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. The Andretti family left Montona in 1948, during the Istrian exodus, ending up in a refugee camp in Lucca, Italy. They emigrated to the United States of America in 1955, settling in Nazareth in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley with just $125 to their name. Andretti became a naturalized United States citizen in 1964.

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 - this before they had seen a car. In 1945, at the age of 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 when he was thirteen years old. However, the Formula Junior story is likely apocryphal. In an interview during an RRDC Evening with Mario Andretti, Mr. Andretti recounts the story of his early days of Dirt Track racing in Pennsylvania with his brother, Aldo, and implies that he and his brother made up the story of racing in the Formula Junior league because they looked the part after having purchased racing suits from Italy.

He had two fond childhood memories of watching a stretch of the Mille Miglia race in 1954 which caused him to become captivated by Italian two-time Formula One world champion Alberto Ascari, who won the race, which got him to go to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix, where he saw Ascari and Juan Manuel Fangio race against each other.

Stock car racing

Start in racing

Mario and Aldo were surprised to find a half-mile dirt racing track when they moved to Nazareth. The twins worked on a 1948 Hudson Commodore modified 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 in 1959. They 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 stockcar wins in 46 races in 1960 and 1961.

USAC stock car

Andretti occasionally competed in United States Automobile Club (USAC) stock car events. He competed in USAC stock cars 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

Mario Andretti
Awards	Named the "Driver of the Century" by the Associated Press and RACER magazine 2000 International Motorsports Hall of Fame Inductee 1996 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee (U.S.) 1992 Driver of the Quarter Century Motorsports Hall of Fame of America]] inductee (1990) 1978, 1979 (IROC VI) International Race of Champions series champion 1978 Formula One World Champion 1974 USAC national dirt track champion (U.S.) 1972 6 Hours of Daytona Winner 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner 1967 Daytona 500 winner 1967, 1970, 1972 12 Hours of Sebring winner 1965, 1966, 1969, 1984 IndyCar champion 1969 ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
14 races run over 4 years
Best finish	unranked
First race	1966 Motor Trend 500 (Riverside)
Last race	1969 Motor Trend 500 (Riverside)
First win	1967 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 3

Andretti competed in fourteen NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) 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 (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 (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 from 1961 to 1963. He started racing 3/4 (sized) midget cars 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 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 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 to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania 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 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, Oswego, New York, Rossburg, Ohio, Phoenix, Arizona, 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 series in North America was the USAC National Championship. It was often referred to as Champ car racing, or Indycar racing, referring to the famous Indianapolis 500 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. He started sixteenth and finishing eleventh. Andretti was introduced by his USAC sprint car owner, Rufus Gray, to veteran mechanic Clint Brawner. Brawner was not impressed since sprint car drivers Stan Bowman and Donnie Davis had recently died, and Brawner's current driver, Chuck Hulse, had been critically injured. Chris Economaki recommended Andretti to Brawner, so Brawner watched Andretti race at Terre Haute, Indiana. 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 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. Andretti finished second in the IndyCars in 1967 and 1968. He also won a single non-championship drag race in 1967 in a Ford Mustang. In both 1967 and 1968, Andretti lost the season USAC championship to A. J. Foyt and Bobby Unser, 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, 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 is the highest form of open wheel racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (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'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 at Watkins Glen in his Lotus 49.

Andretti drove sporadically in Formula One over the next four years for Lotus, March, and Ferrari, while continuing to focus on his racing career in America. At the 1971 South African Grand Prix, on his debut for Ferrari, he won his first Grand Prix. Three weeks later, at the non-championship Questor Grand Prix in the U.S., he brought the Italian team a second victory.

Full-time status (1975-1981)

It wasn't until 1975 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 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. 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 circuit in Japan. Since mid-1975 Lotus had been developing the use of ground effect, shaping the underside of the car to generate downforce 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, he became the only American to win the United States Grand Prix West, and the last American as of 2015 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. The following year, the Lotus 79 exploited ground effect even further and Andretti took the title with six wins. He clinched the championship at the Italian Grand Prix. There was no championship celebration because his teammate and close friend Ronnie Peterson crashed heavily at the start of the race; he was hospitalised and died that night from complications resulting from his injuries.

Andretti would find 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 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, but the team was again unsuccessful.

Andretti had an unsuccessful 1981 with the Alfa Romeo team. Like other drivers of the period he 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 suddenly quit, before replacing the seriously injured Didier Pironi 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, 1980 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 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 its 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 when the Renault team put Mario on standby to replace regular driver Patrick Tambay if the Frenchman had been unable to race, as was the case at the previous race in Canada. 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, at the 1986 Detroit Grand Prix, this time for the Carl Haas owned Haas Lola team. Mario declined however, but recommended his son Michael Andretti for the drive. Unfortunately for Michael he was unable to obtain the FIA Superlicense required to allow him to race in Formula One. Instead the drive went to Eddie Cheever.

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, 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.

It was to this arena that Andretti returned full-time in 1982, driving for Patrick Racing. He returned to the 1982 Indianapolis 500 as well. After starting in row 2 Andretti got victimized by a controversial wreck during the pace-laps when rookie Kevin Cogan suddenly spun out for no apparent reason. Andretti was livid and engaged in a shoving match with Cogan. In an interview 3 minutes after the wreck Andretti was heard saying "This is what happens when you have children doing a man's job up front."

In 1983 he joined the new Newman/Haas Racing team, set up by Carl Haas and actor Paul Newman 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, and claimed his fourth Champ Car title at the age of 44. He edged out Tom Sneva by 13 points. It was the first series title for the second year team.

Mario's son Michael joined Newman/Haas in 1989. Together, they made history as 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 that Michael won the championship. Mario's last victory in IndyCar racing came in 1993 at Phoenix International Raceway, 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 234.275 miles per hour (377.029 km/h). 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 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 500 miles (800 km) just five times, including his 1969 Indianapolis 500 victory. Andretti was the first driver to exceed 200 miles per hour (320 km/h) while practising for the 1977 Indianapolis 500. In 1969, after 4 years of bad luck and 4 drop-outs, Andretti dominated the Indianapolis 500 en route to his first 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 by eight seconds behind Bobby Unser. 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 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, 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.

In the 1985 Indianapolis 500, he was passed for the lead by Danny Sullivan in Turn One on lap 139. Immediately after completing the pass, Sullivan spun in front of Andretti. A caution for the spin, minimized the time Sullivan would lose to Andretti by pitting to replace 20 laps later Sullivan took the lead for good when he passed Andretti without incident. Andretti dominated the 1987 Indianapolis 500, 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 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 6 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 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, suffered a radial fracture of his arm a week earlier in an April 15 crash at Motegi. 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

Andretti won three 12 Hours of Sebring 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 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 series in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Le Mans

Andretti competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in four decades. In 1966 he shared a Holman Moody Ford MKII with Lucien Bianchi. They retired after their car dropped a valve at 10:30 pm In 1967, 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 150 mph (240 km/h). 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-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 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, the 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 1988 with Mario's nephew John. They finished sixth in a factory Porsche 962. 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 1995 with a second-place finish. He said in a 2006 interview that he feels that the Courage Compétition team "lost race five times over" through poor organization. He had unsuccessful efforts in the following years with a thirteenth place in 1996, and then a DNF (Did Not Finish) for 1997. 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 LMP-1 Roadster-S at the age of 60, finishing 16th.

Awards and honors

In 2000, the Associated Press 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 in 1996, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1990, the Hoosier Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1970 and the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2005.

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. Enzo Ferrari is the only other recipient of the Commendatore from the world of automobile racing.

From 2007 Mario Andretti is the "Mayor" (Sindaco) of the "Free Commune of Motovun in Exile" (Libero Comune di Montona in esilio), an association of Italian exiles from Motovun.

In 2016 Andretti was made an honorary citizen of Lucca.

Mario Andretti Grand Prix of Road America

Mario was instrumental in keeping championship car racing at Road America. CART 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 and Jeff, were auto racers. Michael followed in his father's footsteps by winning the IndyCar title, with Mario's nephew John Andretti 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 completed his first full season in the Indy Racing League (IRL) in 2006, driving for his father Michael's Andretti Green Racing 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.

Later life

Mario and his wife Dee Ann live near their grandson Marco in mansions in Bushkill Township, Pennsylvania. Dee Ann is a native of Nazareth who taught English to Andretti in 1961. Dee Ann and Mario were married on November 25, 1961.

Andretti has kept active after his retirement from full-time racing. He makes numerous speaking engagements before corporate 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 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.

Media appearances

Andretti played himself on three episodes of the United States television show Home Improvement. and also appears in films such as the IMAX movie Super Speedway about the making of Newman/Haas Racing cars as well as being about Mario Andretti and Michael Andretti. Mario is also in the Pixar Animation Studios film Cars, where his voice is used for a cameo in which he plays the 1967 Ford Fairlane in which he won the Daytona 500, a parody of his own success in that race. Mario appeared in the off-road racing documentary Dust to Glory as the race grand marshal, where the movie documents the 2004 Baja 1000 race. Mario also wrote a racing column for the Indianapolis Star where he wrote about other drivers, equipment and cars. Mario Andretti was featured in the 2007 documentary A State of Vine, where he commented on his winemaking activities. He has a voice part in the movie Turbo. In November 2015, he guest starred on an episode of Jay Leno's Garage, driving Leno in multiple fast cars and talking about his past as a driver.

Popular Culture References

The "Charlie Daniels Band" song "Uneasy Rider" contains the line 'Mario Andretti would've been proud...'

Racing career results

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1966	Holman & Moody	Lucien Bianchi	Ford GT40 Mk.II	P +5.0	97	DNF	DNF
1967	Holman & Moody	Lucien Bianchi	Ford GT40 Mk.IV	P +5.0	188	DNF	DNF
1983	Porsche Kremer Racing	Michael Andretti Philippe Alliot	Porsche 956	C	364	3rd	3rd
1988	Porsche AG	Michael Andretti John Andretti	Porsche 962C	C1	375	6th	6th
1995	Courage Compétition	Bob Wollek Éric Hélary	Courage C34-Porsche	WSC	297	2nd	1st
1996	Courage Compétition	Jan Lammers Derek Warwick	Courage C36-Porsche	LMP1	315	13th	3rd
1997	Courage Compétition	Michael Andretti Olivier Grouillard	Courage C36-Porsche	LMP	197	DNF	DNF
2000	Panoz Motorsports	David Brabham Jan Magnussen	Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S	LMP900	315	15th	8th

Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Pts.
1968	Gold Leaf Team Lotus	Lotus 49B	Ford V8	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	CAN	USA	MEX						NC	0
1969	Gold Leaf Team Lotus	Lotus 49B	Ford V8	RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR												NC	0
		Lotus 63	Ford V8							GER	ITA	CAN	USA	MEX
1970	STP Corporation	March 701	Ford V8	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA	MEX					16th	4
1971	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 312B	Ferrari F12	RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR												8th	12
		Ferrari 312B2	Ferrari F12							GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA
1972	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 312B2	Ferrari F12	ARG	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA						12th	4
1974	Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing	Parnelli VPJ4	Ford V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA			NC	0
1975	Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing	Parnelli VPJ4	Ford V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	USA				14th	5
1976	John Player Team Lotus	Lotus 77	Ford V8	BRA			ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	USA	JPN		6th	22
	Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing	Parnelli VPJ4B	Ford V8		RSA	USW
1977	John Player Team Lotus	Lotus 78	Ford V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA	CAN	JPN	3rd	47
1978	John Player Team Lotus	Lotus 78	Ford V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	MON													1st	64
		Lotus 79	Ford V8						BEL	ESP	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA	CAN
1979	Martini Racing Team Lotus	Lotus 79	Ford V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW		BEL			GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	USA			12th	14
		Lotus 80	Ford V8					ESP		MON	FRA
1980	Team Essex Lotus	Lotus 81	Ford V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	BEL	MON	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	USA				20th	1
1981	Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo	Alfa Romeo 179C	Alfa Romeo V12	USW	BRA	ARG	SMR	BEL	MON	ESP	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	CPL			17th	3
1982	TAG Williams Team	Williams FW07C	Ford V8	RSA	BRA	USW	SMR	BEL	MON	DET	CAN	NED	GBR	FRA	GER	AUT	SUI				19th	4
	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 126C2	Ferrari V6 T															ITA	CPL

American Open-Wheel racing results

CART

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points
1979	Team Penske	Penske PC-6	Ford Cosworth TC	PHX	ATL1	ATL2	IND	TRE1	TRE2	MIS1	MIS2	WGL	TRE3	ONT	MIS3	ATL3	PHX2				11th	700
1980	Team Penske	Penske PC-9	Ford Cosworth	ONT	IND	MIL	POC	MDO	MIS1	WGL	MIL	ONT2	MIS2	MEX	PHX						16th	580
1981	Patrick Racing	Wildcat	Ford Cosworth TC	PHX1	MIL1	ATL1	ATL2	MIS	RIV	MIL2	MIS2	WGL	MEX	PHX2							11th	81
1982	Patrick Racing	Wildcat 8B	Ford Cosworth	PHX1	ATL	MIL1	CLE	MIS1	MIL2	POC	RIV	ROA	MIS2	PHX2							3rd	188
1983	Newman/Haas	Lola T-700	Ford Cosworth TC	ATL	IND	MIL	CLE	MIS1	ROA	POC	RIV	MDO	MIS2	CEA	LAG	PHX					3rd	133
1984	Newman/Haas	Lola T800	Ford Cosworth	LGB	PHX1	IND	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	MIS1	ROA	POC	MDO	SAN	MIS2	PHX	LAG	CEA		1st	176
1985	Newman/Haas	Lola T900	Ford Cosworth	LGB	IND	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	MIS1	ROA	POC	MDO	SAN	MIS2	LAG	PHX	MIA			5th	114
1986	Newman/Haas	Lola T8600	Ford Cosworth TC	PHX1	LGB	IND	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MIS1	POC	MDO	SAN	MIS2	ROA	LAG	PHX2	MIA	5th	136
1987	Newman/Haas	Lola T8700	Chevy A	LGB	PHX	IND	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MIS	POC	ROA	MDO	NAZ	LAG	MIA			6th	100
1988	Newman/Haas	Lola T8800	Chevy A	PHX	LGB	IND	MIL	POR	CLE	TOR	MEA	MIS	POC	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	MIA			5th	126
1989	Newman/Haas	Lola T8900	Chevy A	PHX	LGB	IND	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIS	POC	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG			6th	110
1990	Newman/Haas	Lola T9000	Chevy A	PHX	LGB	IND	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIS	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG		7th	136
1991	Newman/Haas	Lola T9100	Chevy A	SUR	LGB	PHX	IND	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIS	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	7th	132
1992	Newman/Haas	Lola T9200	Ford XB	SUR	PHX	LGB	IND	DET	POR	MIL	NHA	TOR	MIS	CLE	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LAG		6th	105
1993	Newman/Haas	Lola T9300	Ford XB	SUR	PHX	LGB	IND	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIS	NHA	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LAG		6th	117
1994	Newman/Haas	Lola T9400	Ford XB	SUR	PHX	LGB	IND	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIS	MDO	NHA	VAN	ROA	NAZ	LAG		14th	45

Total: 1 championship, 19 victories

Indianapolis 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish
1965	Brawner Hawk	Ford	4th	3rd
1966	Brawner Hawk	Ford	1st	18th
1967	Brawner Hawk	Ford	1st	30th
1968	Brawner Hawk	Ford	4th	33rd
1969	Brawner Hawk	Ford	2nd	1st
1970	McNamara	Ford	8th	6th
1971	McNamara	Ford	9th	30th
1972	Parnelli	Offy	5th	8th
1973	Parnelli	Offy	6th	30th
1974	Eagle	Offy	5th	31st
1975	Eagle	Offy	27th	28th
1976	McLaren	Offy	19th	8th
1977	McLaren	Cosworth	6th	26th
1978	Penske	Cosworth	33rd	12th
1979	Did not enter
1980	Penske	Cosworth	2nd	20th
1981	Wildcat	Cosworth	32nd	2nd
1982	Wildcat	Cosworth	4th	31st
1983	Lola	Cosworth	11th	23rd
1984	Lola	Cosworth	6th	17th
1985	Lola	Cosworth	4th	2nd
1986	Lola	Cosworth	30th	32nd
1987	Lola	Chevrolet	1st	9th
1988	Lola	Chevrolet	4th	20th
1989	Lola	Chevrolet	5th	4th
1990	Lola	Chevrolet	6th	27th
1991	Lola	Chevrolet	3rd	7th
1992	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	3rd	23rd
1993	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	2nd	5th
1994	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	9th	32nd

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

NASCAR Grand National Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	NGNC	Pts	Ref
1966	Bondy Long	71	Chevy	AUG	RSD	DAY																																																				NA	-
	Smokey Yunick	13	Chevy				DAY	DAY	CAR	BRI	ATL	HCY	CLB	GPS	BGS	NWS	MAR	DAR	LGY	MGR	MON	RCH	CLT	DTS	ASH	PIF	SMR	AWS	BLV	GPS
	Owens Racing	5	Dodge																												DAY	ODS	BRR	OXF	FON	ISP	BRI	SMR	NSV	ATL	CLB	AWS	BLV	BGS	DAR	HCY	RCH	HBO	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR
1967	Holman Moody	114	Ford	AUG	RSD	DAY																																																				NA	-
		11					DAY	DAY	AWS	BRI	GPS	BGS	ATL	CLB	HCY	NWS	MAR	SVH	RCH	DAR	BLV	LGY	CLT	ASH	MGR	SMR	BIR	CAR	GPS	MGY	DAY	TRN	OXF	FDA	ISP	BRI	SMR	NSV	ATL	BGS	CLB	SVH	DAR	HCY	RCH	BLV	HBO	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	AWS
1968				MGR	MGY	RSD																						DAY	ISP	OXF	FDA	TRN	BRI	SMR	NSV	ATL	CLB	BGS	AWS	SBO	LGY	DAR	HCY	RCH	BLV	HBO	MAR	NWS	AUG	CLT	CAR	JFC						NA	-
			Mercury				DAY	BRI	RCH	ATL	HCY	GPS	CLB	NWS	MAR	AUG	AWS	DAR	BLV	LGY	CLT	ASH	MGR	SMR	BIR	CAR	GPS
1969		97	Ford	MGR	MGY	RSD	DAY	DAY	DAY	CAR	AUG	BRI	ATL	CLB	HCY	GPS	RCH	NWS	MAR	AWS	DAR	BLV	LGY	CLT	MGR	SMR	MCH	KPT	GPS	NCF	DAY	DOV	TPN	TRN	BLV	BRI	NSV	SMR	ATL	MCH	SBO	BGS	AWS	DAR	HCY	RCH	TAL	CLB	MAR	NWS	CLT	SVH	AUG	CAR	JFC	MGR	TWS	NA	-

Daytona 500 results

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1966	Smokey Yunick	Chevrolet	39	37
1967	Holman Moody	Ford	12	1
1968		Mercury	20	29

Charities

Mario Andretti supports the following charitable cause: Leukemia.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]