the 1968 Inter ...
at
Watkins Glen in his
Lotus 49.
Andretti drove sporadically in Formula One over the next four years for Lotus,
March
March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March ...
, and
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
, while continuing to focus on his racing career in America.
At the
1971 South African Grand Prix
The 1971 South African Grand Prix, formally the Fifth AA Grand Prix of South Africa (Afrikaans: ''Vyfde AA Suid-Afrikaanse Grand Prix''), was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami Circuit on 6 March 1971. It was race 1 of 11 in both the 197 ...
, on his debut for Ferrari, he won his first Grand Prix.
"That was a big moment, one of those I’ll always cherish,” recalled Andretti. "Kyalami was a fun circuit to drive with lots of elevation changes and Ferrari gave me equal equipment to my teammates. It was a good weekend."
Three weeks later, at the non-championship
Questor Grand Prix
The Questor Grand Prix was a non-championship race for Formula One and Formula 5000 cars held on 28 March 1971 to inaugurate a new racing facility in California, the Ontario Motor Speedway, built by the Questor conglomerate.
Because of the sma ...
in the U.S., he brought the Italian team a second victory. The day before the Questor GP, he had finished 9th in the Indy car race at
Phoenix International Raceway. At the end of the season, Ferrari called Andretti and made him a pitch to be his No. 1 driver but , Andretti declined. "F1 didn’t pay much back then and my contracts and commitments were so lucrative over here I couldn’t give that up for the security of my family. The timing wasn’t right yet, so I had to turn him down; but I always figured I’d get another opportunity."
=Full-time status (1975–1981)
=
It wasn't until
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
that Andretti drove a full Formula One season, for the American
Parnelli team. The team was new to Formula One, although it had been successful in both
Formula 5000 and
IndyCar
INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapoli ...
racing in America with Andretti driving. The team had run Andretti in the two North American end-of-season races in 1974 with promising results. Andretti qualified fourth and led the
1975 Spanish Grand Prix for nine laps before his suspension failed. He scored five championship points in the season. Andretti continued to compete in IndyCar, missing two Formula One races in the middle of the season to do so.
When the Parnelli team pulled out of Formula One after two races of the
1976 season, Andretti returned to Chapman's Lotus team, for whom he had already driven at the season-opening
Brazilian Grand Prix
The Brazilian Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio do Brasil), currently held under the name São Paulo Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio de São Paulo), is a Formula One championship race which is currently held at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace ...
. Lotus was then at a low point, having failed to produce a competitive car to replace 1970's
Lotus 72. Andretti's ability at developing a racing car contributed to Lotus' return to the front of the Formula One grid, culminating in lapping the field in his victory at the season ending race at the
Mount Fuji
, or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest ...
circuit in Japan.
Since mid-1975 Lotus had been developing the use of
ground effect, shaping the underside of the car to generate
downforce
Downforce is a downwards lift force created by the aerodynamic features of a vehicle. If the vehicle is a car, the purpose of downforce is to allow the car to travel faster by increasing the vertical force on the tires, thus creating more grip ...
with little penalizing
drag. For his part, Andretti worked at setting up his cars for the races, exploiting subtle differences in tire size ('stagger') and suspension set up ('cross weighting') on each side of the car to optimize it for each track, an approach imported from his extensive oval racing experience in the United States. In 1977, at
Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporat ...
, he became the only American to win the
United States Grand Prix West
The United States Grand Prix West was a race held at Long Beach, California, as a Formula 5000 race in 1975 and a Formula One World Championship event from 1976 to 1983 held in the same location throughout those years.
History
There had been ...
, and the last American as of 2022 to win any US Grand Prix. The
Lotus 78 "wing car" proved to be the most competitive car of 1977,
but despite winning four races, more than any other driver, reliability problems and collisions with other drivers meant Andretti finished only third in the championship.
At the end of 1977, Andretti was approached by Ferrari as a potential replacement for
Niki Lauda. "I had a handshake agreement with Colin and he’d already agreed to pay me what
Ronnie Peterson
Bengt Ronnie Peterson (; 14 February 1944 – 11 September 1978) was a Swedish racing driver. Known by the nickname 'SuperSwede', he was a two-time runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship.
Peterson began his motor racing care ...
was making, which was the highest salary in F1. So I asked Mr. Ferrari what was he willing to pay me.He said, 'You know, Mario, I can’t put a price on your talent so you tell me.' That SOB threw it right back in my lap! Well,
ndretti's wifeDee Ann was sitting next to me and I asked her what should I do and she said ‘double it.' And Mr. Ferrari agreed. The next day I got a telex from him saying 'Let’s just leave things alone' because he’d just had a visit from Colin (who'd) followed me to Maranello and raised hell with Mr. Ferrari. Can you imagine? So I told Colin he'd always been good to me but you don't want an unhappy driver. Then I told him I wanted $10,000 a point — you got nine points for a win back then — and he had to agree.'
In 1978, the
Lotus 79
The Lotus 79 is a Formula One car designed in late 1977 by Colin Chapman, Geoff Aldridge, Martin Ogilvie, Tony Rudd, Tony Southgate and Peter Wright of Lotus. The Lotus 79 was the first F1 car to take full advantage of ground effects aerod ...
designed by Chapman exploited ground effect even further. Andretti dominated the season and took the title with six wins.
He clinched the championship at the
Italian Grand Prix
The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been held since 1921. In 2013 it ...
.
There was no championship celebration though because his teammate
Ronnie Peterson
Bengt Ronnie Peterson (; 14 February 1944 – 11 September 1978) was a Swedish racing driver. Known by the nickname 'SuperSwede', he was a two-time runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship.
Peterson began his motor racing care ...
crashed heavily at the start of the race; he was hospitalised and died that night from complications resulting from his injuries.
Andretti found little success after 1978 in Formula One – he failed to win another grand prix. He had a difficult year in 1979, as the new
Lotus 80
The Lotus 80 was a Formula One car used by Team Lotus in . The car, designed by Colin Chapman, Martin Ogilvie, Peter Wright and Tony Rudd, was an attempt to take ground effect as far as possible.
Design
Ogilvie and Rudd reasoned that to ...
was not competitive, and the team had to rely on the Lotus 79 which had been overtaken by the second generation of ground effect cars. In 1980, he was paired with the young Italian
Elio de Angelis, and briefly with test driver
Nigel Mansell
Nigel Ernest James Mansell, (; born 8 August 1953) is a British retired racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship ( 1992) and the CART Indy Car World Series (1993 CART World Series Season, 1993). Mansell was the reigning ...
, but the team was again unsuccessful.
For the
1981 season, Andretti decided to move to the
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...
team ran by
Carlo Chiti. Although the car was reasonably competitive (Andretti finished fourth on his debut with the team in
Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporat ...
, a general lack of reliability resulted in yet another unsuccessful campaign. Like other drivers of the period, Andretti did not like the ground effect cars of the time: "the cars were getting absurd, really crude, with no suspension movement whatever. It was toggle switch driving with no need for any kind of delicacy...it made leaving Formula One a lot easier than it would have been."
=Brief returns with Williams and Ferrari (1982)
=
The next year, Andretti raced once for the
Williams team, after their driver
Carlos Reutemann
Carlos Alberto "Lole" Reutemann (12 April 1942 – 7 July 2021) was an Argentine racing driver who raced in Formula One from to , and later became a politician in his native province of Santa Fe, for the Justicialist Party, and governor o ...
suddenly quit, before replacing the seriously injured
Didier Pironi
Didier Joseph Louis Pironi (26 March 1952 – 23 August 1987) was a French racing driver. During his career, he competed in 72 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, driving for Tyrrell (1978–1979), Ligier (1980) and Ferrari (198 ...
at Ferrari for the last two races of the year. Suspension failure dropped him out of the last race of the season, but at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza he took the pole position and finished third in the race.
In a 2012 interview, World Champion
Alan Jones stated that Ferrari, looking for a proven top class driver, had actually contacted him to drive for the team in late 1982. Jones however was enjoying his time back in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
and took too long to give Ferrari an answer (a move Jones regrets) so instead they contacted Andretti who had no such hesitations. Ironically, Jones later decided to make a comeback to F1 in 1983 (unlike Andretti) and had he taken the seat at Ferrari it is likely they would have kept the former World Champion for that year which would have seen him drive a very competitive car (Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship in 1983).
There was almost a return to F1 for Andretti at the
1984 Detroit Grand Prix
The 1984 Detroit Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on June 24, 1984 in Detroit, Michigan. It was the eighth race of the 1984 Formula One World Championship.
The 63-lap race was won from pole position by Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet ...
when the
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
team put him on standby to replace regular driver
Patrick Tambay
Patrick Daniel Tambay (25 June 1949 – 4 December 2022) was a French racing driver, commentator, and politician, who competed in 123 Formula One races between 1977 and 1986, securing five pole positions and winning twice. Between 1977 and 1981, ...
if the Frenchman had been unable to race, as was the case at the previous race in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
. However, in the event, Tambay was able to take part in the race.
Andretti was also considered as a replacement, again for Tambay who had been injured in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
, at the
1986 Detroit Grand Prix, this time for the Carl Haas-owned Haas Lola team. Andretti declined, but recommended his son Michael Andretti. When Michael was unable to obtain the FIA
Superlicense required to allow him to race in Formula One, the drive went to
Eddie Cheever
Edward McKay "Eddie" Cheever Jr. (born January 10, 1958) is an American former racing driver who raced for almost 30 years in Formula One, sports cars, CART, and the Indy Racing League. Cheever participated in 143 Formula One World Championshi ...
.
Return to IndyCar racing (1982–1994)
Andretti had continued to race, and occasionally win, in the USAC National Championship during his time in the Formula One world championship. In 1979 a new organization,
Championship Auto Racing Teams
Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) was a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 1979 to 2003. It sanctioned the PPG Indy Car World Series from 1979 until dissolving after the 2003 season.
CART was founded in ...
(CART), had set up the IndyCar World Series as a rival to the USAC National Championships that Andretti had won three times in the 1960s. The new series had rapidly become the top open-wheel racing series in North America.
Andretti joined CART full-time in 1982, driving for
Patrick Racing. He started from row two in the
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
that year but was involved in a wreck on the approach to the start when rookie
Kevin Cogan suddenly spun out. Three minutes after the wreck Andretti was heard saying "This is what happens when you have children doing a man's job up front," and he and Cogan were later involved in a shoving match.
In 1983, he joined the new
Newman/Haas Racing team, set up by
Carl Haas and actor
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three ...
using cars built by British company
Lola. Andretti took the team's first win at
Elkhart Lake in
1983. He won the pole for nine of sixteen events in
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
, and claimed his fourth
Champ Car
Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ...
title at the age of 44. He edged out
Tom Sneva
Thomas E. Sneva (born June 1, 1948) is a retired American race car driver who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1983. He primarily raced in Indy cars, and was named to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2005.
A former math teacher from Spoka ...
by 13 points. It was the first series title for the second year team.
Mario's son
Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...
joined Newman/Haas in 1989. Together, they made history as the first father/son team to compete in both
IMSA GT
IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States, and occasionally in Canada.
History
The series was founded in 1969 by John and Peggy Bishop, and Bill F ...
and Champ Car racing,
as for the former, it was their fourth time in an endurance race together as co-drivers. Mario finished seventh in points for the 1991 season, the year that Michael won the championship. Mario's last victory in IndyCar racing came in 1993 at
Phoenix International Raceway
Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona, near Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually including the final championship race since 2020 ...
,
the year that Michael left Newman/Haas to race in Formula One. The win made Mario the oldest recorded winner in an IndyCar event (53 years, 34 days old).
Andretti qualified on the pole at the
Michigan 500 later that year with a speed of . The speed was a new closed course world record.
Andretti's final season, in 1994, was dubbed "The Arrivederci Tour". He raced in the last of his 407 Indy car races that September.
Indianapolis 500
Andretti won once at the
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
in 29 attempts. Andretti has had so many incidents and near victories at the track that critics have dubbed the family's performance after Mario's
1969 Indianapolis 500 victory the "
Andretti Curse".
Andretti finished all just five times, including his
1969 Indianapolis 500 victory. Andretti was the first driver to exceed while practicing for the
1977 Indianapolis 500
The 61st 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 29, 1977. Considered one of the most historically significant editions of the Indianapolis 500, several sidebar stories com ...
.
In 1969, after 4 years of bad luck and 4 non-finishes, Andretti dominated the Indianapolis 500 en route to his only victory in the race. The race is notable as it is the only Indy 500 in history where the winning driver ran the whole race on only 1 set of tires.
Between his 1969 victory in the race and 1981, Andretti dropped out of the races due to part failures or crashes. His luck seemed to turn around in 1981. Andretti finished second in the
1981 Indianapolis 500
The 65th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 24, 1981. The race is widely considered one of the most controversial races in Indy history. Bobby Unser took the checkered flag as the win ...
by eight seconds behind
Bobby Unser
Robert William Unser (February 20, 1934 – May 2, 2021) was an American automobile racer. At his induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1994, he had the fourth most IndyCar Series wins at 35 (behind his brother Al, A. J. F ...
. The following day Unser was penalized one lap for passing cars under a caution flag, and Andretti was declared the winner. Unser and his car owner
Roger Penske
Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937) is an American businessman and entrepreneur involved in professional auto racing and a retired professional auto racing driver. He is most famous for his ownership of Team Penske, DJR Team Penske, ...
appealed the race stewards' decision. USAC overturned the one lap penalty four months later, and penalized Unser with a
$40,000 fine.
At the start of the
1982 Indianapolis 500, second-year driver
Kevin Cogan, teammate to polesitter
Rick Mears
Rick Ravon Mears (born December 3, 1951) is a retired American race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six (197 ...
, suddenly spun right when accelerating for the green flag. Cogan bounced off A. J. Foyt, slamming Foyt's steering rod. That contact turned Cogan's car left at a 90 degree angle to the field where he was promptly t-boned by Mario. Andretti was livid and engaged in a shoving match with Cogan before walking off. In an interview, 3 minutes after the wreck, an irked Andretti was heard saying "This is what happens when you have children doing a man's job up front." Andretti's Patrick Racing teammate that year was the eventual race winner,
Gordon Johncock, who started next to Andretti in the middle of row two. In later years, Johncock pointed out that Andretti had jumped the start, and could have avoided the spinning car of Cogan had he been lined up properly in the second row next to Gordy.
[1982 Indianapolis 500 broadcast, ESPN Classic, May 2006]
In the
1985 Indianapolis 500, he was passed for the lead by
Danny Sullivan in Turn One on lap 20. Immediately after completing the pass, Sullivan spun in front of Andretti. A caution flag for the spin minimized the time Sullivan would lose to Andretti by pitting to replace his tires. Sullivan took the lead for good 20 laps later when he passed Andretti without incident. Andretti dominated the
1987 Indianapolis 500
The 71st Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday May 24, 1987. After dominating practice, qualifying, and most of the race, leader Mario Andretti slowed with mechanical problems with only 23 l ...
, leading 170 of the first 177 laps of the race. His lead was so large, that he was advised to slow his pace to preserve his equipment. In a cruel twist of fate, when Andretti started running slower, his reduced engine rpm's created a harmonic imbalance in his turbocharged Ilmor/Chevrolet V8 that led to a broken valve spring with 20 laps to go.
The
1992 Indianapolis 500
The 76th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday, May 24, 1992. The race is famous for the fierce battle in the closing laps, as race winner Al Unser Jr. held off second place Scott Goodyear f ...
was run in extremely cold weather which resulted in a large number of wrecks by cars on cold tires. Andretti accelerated off of turn three for the restart at the end of the 83rd lap. Under acceleration, Mario's car got loose in the middle of turn four and rotated 270 degrees to smash nose first into the wall. Andretti was taken to the hospital with six of his toes broken and would shortly be joined by his son
Jeff Andretti who smashed both legs after a wheel came loose on his race car on the 109th lap of the race. Mario would only miss one race due to his injuries, and returned to run 6th in a race just four weeks after his crash.
The
1993 Indianapolis 500
The 77th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 30, 1993. Emerson Fittipaldi took the lead with 16 laps to go, and won his second career Indy 500 victory. The race was sanctioned by USA ...
was Andretti's last notable run, and he had just come off a victory at
Phoenix. On pole day, Andretti was the first car to complete a qualifying run, and sat on the provisional pole position. Andretti's speed held up all afternoon, but with less than an hour to go,
Arie Luyendyk topped his speed, and took the pole. On race day, Andretti was a factor most of the afternoon, leading the most laps (72). While leading on lap 134, Andretti was penalized for entering the pits while they were closed. A stop-and-go penalty dropped him only down to second place. In the final 50 laps, he began developing handling problems because of his tires, and slid down the standings to finish 5th. Andretti's last race at Indy was the
1994 Indianapolis 500.
On April 23, 2003, in the lead up to the
2003 Indy 500, Andretti took to the track for the first time in ten years in a major open-wheel car at the age of 63. He participated in a test session for son Michael's AGR IndyCar team. One of the team's regular drivers,
Tony Kanaan
Antoine Rizkallah "Tony" Kanaan Filho (born 31 December 1974), nicknamed TK, is a Brazilian racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 6 Toyota Corolla E210 for Full Time Bassani an ...
, suffered a radial fracture of his arm a week earlier in an April 15 crash at
Twin Ring Motegi
Mobility Resort Motegi (モビリティリゾートもてぎ) is a motorsport race track located at Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Originally named Twin Ring Motegi (ツインリンクもてぎ), the circuit's name came from the facility hav ...
. If Kanaan was not cleared to drive in enough time, tentative plans were being prepared for Andretti to qualify the car for him. He would turn the car over to Kanaan on race day, though no plans had been made for Andretti to actually drive in the race. During the test, Andretti ran at competitive speeds, but running over debris saw his car becoming airborne and the attempt ended with a spectacular crash. Andretti was able to walk away from the wreck with just a minor cut on his chin. This was Andretti's last significant on-track activity at Indianapolis.
Sports cars
His first race start with a Ferrari was in 1965 with a
Ferrari 275 P during the Bridgehampton 500 km at
Bridgehampton Race Circuit
Bridgehampton Race Circuit was a race track located near Sag Harbor, New York, United States. The circuit opened in 1957, following a series of road races held from 1949 until 1953. It was one of the first permanent road racing venues in the Uni ...
he did not finish the race.
Andretti won three
12 Hours of Sebring
The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in Sebring, Florida, US. The event is the second rou ...
endurance races (1967, 1970, 1972),
and the
24 Hours of Daytona in 1972. In early sportscar races he competed for the Holman Moody team, but later often drove for Ferrari. He signed with Ferrari in 1971, and won several races with co-driver
Jacky Ickx.
In 1972 he shared wins in the three North American rounds of the championship and at
Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hos ...
in the UK, contributing to Ferrari's dominant victory in
that year's World Championship for Makes. He also competed in the popular North American
Can-Am
The Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, was an SCCA/ CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1987.
History
Can-Am started out as a race series for group 7 sports racers with two races in Canada (''Can'') and four races in the United ...
series in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Le Mans
Andretti competed at the
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...
in four decades. In
1966
Events January
* January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko.
* January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...
he shared a
Holman Moody Ford Mk II with
Lucien Bianchi. They retired after their car dropped a valve at 10:30 pm. In
1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
, during a 3:30 am pit stop, a mechanic inadvertently installed a front brake pad backward on his Ford MkIV. As Andretti passed under the Dunlop Bridge before the Esses, he touched his brake pedal for the first time since leaving the pits. The front wheel instantly locked, turning the car hard into the dirt embankment at . The wreckage slid to a stop with Andretti badly shaken, the car sideways to oncoming traffic and the track nearly blocked. His teammates,
Jo Schlesser and
Roger McCluskey, crashed trying to avoid Andretti's car. McCluskey pulled Andretti to safety, and Andretti was taken to hospital for
x-ray
An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...
s.
Andretti did not return to Le Mans until his full-time Formula One career was over. In 1982, he partnered with son Michael in a Mirage M12 Ford. They qualified in ninth place, but the pair found their car being removed from the starting grid 80 minutes before the start of the race,
as an official discovered an oil cooler that was mounted behind the gearbox, which was against the rules. The car had passed initial inspection four days before the race.
Despite protests and complaints, Andretti's entry was removed altogether, replaced by a
Porsche 924 Carrera GTR. Their return in the
following year was more successful as they finished third. The father/son team returned in with Mario's nephew
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
. They finished sixth in a factory
Porsche 962
The Porsche 962 (also known as the 962C in its Group C form) is a sports-prototype racing car built by Porsche as a replacement for the 956 and designed mainly to comply with IMSA's GTP regulations, although it would later compete in the Euro ...
. Following Mario's retirement from full-time racing, he decided on a return to the circuit to add a Le Mans victory to his achievements. He returned in with a second-place finish. He said in a 2006 interview that he feels that the
Courage Compétition team "lost
he 1995race five times over" through poor organization. He had unsuccessful efforts in the following years with a thirteenth place in , and then a DNF (Did Not Finish) for . Andretti's final appearance at Le Mans was at the
2000 race, six years after his retirement from full-time racing, when he drove the
Panoz
Panoz is an American manufacturer of sports automobiles founded in 1989 as Panoz Auto Development by Dan Panoz, son of Don Panoz. Panoz products have included the Panoz Roadster and AIV Roadster, the Panoz Esperante, and the Panoz Avezzano.
Pa ...
LMP-1 Roadster-S at the age of 60, finishing 15th.
Awards and honors
In 1986, he was inducted into the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame. In 2000, the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...
and RACER magazine named him Driver of the Century.
He was the Driver of the Year (in the United States) for three years (1967, 1978, and 1984), and is the only driver to be Driver of the Year in three decades.
Andretti was named the U.S. Driver of the Quarter Century in 1992.
He was inducted into the
International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2001,
the United States
National Sprint Car Hall of Fame
The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum is a Hall of Fame and museum for sprint car drivers, owners, mechanics, builders, manufacturers, promoters, sanctioning officials and media members. The museum is located in Knoxville, Iowa, the h ...
in 1996,
the
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycle ...
[Mario Andretti]
at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycle ...
in 1990, the Hoosier Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1970,
the
Automotive Hall of Fame in 2005, and the
Diecast Hall of Fame in 2012.
On October 23, 2006, Andretti was awarded the highest civilian honor given by the Italian government, the
Commendatore dell'Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (known as the Commendatore), in honor of his racing career, public service, and enduring commitment to his Italian heritage.
In 2007, Andretti was honored with the "Lombardi Award of Excellence" from the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation for making "a "Hall of Fame" contribution to a sport, profession, or business in a manner that exemplifies appreciation of God, country, society, family and self."
[
In 2007, Andretti was named the "Mayor" (''Sindaco'') of the "Free Commune of Motovun in Exile" (''Libero Comune di Montona in esilio''), an association of Italian exiles from ]Motovun
Motovun (, it, Montona or ''Montona d'Istria'') is a village and a municipality in central Istria, Croatia. In ancient times, both Celts and Illyrians built their fortresses at the location of present-day Motovun. The name of the village is als ...
.
In 2008, Andretti was awarded with the Simeone Foundation Spirit of Competition Award.
In 2016, Andretti was made an honorary citizen of Lucca
Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957.
Lucca is known as one ...
.
In 2019, the city of Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
renamed a street "Mario Andretti Drive", as part of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of his first Indianapolis 500 win.
Mario Andretti Grand Prix of Road America
Mario was instrumental in keeping championship car racing at Road America
Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Ch ...
. CART
A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people.
It is different from the flatbed ...
severed its ties with the track as a legal resolution of payment issues from the 2002 and 2003 series events at the track. Andretti was the middle man between CART President Chris Pook and Road America President George Bruggenthies. After six weeks both sides came to terms and signed a two-year contract. The event was renamed the "Mario Andretti Grand Prix of Road America".
Elder of Andretti racing family
Both of Mario Andretti's sons, Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...
and Jeff
Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form ( hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey.
Music
* DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes ...
, were auto racers. Michael followed in his father's footsteps by winning the IndyCar title, with Mario's nephew John Andretti
John Andrew Andretti (March 12, 1963January 30, 2020) was an American race car driver. He won individual races in CART, IMSA GTP, Rolex Sports Car Series, and NASCAR during his career. He was the son of Aldo Andretti, older brother of racer Adam ...
joining the series in 1988. This meant that the Andrettis became the first family to have four relatives compete in the same series. With Mario sharing driving duties with sons Michael and Jeff at the 1991 Rolex 24 at Daytona, driving a Porsche 962, the Andretti clan finished 5th.
Mario's grandson Marco
Marco may refer to:
People
* Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco
* Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor
* Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin
* Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish co ...
completed his first full season in the Indy Racing League
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...
(IRL) in 2006, driving for his father Michael's Andretti Green Racing
Andretti Autosport is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, Indy Lights, Indy Pro 2000, and Formula E. The team also has a 37.5% ownership stake in the Australian Supercars Championship touring car team, Walkinshaw Andret ...
team. Marco finished second in the 2006 Indianapolis 500 and so became the first third-generation recipient of the race's Rookie of the Year Award
A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year).
In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...
.
Later life
Andretti lives near his grandson Marco in Bushkill Township, Pennsylvania
Bushkill Township is a township in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Its population was 8,178 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan ...
. His late wife Dee Ann (née Hoch) was a native of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, who taught Andretti English in 1961. They were married on November 25, 1961. She died on July 2, 2018, following a heart attack.
Andretti has kept active after his retirement from full-time racing. He makes numerous speaking engagements to audiences and is a spokesman for longtime sponsors Texaco
Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an independent company unt ...
/Havoline
Havoline is a motor oil brand currently commercialized by Chevron. The brand had been previously owned by Texaco (since 1931), until the company was acquired by Chevron in 2001.
History
First introduced in 1904, the Havoline motor oil brand ...
, Firestone and Magnaflow performance exhaust. He was occasionally a spokesman for the defunct Champ Car World Series, though he frequently attended IRL races to watch Marco compete. Andretti is vice chairman of a winery
A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...
named Andretti Winery in Napa Valley, California
Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on January 27, 1981. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier ...
. He owns a chain of gasoline stations, a Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
dealership in Moon Township, Pennsylvania
Moon Township is a township along the Ohio River in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Moon is a part of the Greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area and is located northwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 27,261 at the 2020 census.
History ...
(just outside Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
), car washes, car-care products, go-kart
A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance racing ...
tracks, a clothing line, video games and replica cars. He also test drives cars for ''Road & Track
''Road & Track'' (stylized as ''R&T'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine. It is owned by Hearst Magazines and is published 6 times per year. The editorial offices are located in New York, New York.
History
''Road & Track'' (often ...
'' and ''Car and Driver
''Car and Driver'' (''CD'' or ''C/D'') is an American automotive enthusiast magazine. In 2006 its total circulation was 1.23 million. It is owned by Hearst Magazines, who purchased prior owner Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. in 2011. It was f ...
'' magazines.
In July 2006, Andretti took part in the Bullrun race across America. The first pitstop was at the Pocono Raceway
Pocono Raceway (formerly Pocono International Raceway), also known as ''The Tricky Triangle'', is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It is the site of three NASCAR national series races and an AR ...
in Andretti's home state of Pennsylvania with Gate No. 5 aptly named Andretti Road.
Since 2012, Andretti has been the official ambassador for the Circuit of the Americas
Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a Grade 1 FIA-specification motor racing track and facilities located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Austin, Texas, in the United States. The facility is home to the Formula One United States G ...
(COTA) and the United States Grand Prix promoting awareness of Formula 1 in the United States and all forms of motorsports at COTA.
He received the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2015.
Film and television appearances
Andretti played himself on three episodes of the United States television show ''Home Improvement
The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...
''. Along with his son Michael, he appeared in the 1996 IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating.
Graeme ...
film '' Super Speedway'', which details the process of rebuilding one of his past cars. He is a major character and sometime narrator of the 1972 film ''The Speed Merchants''. In the 2006 Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...
Animation Studios film ''Cars
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, people in ...
'', Andretti makes a cameo appearance as himself, but because all of the characters in the film are sentient cars, his appearance is that of the Ford Fairlane in which he won the 1967 Daytona 500. He later had another voice role in the 2013 DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a divisio ...
film ''Turbo
In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...
'', as the traffic director at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Andretti appeared in the Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...
film '' Driven'' in a cameo. He served as the grand marshal of the 2004 Baja 1000
The Baja 1000 is an annual Mexican off-road motorsport race held on the Baja California Peninsula. It is one of the most prestigious off-road races in the world, having attracted competitors from six continents. The race was founded by Ed Pearl ...
off-road race, as seen in the documentary film ''Dust to Glory
''Dust to Glory'' is a 2005 documentary film about the Baja 1000 off-road race. Filming occurred throughout the 2003 event. The film is directed by Dana Brown of '' Step Into Liquid'' fame. The film was edited in Adobe Premiere Pro. The film score ...
''. Andretti was featured in the 2007 documentary '' A State of Vine'', where he commented on his winemaking activities. In November 2015, he guest starred on an episode of '' Jay Leno's Garage'', driving Leno in multiple fast cars and talking about his racing career.
Andretti wrote a column for the ''Indianapolis Star
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
'', where he wrote about other drivers, equipment and cars.
Racing record
Racing career summary
American open-wheel racing
( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
USAC Championship Car
Andretti Racing Enterprises IndyCar wins
These are the wins of Andretti Racing Enterprises, the team headed by legendary mechanic Clint Brawner. Andretti Racing Enterprises (the former Dean Van Lines team) was formed after Al Dean's death in 1967 and was financed during the 1968 season by Firestone.
PPG Indy Car World Series
=Indianapolis 500
=
NASCAR
( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Grand National Series
=Daytona 500
=
24 Hours of Le Mans results
Complete Formula One World Championship results
( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Other race results
* 12 hours of Sebring
The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in Sebring, Florida, US. The event is the second rou ...
, 1st: 1967,1970,1972
* 1000 km of Brands Hatch, 1st: 1972
* 1000 km of Monza
The 6 Hours of Monza (formerly the 1000 Kilometres of Monza and known after 1966 as "Trofeo Filippo Caracciolo") is an endurance race, mainly for sports cars, which is held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Italy.
Overview
Desp ...
, 1st: 1974
* Pikes Peak International Hill Climb
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), also known as The Race to the Clouds, is an annual automobile hillclimb to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado, USA. The track measures and has over 156 turns, climbing from the sta ...
, 1st: 1969
* 6 Hours of Daytona, 1st: 1972
* 6 Hours of Watkins Glen
The Six Hours of Watkins Glen (currently sponsored as the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen) is a sports car endurance race held annually at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. The race dates from 1948, and has been a part of the ...
, 1st: 1972
Autobiographies
* ''What's It Like Out There'', Mario Andretti and Bob Collins. Henry Regnery Company, 1970. .
* ''Mario Andretti: World Champion'', Mario Andretti and Nigel Roebuck. Hamlyn, 1979. .
* ''Andretti'', Mario Andretti. HarperCollins, 1994. .
See also
* List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards
References
Further reading
* ''Mario Andretti: A Driving Passion'', Gordon Kirby. D. Bull Pub., 2001, .
* ''Mario Andretti Photo Album'', Peter Nygaard. Iconografix, 1999, .
* ''Mario Andretti (Race Car Legends)'', G. S. Prentzas. Chelsea House Publishers, 1996, .
* ''Sports Hero, Mario Andretti'', Marshall Burchard. Putnam, 1977. .
* ''Mario Andretti: The Man Who Can Win Any Kind of Race'', Lyle K. Engel. Arco Publishing, 1970. .
* ''Mario Andretti: World Driving Champion'', Lyle K. Engel. Arco Publishing, 1979. .
* ''Mario Andretti'', Mike O'Leary. MotorBooks, 2002. .
* ''Andretti'', Bill Libby. Grosset & Dunlap, 1970, .
External links
*
*
*
Andretti Family Official Web Site
Andretti Winery
*
Mario Andretti at the Automotive Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andretti, Mario
1940 births
12 Hours of Sebring drivers
24 Hours of Daytona drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
Alfa Romeo Formula One drivers
American Formula One drivers
Mario Gabriele
Champ Car drivers
Champ Car champions
Child refugees
Ferrari Formula One drivers
Formula One World Drivers' Champions
Formula One race winners
Identical twins
Indianapolis 500 drivers
Indianapolis 500 polesitters
Indianapolis 500 Rookies of the Year
Indianapolis 500 winners
International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees
International Race of Champions drivers
Istrian Italian people
Italian emigrants to the United States
Italian racing drivers
Italians of Croatia
Living people
March Formula One drivers
NASCAR drivers
National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees
Parnelli Formula One drivers
People from Motovun
People from Nazareth, Pennsylvania
People with acquired American citizenship
Racing drivers from Pennsylvania
Sportspeople from Northampton County, Pennsylvania
Team Lotus Formula One drivers
Italian twins
American twins
Twin sportspeople
Williams Formula One drivers
World Sportscar Championship drivers
Team Penske drivers
Newman/Haas Racing drivers
USAC Silver Crown Series drivers
USAC Stock Car drivers
Porsche Motorsports drivers
BMW M drivers
Jaguar Racing drivers