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Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940)[1] is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports,[2] Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, the World Sportscar Championship, and NASCAR (the other being Dan Gurney). He has also won races in midget car racing and sprint car racing.

During his career, Andretti won the 1978 Formula One World Championship, four IndyCar titles (three under USAC sanctioning, and one in 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. As of 2021, Andretti's victory at the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix is the last Formula One win by an American driver.[3] 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).[5] 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.[5] With his final IndyCar win in April 1993, Andretti became the first driver to have won IndyCar races in four different decades[6] 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 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, Kingdom of Italy, now Motovun, Croatia.[8] Istria was then part of the Kingdom of Italy, but it became part of 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 (second from right) in October 2011, at a promotional event announcing the return of Pocono Raceway to the IndyCar Series schedule for the 2013 season.

Andretti lives near his grandson Marco in Bushkill Township, Pennsylvania. His late wife Dee Ann (née Hoch)[69] was a native of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, who taught Andretti English in 1961.[16][70] They were married on November 25, 1961.[71] 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.[7] The first pitstop was at the Pocono Raceway in Andretti's home state of Pennsylvania with Gate No. 5 aptly named Andretti Road.[73]

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.

Courtesy – Wikipedia
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