112 Facts About Mario Andretti

One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only three drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, the World Sportscar Championship, and NASCAR.

Mario Andretti has won races in midget car racing and sprint car racing.

Mario Andretti was the only person to be named United States Driver of the Year in three decades.

Mario Andretti was 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.

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.

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 to improve their chances of competing in dirt track racing because they looked the part after having purchased racing suits in Italy.

Later in the same year, Piccinini brought the brothers to the Monza for the Italian Grand Prix, where Mario Andretti saw Ascari and Juan Manuel Fangio race against each other.

Mario Andretti's father had maintained contact with his brother-in-law who had lived in the US for many years.

Alvise Mario Andretti initially told the family they would move to the US for five years and then return to Italy.

In 1955, the Mario Andretti family emigrated to the US, settling in Nazareth in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania with just $125 to their name.

Mario Andretti had 21 modified stock car wins in 46 races in 1960 and 1961.

Mario Andretti competed in United States Automobile Club stock car events in 1965, and finished twelfth in the season points.

Mario Andretti won a USAC Stock Car race in 1967, and finished seventh in the season points.

Mario Andretti won three 1974 USAC stock car races on road courses, and won four road course races in 1975.

Mario Andretti competed in Holman Moody cars for his final ten events.

Mario Andretti was invited to race in six International Race of Champions series in his career.

Mario Andretti won the IROC VI points championship with finishes of third, first, and second.

Mario Andretti raced in over one hundred events in 1963.

Mario Andretti won three feature races at two different tracks on Labor Day in 1963.

Mario Andretti won an afternoon feature at Flemington, New Jersey, and swept twin features at Hatfield, Pennsylvania.

Mario 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.

Mario Andretti once drove from Canada to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania hoping to find a ride in an event, but he went empty-handed.

Mario Andretti bypassed the series when he was offered a full-time ride in a United States Automobile Club sprint car for 1964.

Mario Andretti won the 1964 Joe James-Pat O'Connor Memorial USAC sprint car race at Salem Speedway in Salem, Indiana.

Mario Andretti continued to race in USAC sprint cars after moving into champ cars.

Mario Andretti made his Champ Car debut on April 19,1964, at the New Jersey State fairgrounds in Trenton, New Jersey.

Mario Andretti was introduced by his USAC sprint car owner, Rufus Gray, to veteran mechanic Clint Brawner.

Mario Andretti finished eleventh in the USAC National Championship that season.

Mario Andretti won his first championship car race at the Hoosier Grand Prix on a road course at Indianapolis Raceway Park in 1965.

Mario Andretti was the youngest national champion in series history at age 25.

Mario Andretti repeated as series champion in 1966, winning eight of fifteen events.

Mario Andretti won the pole at the 1966 Indianapolis 500.

Mario Andretti finished second in the IndyCars in 1967 and 1968.

Mario Andretti won a single non-championship drag race in 1967 in a Ford Mustang.

Mario Andretti won nine races in 1969, the 1969 Indianapolis 500, and the season championship.

Mario Andretti won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, which was part of the USAC National Championship.

Mario Andretti was named ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year.

Mario Andretti had one win on the pavement and finished fifth in the season points, and finished second in the dirt championship.

Mario Andretti competed in USAC's dirt track division in 1974, and won the dirt track championship while competing in both series.

Mario Andretti competed in the North American Formula 5000 series in 1973 and 1974, and finished second in the championship in both seasons.

Mario Andretti continued to compete in IndyCar, missing two Formula One races in the middle of the season to do so.

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 Mario Andretti finished only third in the championship.

Mario Andretti said, 'You know, Mario, I can't put a price on your talent so you tell me.

Mario Andretti dominated the season and took the title with six wins.

Mario Andretti clinched the championship at the Italian Grand Prix.

Mario Andretti had a difficult year in 1979, 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.

The next year, Mario Andretti raced once for the Williams team, after their driver Carlos Reutemann suddenly quit, before replacing the seriously injured Didier Pironi at Ferrari for the last two races of the year.

Mario Andretti was considered as a replacement, again for Tambay who had been injured in Canada, at the 1986 Detroit Grand Prix, this time for the Carl Haas-owned Haas Lola team.

Mario 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, had set up the IndyCar World Series as a rival to the USAC National Championships that Mario Andretti had won three times in the 1960s.

Mario Andretti joined CART full-time in 1982, driving for Patrick Racing.

Mario Andretti started from row two in the Indianapolis 500 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 Mario 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.

Mario Andretti took the team's first win at Elkhart Lake in 1983.

Mario Andretti won the pole for nine of sixteen events in 1984, and claimed his fourth Champ Car title at the age of 44.

Mario Andretti finished seventh in points for the 1991 season, the year that Michael won the championship.

Mario Andretti won once at the Indianapolis 500 in 29 attempts.

Mario Andretti finished all 500 miles just five times, including his 1969 Indianapolis 500 victory.

Mario Andretti was the first driver to exceed 200 miles per hour while practicing for the 1977 Indianapolis 500.

In 1969, after 4 years of bad luck and 4 non-finishes, Mario Andretti dominated the Indianapolis 500 en route to his only victory in the race.

Between his 1969 victory in the race and 1981, Mario Andretti dropped out of the races due to part failures or crashes.

Mario Andretti finished second in the 1981 Indianapolis 500 by eight seconds behind Bobby Unser.

Mario Andretti was livid and engaged in a shoving match with Cogan before walking off.

In later years, Johncock pointed out that Mario 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.

Mario Andretti dominated the 1987 Indianapolis 500, leading 170 of the first 177 laps of the race.

Mario Andretti's lead was so large, that he was advised to slow his pace to preserve his equipment.

Mario Andretti accelerated off of turn three for the restart at the end of the 83rd lap.

Under acceleration, Mario Andretti's car got loose in the middle of turn four and rotated 270 degrees to smash nose first into the wall.

Mario Andretti was taken to the hospital with six of his toes broken and would shortly be joined by his son Jeff Mario Andretti who smashed both legs after a wheel came loose on his race car on the 109th lap of the race.

On pole day, Mario Andretti was the first car to complete a qualifying run, and sat on the provisional pole position.

Mario 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, Mario Andretti was a factor most of the afternoon, leading the most laps.

Mario Andretti participated in a test session for son Michael's AGR IndyCar team.

Mario Andretti would turn the car over to Kanaan on race day, though no plans had been made for Andretti to actually drive in the race.

Mario Andretti was able to walk away from the wreck with just a minor cut on his chin.

Mario Andretti won three 12 Hours of Sebring endurance races, and the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1972.

Mario Andretti signed with Ferrari in 1971, and won several races with co-driver Jacky Ickx.

Mario Andretti competed in the popular North American Can-Am series in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Mario Andretti competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in four decades.

The wreckage slid to a stop with Mario Andretti badly shaken, the car sideways to oncoming traffic and the track nearly blocked.

Mario Andretti did not return to Le Mans until his full-time Formula One career was over.

Mario Andretti said in a 2006 interview that he feels that the Courage Competition team "lost [the 1995] race five times over" through poor organization.

Mario Andretti had unsuccessful efforts in the following years with a thirteenth place in 1996, and then a DNF for 1997.

Mario Andretti was the Driver of the Year for three years, and is the only driver to be Driver of the Year in three decades.

Mario Andretti was named the US Driver of the Quarter Century in 1992.

Mario Andretti was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2001, the United States National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1996, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America 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, Mario Andretti was awarded the highest civilian honor given by the Italian government, the Commendatore dell'Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, in honor of his racing career, public service, and enduring commitment to his Italian heritage.

In 2007, Mario Andretti was named the "Mayor" of the "Free Commune of Motovun in Exile", an association of Italian exiles from Motovun.

In 2008, Mario Andretti was awarded with the Simeone Foundation Spirit of Competition Award.

In 2016, Mario Andretti was made an honorary citizen of Lucca.

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

Mario Andretti was instrumental in keeping championship car racing at Road America.

Mario Andretti was the middle man between CART President Chris Pook and Road America President George Bruggenthies.

Michael followed in his father's footsteps by winning the IndyCar title, with Mario's nephew John Andretti joining the series in 1988.

Mario's grandson Marco completed his first full season in the Indy Racing League in 2006, driving for his father Michael's Andretti Green Racing team.

Mario Andretti's late wife Dee Ann was a native of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, who taught Andretti English in 1961.

Mario Andretti died on July 2,2018, following a heart attack.

Mario Andretti has kept active after his retirement from full-time racing.

Mario Andretti was occasionally a spokesman for the defunct Champ Car World Series, though he frequently attended IRL races to watch Marco compete.

Mario Andretti is vice chairman of a winery named Mario Andretti Winery in Napa Valley, California.

Mario Andretti owns a chain of gasoline stations, a Toyota dealership in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, car washes, car-care products, go-kart tracks, a clothing line, video games and replica cars.

In July 2006, Mario Andretti took part in the Bullrun race across America.

Since 2012, Mario Andretti has been the official ambassador for the Circuit of the Americas and the United States Grand Prix promoting awareness of Formula 1 in the United States and all forms of motorsports at COTA.

Mario Andretti received the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2015.

Mario Andretti played himself on three episodes of the United States television show Home Improvement.

Mario Andretti is a major character and sometime narrator of the 1972 film The Speed Merchants.

Mario Andretti later had another voice role in the 2013 DreamWorks Animation film Turbo, as the traffic director at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Mario Andretti appeared in the Sylvester Stallone film Driven in a cameo.

Mario Andretti served as the grand marshal of the 2004 Baja 1000 off-road race, as seen in the documentary film Dust to Glory.

Mario Andretti was featured in the 2007 documentary A State of Vine, where he commented on his winemaking activities.

Mario Andretti wrote a column for the Indianapolis Star, where he wrote about other drivers, equipment and cars.

Mario Andretti Racing Enterprises was formed after Al Dean's death in 1967 and was financed during the 1968 season by Firestone.