Mario Andretti

Race Car Driver

Mario Andretti was born in Motovun, Istria, Croatia on February 28th, 1940 and is the Race Car Driver. At the age of 84, Mario Andretti biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.

  Report
Other Names / Nick Names
Mario Gabriele Andretti, Mario
Date of Birth
February 28, 1940
Nationality
United States, Italy
Place of Birth
Motovun, Istria, Croatia
Age
84 years old
Zodiac Sign
Pisces
Networth
$130 Million
Profession
Formula One Driver, Racing Automobile Driver
Social Media
Mario Andretti Height, Weight, Eye Color and Hair Color

At 84 years old, Mario Andretti has this physical status:

Height
170cm
Weight
75kg
Hair Color
Gray
Eye Color
Dark Brown
Build
Average
Measurements
Not Available
Mario Andretti Religion, Education, and Hobbies
Religion
Not Available
Hobbies
Not Available
Education
Not Available
Mario Andretti Spouse(s), Children, Affair, Parents, and Family
Spouse(s)
Dee Ann Hoch (1959-2018)
Children
Not Available
Dating / Affair
Dee Ann Hoch (1959-2018)
Parents
Alvise Luigi “Gigi” Andretti, Rina Andretti
Siblings
Aldo Andretti (Twin Brother), Anna Maria (Older Sister)
Other Family
Marco Andretti (Paternal Grandson) (Professional Racing Driver), Marissa Andretti (Paternal Granddaughter), Lucca Andretti (Paternal Grandson), MaryJo Andretti-Dial (Niece), Mark Andretti (Nephew), Adam Andretti (Nephew) (Former Professional Racing Driver), John Andretti (Nephew) (Former Professional Racing Driver) (d. 2020), Nancy Andretti (Niece-in-Law), Jarett Andretti (Grand Nephew) (Professional Racing Driver), Sandra Spinozzi (Ex-Daughter-in-Law), Leslie Wood (Ex-Daughter-in-Law), Jodi Ann Paterson (Daughter-in-Law) (Model, Actress, Former Beauty Queen), Marta Krupa (Grand Daughter-in-Law) (Model, Actress), Miranda Andretti (Granddaughter), Isabella Andretti (Granddaughter), Mario Andretti (Paternal Grandson), Miati Andretti (Paternal Granddaughter), Andrea Andretti (Paternal Grandfather), Anna Ghersa (Paternal Grandmother)
Mario Andretti Life

Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver, one of the most successful Americans in the history of the sport.

He is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, World Sportscar Championship, and NASCAR (the other being Dan Gurney).

He also won races in midget cars and sprint cars. During his career, Andretti won the 1978 Formula One World Championship, four IndyCar titles (three under USAC-sanctioning, one under CART), and IROC VI.

To date, he remains the only driver ever to win the Indianapolis 500 (1969), Daytona 500 (1967) and the Formula One World Championship, and, along with Juan Pablo Montoya, the only driver to have won a race in the NASCAR Cup Series, Formula One, and an Indianapolis 500.

No American has won a Formula One race since Andretti's victory at the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix.

Andretti had 109 career wins on major circuits.Andretti had a long career in racing.

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, 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, his name has become synonymous with speed, as with Barney Oldfield in the early twentieth century and Stirling Moss in the United Kingdom.

Early life

Mario Andretti and his twin brother Aldo were born to Alvise Andretti, a farm administrator, and his wife, Rina, in Montona, Istria (now Motovun, Croatia). Istria was then part of the Kingdom of Italy, but it was annexed by Yugoslavia at the end of World War II, as confirmed by the Treaty of Paris and Treaty of Osimo. The Andretti family left in 1948, during the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus, ending up in a refugee camp in Lucca, 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."

Later life

Andretti lives near his grandson Marco in Bushkill Township, Pennsylvania. 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/Havoline, 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 named Andretti Winery in Napa Valley, California. He owns a chain of gasoline stations, a Toyota dealership in Moon Township, Pennsylvania (just outside Pittsburgh), car washes, car-care products, go-kart tracks, a clothing line, video games and replica cars. He also test drives cars for Road & Track and Car and Driver magazines.

In July 2006, Andretti took part in the Bullrun race across America. The first pitstop was at the Pocono Raceway 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 (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.

Source

Mario Andretti Career

Racing career

Rina, the twins' mother, 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" as they were driving cars before the twins had even seen one. He and Aldo were racing their hand-crafted wooden cars through the steep streets of their hometown in 1945, at the age of five. Andretti referred to the experience in his book What's It Like Out There: "I was hooked the first time I fired up a car, heard the engine shudder, and the wheel come to life in my hands." It was a feeling I can't describe. Every time I get into a race car, I still get it." When Andretti was thirteen years old, he played in Formula Junior, a new youth racing league in Ancona, Italy. Andretti, a year later, confessed to making up the tale of racing in the Formula Junior league when they moved to Pennsylvania to raise their odds of participating in dirt track racing because they looked the part after purchasing racing suits in Italy.

Marco De Cesari and Danilo Piccinini, the garage's owners, discovered the Andretti brothers' passion for racing and brought them to the Abetone passage in 1954, which inspired him to be captivated by Italian two-time Formula One world champion Alberto Ascari, who won the race. Piccinini took the brothers to the Monza for the Italian Grand Prix later this year, where Andretti and Juan Manuel Fangio competed against each other. Andretti recalled years ago, "I remember being completely mesmerized and overwhelmed by the music." "We didn't even have a grandstand seat before being escorted on that bank before the Parabolica on the left." "We had a positive view of things," says the author.

Andretti's father had kept in touch with his brother-in-law, who had lived in the United States for many years. To obtain a US visa, the family took three years. Alvise Andretti's family was first told that they would immigrate to the United States for five years and then return to Italy. The Andretti family immigrated to the United States in 1955, settling in Nazareth, Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley area, with just $125 to their name.

"When I looked at my life in a multitude of ways out of so many negatives, here comes a positive, and this was definitely one of them," Mario said. In a sense, I am looking forward to your future, where I think would be the right option for you kids to have opportunities, and he was correct because I am sure I could have pursued what my first passion was and the only passion I really had was career wise."

Mario and Aldo were surprised to find Nazareth Speedway in Nazareth after getting to know the state. The twins competed in the Limited Sportsman Class in 1948 and 1959, earning them enough money to fund their uncle's garage. Near Nazareth, the two men took turns racing the old Hudson on oval dirt tracks. Mario planned to become a welder after high school but decided against obtaining a driver's license in order to pass for 21 and enter an amateur competition. Mario and Aldo did not tell their parents that they were racing. Since being in their first four races, the twins had two victories. Aldo was seriously ill near the end of the season, and parents were shocked to learn that the twins were racing. In 46 races between 1960 and 1961, Mario had 21 modified stock car victories.

In 1964, Andretti became a naturalized citizen of the United States. In 1965, he competed in United States Automobile Club (USAC) stock car competitions, finishing twelfth in the season's points. In 1967, he won the USAC Stock Car race and finished seventh in the season's points. He won three USAC stock car championships on road courses in 1974 and took four road course championships in 1975.

Andretti competed in fourteen NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup (now NASCAR Cup Series) events during his career. For his final ten events, he competed in Holman Moody cars. Holman Moody was one of NASCAR's most successful teams at the time, winning NASCAR championships in 1968 and 1969, as a pilot. Andretti won the 1967 Daytona 500 for Holman Moody.

Andretti had been invited to compete in six International Race of Champions (IROC) series during his career. His best years were in his first three years. In the final points standings of IROC III (1975–1976) and IROC V (1978–1978), he came in second place. He won the IROC VI (1978-1979) points championship with finishes of third, first, and second. He has won three races in a row.

Andretti's aim was to race in single-seater open-wheel vehicles. In the modifieds, Andretti said, "Aldo and I were gaining." "I wanted to get into open-wheelers," says the author.

From 1961 to 1963, Andretti raced midget cars from 1961 to 1963. He began racing 3/4 (size) midget cars in the American Three Quarter Midget Racing Association in the winter, which was seen by full-sized midget car owners. In 1963, he competed in over a hundred runs. On Labor Day 1963, Andretti won three feature races at two separate tracks. He won an afternoon feature at Flemington, New Jersey, and swept twin features at Hatfield, Pennsylvania.

In the United Racing Club's sprint cars, the next step on the racing ladder was to compete in sprint cars. (URC). Andretti was able to get a ride for individual races in the URC sprint car racing series, but was unable to ensure a full ride. He went from Canada to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, in the hopes of a ride in a parade, but he ended up empty. When he was offered a full ride in a United States Automobile Club sprint car for 1964, he skipped the series.

At Salem Speedway in Salem, Indiana, Andretti won the 1964 Joe James-Pat O'Connor Memorial USAC sprint car race. Andretti's debut in USAC sprint cars followed him into championship series. He won once at Ascot Park in 1965 and finished tenth in the season's rankings. He won five times in 1966 (Cumberland, Maryland, Oswego, New York, Rossburg, Ohio, Phoenix, Arizona), but second at the Joe James-Pat O'Connor Memorial in Salem Speedway, but finished second, behind Roger McCluskey in the season championship. He won two of the three events he competed in 1967.

The USAC National Championship was the best open-wheel racing series in North America from 1956 to 1979. It was often referred to as Champ Car racing or Indycar racing, referring to the legendary Indianapolis 500 race, which was the centerpiece of the championship. The races were held on a combination of paved and dirt ovals, with later years adding road courses.

Andretti made his Champ Car debut on April 19, 1964 at the New Jersey State fairgrounds in Trenton, New Jersey. He started sixth and ended eleventh. Rufus Gray, the owner of a sprint car in the United States, introduced Andretti to veteran mechanic Clint Brawner. The Brawler was not impressed after sprint car drivers Stan Bowman and Donnie Davis died recently, and Brawner's current driver, Chuck Hulse, had been critically wounded. Chris Economaki suggested Andretti to Brawner, so Brawner watched the Andretti race in Terre Haute, Indiana. Brawner was convinced that he had found the right driver for his team. The two people stayed together for six years. Andretti placed eleventh in the USAC National Championships this season. Andretti won his first championship auto race at the Hoosier Grand Prix on a road course at Indianapolis Raceway Park in 1965. He received the Rookie of the Year award at the 1965 Indianapolis 500 (a mechanical recreation of the current Brabham Formula 1 layout) and played a role in Andretti's victory in the series championship. At 25 years old, he was the youngest national champion in series history. In 1966, he returned as a series champion, winning eight out of fifteen events. At the 1966 Indianapolis 500, he also captured the pole. In 1967 and 1968, Andretti came in second place in the IndyCars. In 1967, he won a single non-championship drag race in a Ford Mustang. Andretti lost the season USAC championship to A. J. Foyt and Bobby Unser, respectively, in the final laps of the season at Riverside, California, by the smallest 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, which was part of the USAC National Championship. He was named ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year. He won 29 of 85 USAC championship races between 1966 and 1969.

In 1973, USAC divided the National Championship into dirt and pavement championships. Andretti won one on the pavement and finished fifth in the season's points, and second in the dirt championship. He began competing in the dirt track division of the United States in 1974 and captured the dirt track championship while competing in both series. Andretti also competed in the North American Formula 5000 series in 1973 and 1974, finishing second in both seasons.

Formula One is the highest form of open-wheel racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the international governing body for motorsports. Although the origins of Europe, the 1960s saw international competitions emerge. Colin Chapman, the team's founder and current world champion Jim Clark's car, was at Andretti's first Indianapolis 500 in 1965. Andretti told Chapman of his desire to compete in Formula One, but was told, "When you're ready, dial me." Andretti said he was ready by 1968. Chapman bought him a car, but the young American took pole position on his debut in the 1968 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen in his Lotus 49.

Andretti competed in Formula One for a decade, including Lotus, March, and Ferrari, while Ferrari's Andretti concentrated on his racing career in America. He won his first Grand Prix in 1971 on his debut for Ferrari. "It was a big moment, one of those I'll always remember," Andretti said. "Kyalami was a fun circuit to drive with a lot of elevation changes, and Ferrari gave me equal equipment to my coworkers." It was a good weekend. He won the Italian team a second victory at the Non-championship Questor Grand Prix in the United States three weeks later. He had finished ninth in the Indy car race at Phoenix International Raceway the day before the Questor GP. Ferrari called Andretti and gave him a chance to be his No. 1 at the end of the season. 1 driver is the primary driver, but Andretti declined. "F1 didn't pay much back then, and my jobs and commitments were so lucrative over here that I couldn't give up for my family's safety." The timing wasn't right so I had to suspend him; but I did have hoped for another chance."

Andretti's debut in Formula One in 1975 wasn't until 1975 that the American Parnelli team's full season was released. The team was new to Formula One, but it had been profitable in both Formula 5000 and IndyCar racing in America with Andretti driving. In 1974, the team had competed against Andretti in the two North American end-of-season races, with promising results. Andretti finished fourth in the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix and led for nine laps before he was banned. In the season, he earned five championship points. Andretti continued to compete in IndyCar, despite missing two Formula One races in the middle of the season to do so. Andretti was recalled by the Parnelli team after two races of the 1976 season, for whom he had already competed in the season-opening Brazilian Grand Prix. Lotus was then at a low point, having failed to produce a competitive car to replace the 1970's Lotus 72. Andretti's ability at building a racing car led to Lotus' return to the front of the Formula One grid, culminating in his victory in the season-ending race at the Mount Fuji circuit in Japan. Since mid-1975, Lotus had been exploring the use of ground effect, transforming the underside of the car to produce little drag. Andretti spent his time in the United States organizing his cars for the races, exploiting subtle differences in tire size ('stagger') and suspension setup ('cross weighting') on both directions of the vehicle to optimize it for each track, an effort that was inherited from his extensive oval racing experience. He was the first American to win the United States Grand Prix West in 1977, and the last American to win any US Grand Prix as of 2022. Although winning four races, more than any other pilot, stability issues, and collisions with other drivers, Andretti finished third in the championship, despite being the most competitive vehicle of 1977.

Andretti was approached by Ferrari as a potential replacement for Niki Lauda at the end of 1977. "I had a handshake deal with Colin but he'd already agreed to pay me what Ronnie Peterson was earning, which was the highest salary in F1." So I asked Mr. Ferrari what was he was able to pay me.' I said, 'You know, Mario, I can't put a price on your talent, so tell me.'

That SOB threw it right back in my lap!

Well, [Andretti's wife] Dee Ann was sitting next to me and I asked her what should I do and she said "double it." And Mr. Ferrari agreed. I got a phone call from him the next day saying, 'Let's just leave it alone' because he'd just come from Colin (who'd) followed me to Maranello and brought us all hell with Mr. Ferrari.

Can you imagine?

So I told Colin that he had always been helpful to me, but I didn't want an unhappy driver. I told him I wanted $10,000, but he had to accept it anyway.'

The Lotus 79, which Chapman created in 1978, extended the ground effect even higher. Andretti dominated the season and won with six victories. At the Italian Grand Prix, he clinched the title. Despite the championship being delayed, Ronnie Peterson, his colleague, crashed heavily at the start of the season; he was hospitalized and died as a result of his injury.

Andretti had no success in Formula One after 1978, when he failed to win another grand prix. In 1979, he had a challenging year as the new Lotus 80 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. He was paired with young Italian Elio de Angelis and briefly with test driver Nigel Mansell in 1980, but the project was also unsuccessful.

Andretti made the switch to the Alfa Romeo team captained by Carlo Chiti in 1981. Despite being extremely competitive (Andretti finished fourth on his debut with the team in Long Beach), a general lack of commitment resulted in yet another disappointing campaign. Andretti did not like the time when ground effect cars were on sale: "the cars were getting ridiculous, very crude, with no suspension movement whatsoever," says the time's ancestor. It was a toggle switch driving without the need for any delicacy...it made leaving Formula One a lot faster than it should have been."

Andretti raced for the Williams team once more this year after Carlos Reutemann's premature retirement, before replacing the seriously injured Didier Pironi at Ferrari for the last two races of the year. He was disqualified from the season's last race, but he came in third place and finished third in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Alan Jones, the 1980 World Champion, said that Ferrari, looking for a proven top-class racer, had actually recruited him to drive for the team in late 1982. Jones, on the other hand, was enjoying his time in Australia and took too long to answer Ferrari, so they contacted Andretti, who had no such reservations. Jones returned to F1 in 1983 (unlike Andretti) and had he been the World Champion for the year, which would have seen him drive a fast car (Ferrari won the Constructors' Championship in 1983).

At the 1984 Detroit Grand Prix, Andretti's crew put him on standby to swap regular driver Patrick Tambay if the Frenchman had been unable to participate, as was the case with the previous championship in Canada. However, Tambay was able to participate in the run-up to the event.

Andretti had been named as a replacement, again for Tambay, who had been hospitalized in Canada, at the 1986 Detroit Grand Prix, this time for the Carl Haas Lola team. Andretti turned down, but Michael Andretti was praised. The drive went to Eddie Cheever after Michael was unable to obtain the FIA Superlicense that was required to allow him to race in Formula One.

During his time in the Formula One world championship, Andretti continued to compete and occasionally win in the USAC National Championship. Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), a young company that had formed the IndyCar World Series in 1979 as a competitor to the USAC National Championships, which Andretti had won three times in the 1960s. The latest film had quickly established itself as North America's best open-wheel racing series.

Andretti started racing for Patrick Racing in 1982 and spent a full time in CART. He came from row two in the Indianapolis 500 this year, but was involved in a disaster on the way to the start when rookie Kevin Cogan spun out. "This is what happens when you have children doing a man's work up front," Andretti was heard saying three minutes after the fire, and Cogan and Cogan were later involved in a shoving competition.

He joined the current Newman/Hays Racing team, which was established by Carl Haas and actor Paul Newman in 1983, using cars built by British company Lola. Andretti won the team's first match at Elkhart Lake in 1983. In 1984, he captured the pole for nine of the sixteen events, winning his fourth Champ Car title at the age of 44. He beat Tom Sneva by 13 points. It was the first series title for the second year team.

Michael, Mario's son, joined Newman/Haas in 1989. They made history by becoming the first father/son team to compete in both IMSA GT 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 in which Michael captured the championship. In 1993, Mario's last victory in IndyCar racing came at Phoenix International Raceway, the year when Michael left Newman/Haas to race in Formula One. Mario is the oldest living winner of an IndyCar event (53 years, 34 days old). Andretti qualified on the pole at the Michigan 500 later this year at a speed of 234.275 mph (37.029 km/h). The speed was a new closed course world record. "The Arrivederci Tour" was Andretti's last season, 1994, was the same as "The Arrivederci Tour." In the last of his 407 Indy car races in September, he competed in the last of his 407 Indy car races.

Andretti claimed the Indianapolis 500 in 29 attempts once more. Andretti has had so many events and near victories at the track that critics have sluggishly sluggish after Mario's 1969 Indianapolis 500 win the "Andretti Curse."

Andretti ran all 500 miles (800 km) just five times, including his 1969 Indianapolis 500 win. When racing for the 1977 Indianapolis 500, Andretti became the first person to exceed 200 mph (320 km/h). Andretti won the Indianapolis 500 in 1969, after four years of poor fortune and four non-finishers. The race is notable because it was the only Indy 500 in history where the winning driver ran the entire race on only 1 set of tires.

Andretti dropped out of the competition due to component failures or accidents in 1969, 1981, 1980. In 1981, his fortune turned around. Andretti came in second in the 1981 Indianapolis 500 by eight seconds, behind Bobby Unser. Andretti was named the champion on the following day after being barred one lap for passing cars under a caution flag. The race stewards' decision was appealed by Unser and his vehicle owner Roger Penske. The United StatesC modified the one lap suspension four months later, awarding Unser with a $40,000 fine.

Kevin Cogan, a second-year driver on the Indianapolis 500, has slowed to the right when approaching the polesitter Rick Mears, who was first to polesitter Rick Mears, and now accelerating for the green flag, was to turn right at the start of the 1982 Indianapolis 500. Cogan bounced off A. J. Foyt's steering rod, slamming Foyt's. Cogan's car was parked at a 90 degree angle to the field, where Mario was immediately t-boned. Andretti was adamant and angry in a shoving match with Cogan before walking away. "This is what happens when you have children doing a man's job up front," an irked Andretti was heard in a 3 minute interview. Gordon Johncock, Andretti's eventual race winner, started next to Andretti in the middle of row two, and was Andretti's Patrick Racing teammate of the year. Andretti had jumped the start and may have avoided Cogan's spinning car if he had been lined up properly in the second row next to Gordy in later years.

Danny Sullivan, who was leading Turn One in the 1985 Indianapolis 500, had a pass for the lead. Sullivan spun in front of Andretti right after finishing the pass. A caution flag for the spin reduced the time Sullivan would lose to Andretti by pitting to exchange his tires. Sullivan led for good 20 laps later, despite an accident, as he passed Andretti without incident. Andretti dominated the 1987 Indianapolis 500, winning 170 of the first 177 laps of the race. His lead was so high that he was forced to slow his speed to protect his equipment. In a cruel twist of fate, As Andretti's rundown, his reduced engine rpm's created a harmonic imbalance in his turbocharged Ilmor/Chevrolet V8 that resulted in a broken valve spring with 20 laps to go.

The 1992 Indianapolis 500 was run in very bad weather, resulting in a large number of wrecks by automobiles on cold tires. At the end of the 83rd lap, Andretti accelerated off of turn three for the restart. Mario's car became loose in the middle of turn four and turned 270 degrees, smashing nose first into the wall at the top of the climb. On the 109th lap of the race, Andretti was admitted with six of his toes broken and would be joined by his son Jeff Andretti who smashed both legs. Mario will only miss one race due to his injury, and he returns to finish sixth in a four-week race just four weeks after his crash.

Andretti's last notable run was the 1993 Indianapolis 500, and he had just come off a victory at Phoenix. Andretti was the first car to complete a qualifying run on pole day, and he sat on the provisional pole position. The Andretti's speed lasted all afternoon, but Arie Luyendyk led his speed and took the pole with less than an hour to go. Andretti was a factor throughout the afternoon, leading the most laps (72). Andretti was banned from entering the pits while they were not blocked on lap 134, leading to lap 134. He was only down to second place after a stop-and-goal penalty. He began having handling difficulties as a result of his tires in the final 50 laps, and slid down the standings to finish fifth. The 1994 Indianapolis 500 was Andretti's last race at Indy.

Andretti took the track in the lead-up to the 2003 Indy 500 for the first time in ten years in a major open-wheel car at the age of 63. He was involved in a trial session for his son Michael's AGR IndyCar team. Tony Kanaan, one of the team's regular drivers, sustained a radial fracture in his arm a week earlier, in a Twin Ring Motegi crash on April 15. If Kanaan was not able to drive in a timely manner, tentative plans were being prepared for Andretti to qualify the vehicle for him. On race day, he would turn the car over to Kanaan, but no plans had been made for Andretti to participate in the competition. Andretti rode at a decent pace during the test, but he lost control due to road debris, resulting in a spectacular crash. With only a small bruise on his chin, Andretti was able to walk away from the wreck. Andretti's last major on-track work at Indianapolis was on tape.

During the Bridgehampton 500 km at the Bridgehampton Race Circuit, he started with a Ferrari 275 P. He did not finish the race, which was his first race start with a Ferrari.

Andretti completed three 12 Hours of Sebring endurance races (1967, 1970, 1972), as well as the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1972. He competed for the Holman Moody team in early sportscar championships but later drove for Ferrari. Jacky Ickx, a 1971 Ferrari co-driver, won numerous races with co-driver Jacky Ickx. In 1972, he shared victories in three North American rounds of the championship and at Brands Hatch in the United Kingdom, contributing to Ferrari's triumph in the World Championship for Makes. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he competed in the famous North American Can-Am series.

Andretti was one of the first participants in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in four decades. Lucien Bianchi and his Holman Moody Ford Mk II shared in 1966. They had to pull a valve at 10:30 p.m. when their car broke a valve. A mechanic inadvertently installed a front brake pad backward on his Ford MkIV in 1967. For the first time since leaving the pits, Andretti stepped on the Dunlop Bridge before the Esses. The front wheel locked automatically, turning the vehicle into the dirt embankment at 150 mph (240 km/h). The accident brought Andretti badly wounded, the car sideways to oncoming traffic, and the road nearly blocked. Jo Schlesser and Roger McCluskey, his teammates, collided while trying to prevent Andretti's car from being stolen. McCluskey evacuated Andretti, and Andretti was admitted to the hospital for x-rays.

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 they discovered their vehicle being barred from the starting grid 80 minutes before the race started, but an oil cooler was mounted behind the gearbox, in violation of the law. The car had passed its initial inspection four days before the race. Despite protests and screams, Andretti's entry was removed entirely, and replaced by a Porsche 924 Carrera GTR. Their return in the following year was more fruitful than when they finished third. With Mario's nephew John, the father/son team returned in 1988. They came in sixth place in a Porsche 962 factory. Following Mario's retirement from full-time racing, he returned to the circuit to add a Le Mans victory to his accolades. He returned in 1995 with a second-place finish. In a 2006 interview, he said that the Courage Compétition team "lost [the 1995] race five times over" due to poor organization. He had a failing start in the years after winning a thirteenth place in 1996 and then a DNF (Did Not Finish) in 1997. Andretti's last appearance at Le Mans was six years after he resigned from full-time racing, when he rode the Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S at the age of 60, finishing 15th.

He was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 1986. In 2000, the Associated Press and RACER magazine named him Driver of the Century. He was the Year's Best Friend (in the United States) for three years (1967, 1978, and 1984) and was the only driver to be named Driver of the Year in three decades. In 1992, Andretti was named the United States Motor Champion of the Quarter Century. In 2001, he was inducted into the International Motorsport Hall of Fame of Fame in 1996, the United States National Sprint Hall of Fame in 1996, the Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1990, and the Diecast Hall of Fame in 2012.

Andretti received the highest civilian award by the Italian government on October 23, 2006, for his racing career, public service, and continued service to his Italian roots. Andretti was honoured with the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation's "Lombardi Award of Excellence" in 2007 for his "Lombardi Award of Excellence" in a sport, profession, or company in a manner that emphasizes love of God, country, society, family, and self.

Andretti was named the "Mayor" (Sindaco) of the "Free Commune of Motovun in Exile" in 2007, an Italian exile from Motovun.

Andretti was named with the Simeone Foundation Spirit of Competition Award in 2008.

Andretti was named an honorary citizen of Lucca in 2016.

In 2019, the city of Indianapolis renamed a street "Mario Andretti Drive" as part of the 50th anniversary of his first Indianapolis 500 victory.

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Since receiving FIA approval, Andretti, an American team, moved closer to joining the F1 grid, but they must also combat resistance from expanding the range of rights holder Liberty Media and the existing teams

www.dailymail.co.uk, October 2, 2023
After being accepted by the FIA to move to the next stage of the process, American team Andretti has moved a step closer to joining the Formula One grid. In January, Cadillac, a division of American motoring behemoth GM, and Andretti, the son of 1978 world champion Mario Andretti, announced their intention of entering the sport at a competitive level. Following the initial call for expressions of interest and at the conclusion of a lengthy application process for four prospective teams' to proceed, the FIA found Andretti to be the only candidates to satisfy the stringent requirements.

Logan Sargeant, the current F1 star, discusses how he doesn't feel any pressure to succeed

www.dailymail.co.uk, March 17, 2023
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Logan Sargeant, a Bahrain-based athlete, is gearing up for his second race in Saudi Arabia after getting off to a promising start. The former World Karting Champion and Carlin F2 champion has settled in well with the Grove-based outfit, scoring a P12 finish in his debut race. In addition, he defeated both rookies making their debuts for their teams this weekend - AlphaTauri's Nyck de Vries and longtime rival and McLaren driver Oscar Piastri.

As a F1 spot with Williams is announced, Logan Sargeant praises "dream come true."

www.dailymail.co.uk, November 21, 2022
Logan Sargeant has spoken out for the first time since being confirmed for a 2023 Formula One seat, with the 21-year-old Williams driver calling the project a 'dream come true.' Sargeant will drive the Williams car for the first time at Dubai's postseason test on Thursday, making him the first American F1 driver in eight years. For 2023, he'll compete with Alex Albon, with the team announcing that they were working with Nicholas Latifi.
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