Anthony "Andy" Granatelli (March 18, 1923 – December 29, 2013) was an American businessman, most prominent as the CEO of

STP STP may refer to: Places * São Tomé and Príncipe (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code, IOC country code, and FIFA country code STP) * St Pancras railway station (National Rail code STP) * St. Paul Downtown Airport (IATA airport code STP) in Saint Paul, Mi ...

as well as a major figure in automobile racing events. Granatelli was born in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. Along with his brothers Vince and Joe, he first worked as an

auto mechanic An auto mechanic is a mechanic who services and repairs automobiles, sometimes specializing in one or more List of car brands, automobile brands or sometimes working with any brand. In fixing cars, their main role is to Diagnosis, diagnose and ...

and "speed-shop" entrepreneur, modifying engines such as the flathead Ford into racing-quality equipment. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he became a promoter of automobile racing events, such as the "Hurricane Racing Association", which combined racing opportunities for up-and-coming drivers with crowd-pleasing theatrics. Hurricane events, according to Granatelli in his autobiography ''They Call Me Mister 500'', included drivers who were experts at executing—and surviving—roll-over and end-over-end crashes, and also an ambulance that not only got caught up into the race but also ejected a stretcher (with a dummy on it) into the way of the racers.

Professional career

In 1946, the three brothers entered the first of several

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

races, as the Grancor racing team. They did their own mechanical work, and brought innovations like fully independent suspension, yet never made it to "Victory Lane". In 1948, Andy decided to try to qualify as a driver, and nearly did so, but a horrendous crash during his qualifying run ended that part of his career. In the 1950s, in Chicago, Granatelli served as the promoter of auto races at Soldier Field, as well as at other venues. Granatelli became visible in the racing world in the 1960s as the spokesman for

oil and gasoline treatment products, appearing on its television and radio advertisements as well as sponsoring race cars. He clad his pit crews in white coveralls with the oval STP logo scattered all over them, and once wore a suit jacket with the same STP-laden design. He made a cameo appearance in the 1968 Disney movie ''

The Love Bug ''The Love Bug'' (also known as Herbie the Love Bug) is a 1968 American sports film, sports adventure film, adventure comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson (director), Robert Stevenson from a screenplay by Bill Walsh (producer), Bill Walsh a ...

''. Granatelli's cars became a significant presence at the Indianapolis 500. While he first gained notoriety by re-introducing the Novi engine, his best known entries were his

turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced can be used for generating electrical ...

-powered cars in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

and

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

. In both years, he saw probable race-winners fail near the end;

Joe Leonard Joseph Paul Leonard (August 4, 1932 – April 27, 2017) was an American professional motorcycle racer and racecar driver. Biography Motorcycle career Leonard won the first A.M.A. Grand National Championship Series in 1954 and won it again in 19 ...

's breakdown in the

Lotus 56 The Lotus 56 was a gas turbine-powered four-wheel-driven racing car, designed by Maurice Philippe as Team Lotus's STP-backed entry in the 1968 Indianapolis 500. All three cars entered and retired from the race with Joe Leonard's car expiring wh ...

with 10 laps remaining in 1968 had been topped the previous year when

Parnelli Jones Rufus Parnell "Parnelli" Jones (August 12, 1933 – June 4, 2024) was an American professional racing driver and racing team owner. He is notable for his accomplishments while competing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Baja 1000 desert race, and ...

, leading comfortably with just three laps to go, suffered the failure of a six dollar transmission bearing in the STP-Paxton Turbocar and retired, handing a sure victory to

A. J. Foyt Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American former racing driver who competed in numerous disciplines of motorsport. He is best known for his open wheel racing career, and for becoming the first four-time winner of the India ...

. He was awarded as an Indianapolis 500 winner in 1969. After his innovative Lotus

four-wheel drive A four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, is a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case pr ...

car was destroyed in practice upon establishing itself as one of the most dominants cars to date, his driver

Mario Andretti Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an American former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from to , and American open-wheel racing, IndyCar from 1964 USAC Championship Car season, 1964 to 1994 IndyCar se ...

, nursing the burns from the Lotus crash, won at the wheel of a year-old backup car. Before Andretti could be traditionally kissed in "Victory Lane" by the Queen of the "500 Festival", Granatelli got there first, and his joyful kiss on Andretti's cheek is one of the 500's most memorable images. However rumor is that the kiss began the infamous Indianapolis 500 curse that is named for Mario Andretti's family. In 1973, Granatelli retired his USAC team, and STP became a sponsor of

Patrick Racing Patrick Racing was an auto racing team in United States Auto Club, USAC, Championship Auto Racing Teams, CART, Champ Car World Series, Champ Car and the Indy Racing League. Patrick Racing was started by Pat Patrick (auto racing), U.E. "Pat" Patri ...

. Gordon Johncock won the 1973 and 1982 Indianapolis 500 for the brand. It was believed that Granatelli attended every

, whether as a participant or as a spectator, from 1946–2012. He did not attend the race in 2013, and died later that year.

Business ventures

Granatelli bought Tuneup Masters in 1976 for $300,000. He sold it for $60 million in 1986.

Awards

He was inducted into the

International Motorsports Hall of Fame The International Motorsports Hall of Fame (IMHOF) is a List of halls and walks of fame, hall of fame located adjacent to the Talladega Superspeedway (formerly Alabama International Motor Speedway) located in Talladega County, Alabama, Talladeg ...

in 1992 and the

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is a 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, Motorcycles ...

Andy Granatelli
at the

in 2001. Granatelli was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2011 and the

National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame The National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame is an American Hall of Fame and museum for midget cars. The Hall of Fame is located at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and can be accessed during weekly Sunday races during the summe ...

in 2013.

Death

Granatelli died from congestive heart failure at the age of 90 on December 29, 2013 in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

Filmography

References

External links

Mathews, Barbara E. "Profile of a Phenomenon," American National Business Hall of Fame.

* ttp://www.nascar.com/news/110604/dcaraviello-stp-andy-granatelli/ Caraviello, David. "Legacy of 'Mr. 500' rides again with the No. 43," ''NASCAR.COM'', — June 4, 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Granatelli, Andy 1923 births 2013 deaths International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees Businesspeople from Chicago Racing drivers from Dallas American people of Italian descent Formula One team owners 20th-century American businesspeople IndyCar Series team owners Racing drivers from Chicago