Background

Mario Andretti was born on February 28, 1940 in Motovun (Montona, the Kingdom of Italy at the time), Istria, Croatia. He is the son of Alvise Andretti, a farm administrator, and Rina Andretti. Mario has a twin brother, Aldo, and an older sister Anna Maria.

Education

Born into a well-off family, Mario Andretti and his twin brother Aldo were fascinated by racing since the early age, even though the circumstances of their youth were far from likeable at first glance to further successful career of a driver. In 1948, the Andrettis were forced to leave Montona (present-day Motovun, Croatia), a northern Italian village near Trieste on the Istrian Peninsula, because the region became part of Yugoslavia after World War II. They spent seven years in a camp for displaced persons in the central Italian province of Lucca, near Florence.

While Andretti's father, a former respected and influential farm administrator, took up a job at a toy factory, Mario and Aldo became more and more interested in cars. They spent their free time driving their uncle's motorcycle and wooden derby car and sticking around mechanics from a nearby garage to learn as much as possible about cars.

Young boys, aged thirteen, found jobs where they had to park cars for a garage. They were forced to do that in secret from their father as he forbade them to race or drive. In the early 1950s, Mario and Aldo, again without their father's permission, began competing for an Italian youth racing league known as Formula Junior.

On June 16, 1955, the Andretti family relocated to the United States fleeing from the hard economic situation of post-war Italy. They took up residence in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, where Andretti brothers' uncle lived. Speaking no English, Andretti teens were sent to seventh grade where they felt quite bored because many of their classmates were much younger. They soon forsook school and enrolled at a correspondence course where they obtained an equivalent of a high school diploma.

The brothers didn't drop their car passion. By 1958, they had purchased their first car, a 1948 Hudson Hornet, rebuilt it by their own hands and began racing it at the half-mile Nazareth Speedway.

Career

The start of Mario Andretti's racing career can be counted from the end of the 1950s when he, as well as his twin brother Aldo, started racing stock cars. They quickly established themselves as winners at the speedway. However, after several serious crashes, Aldo gave up racing in 1969.

Neither Aldo's accidents nor his father's disapproval stopped Mario from racing. In the early 1960s, he won 21 of 46 stock car races. He also began racing in the United Racing Club sprint car circuit and the indoor midget car winter circuit to gain experience. In 1963, Andretti drove in his first United States Auto Club (USAC) race, a sprint car race, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The event gave him a chance to compete against some of the then champions, including A.J. Foyt. Although Andretti was quite a successful driver, he was not yet able to support his young family only by racing, so he also served as a foreman for Motorvator, a company that manufactured golf carts.

In April of 1964, Andretti debuted in his first United States Auto Club Championship race and later, in autumn, he triumphed in one of the USAC races, held in Salem, Indiana. The following year, the young racing driver lead the Dean Van Lines team, owned by Al Dean. The support of Dean and chief mechanic Clint Brawner made Andretti competitive in major races. So, he finished third in the Indianapolis 500 of 1965, which provided him with the race's Rookie of the Year title. Though Andretti had only one victorious USAC race that year, he finished well in several other races and earned enough season points to win the USAC National Championship, which was unusual for a rookie.

While on his way to prominence in the early 1960s, Andretti entered the racing business with his father-in-law, who helped sponsor him. In fact, Andretti's racing career has always been a family business. Andretti's success continued throughout the rest of the decade. In particular, he repeated the USAC National Championship in 1966 and won the prestigious Daytona 500 a year later, as well as the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race. That year, Andretti won eight races but he finished second in the USAC championship behind A.J. Foyt, another legend in racing who was a frequent Andretti's rival on the track.

In 1968, Andretti again came in second place in the USAC championship, this time losing to Bobby Unser. Andretti strengthened his status as a racing champion by winning the 1969 Indianapolis 500. He also triumphed in the Pike's Peak Hill Climb in Colorado, a race that had been dominated by Bobby Unser and his family. The season was ended by the third victory at the USAC National Championship.

The Formula One racing on the international Grand Prix circuit was Andretti's focus for the 1970s. It consisted of 16 races held on four continents. He had the first Formula One victory in 1971 at the South African Grand Prix. He then finished first in several other Formula One competitions and finally won the Formula One World Championship in 1978. The International Race of Champions title followed a year later.

Andretti continued to race both Formula One and Indy cars throughout the next decade and half of the 1990s. In 1984, he won the IndyCar National Championship for the fourth time. He was also named Driver of the Year for the third time, becoming the first driver to obtain the award in three different decades. Unfortunately, Andretti was never able to repeat his victory at the Indianapolis 500, coming close only once, in 1981, when he placed second to Bobby Unser.

Although Mario Andretti continued to compete on the track while many of his contemporaries left the sport, his victories became sparser as he got older. Andretti won his last IndyСar race, the 52nd of his career, in Phoenix in 1993. That same year, he set the highest qualifying speed at the Michigan International Speedway at 234.275 miles per hour, proving that age was not an impediment for him to be fast. Andretti decided to retire at the end of the next season. Even after his retirement, he continued to race in the 24 Hours of LeMans, the one international motor racing title that had eluded him.

Andretti remained involved in the racing area after leaving the active sport. He is a spokesman, associate and friend to top executives worldwide, including those of Bridgestone Firestone, MagnaFlow, Mattel, Phillips Van Heusen, Honda and GoDaddy. He has appeared on the screen, in particular, in the three episodes of the United States TV show Home Improvement, the IMAX movie Super Speedway, and the 1972 film The Speed Merchants (as a main character and narrator), among others. He was a voice-over of a cameo 1967 Ford Fairlane character in the first Cars movie and was a dubbing actor in a 2013 animated movie Turbo.

Mario Andretti also maintains a number of personal business ventures, including a winery (Andretti Wines in Napa Valley, California) and petroleum business (Texaco and Shell gas stations in the Bay Area). He is an owner of a Toyota dealership in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, of Andretti Signature Line, which sells Andretti apparel, books, and collectibles. Several car washes, go-kart tracks, a clothing line, video games and replica cars are also among his business interests.

Achievements

• 

  Mario Andretti is considered one of the most eminent racing drivers in the history of the sport. During his career that lasted five decades, he won a total of 52 Championship car races, including the prestigious Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500. He is also the all-time leader of Championship car pole position victories with 67 and the all-time lap leader with 7,587 laps.
  
  Andretti is the only driver ever to win IndyCar races in four different decades and the pioneer to triumph in automobile races of any kind during five decades. At different times, Andretti has been cited alongside (and was occasionally even better known to the public) such eminent racing drivers as Barney Oldfield, A.J. Foyt, and Richard Petty of the United States, and Stirling Moss of the United Kingdom. His unique ability to succeed in different cars (midget cars, sprint cars and so on) and on different tracks (road courses, paved ovals, dirt tracks, 24-hour marathons) is what has made him a truly exceptional driver.
  
  Andretti has been named the Driver of the Year (United States) three times (the only driver to be honored with the title in three decades), Driver of the Quarter-Century, and the Driver of the Century (1999-2000). Throughout the course of his career, the legendary driver was inducted into the Hoosier Auto Racing Hall of Fame, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, the United States National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, the Automotive Hall of Fame and the Diecast Hall of Fame.
  
  On October 23, 2006, Mario Andretti was presented with the highest civilian honor from the Italian government, Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. Ten years later, he was named an honorary citizen of Lucca, Italy. Andretti keeps on being one of the most sought-after racing personalities among journalists and the most respected voice in motorsports.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Andretti

    (A stunning photographic look at auto racing superstar Mar...)

    1994
  • Mario Andretti: World Champion

    (An autobiography cowritten with Nigel Roebuck.)

    1979
  • What's It Like Out There?

    (An autobiography cowritten with Bob Collins.)

    1970

• movie

  • The Speed Merchants

    (Andretti is a major character and narrator of the film.)

    1972

Politics

Andretti supported the National Republican Senatorial Committee in the general elections of 2014 by donating $1,000 to it.

Views

In the summer of 2020, Mario Andretti criticized a Mercedes driver, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton for the "pretentiousness" and inappropriate politicization in his support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Quotations: "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."

"A racing car is an animal with a thousand adjustments."

"You have to want to do it more than anything else. You have to want to be Number One. Then you have to have the ability. You must be brave, but also have common sense."

"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough."

"Speed is relative. You have to live it. You can't just jump into it. You have to live it all the time."

"Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal – a commitment to excellence – that will enable you to attain the success you seek."

"Love what you do. Believe in your instincts. And you'd better be able to pick yourself up and brush yourself off every day."

"Circumstances may cause interruptions and delays, but never lose sight of your goal. Prepare yourself in every way you can by increasing your knowledge and adding to your experience, so that you can make the most of opportunity when it occurs."

"A goal isn't something you just arrive at and stop. You have to stay curious and hungry and foolish..."

"Do it no matter what. If you believe in it, it is something very honorable. If somebody around you or your family does not understand it, then that's their problem. But if you do have a passion, an honest passion, just do it."

"The crashes people remember, but drivers remember the near misses."

"What I learned is that in business you must make decisions based on facts, not react with your heart."

"I don't have many superstitions, just dumb things I don't talk about. I will not sign an autograph with a green pen."

"I wish politics didn't get mixed up with sport."

Personality

Marion Andretti's versatility in racing driving combining with his charisma cemented him not only as one of the most daring drivers but as one of the sport's most colorful personalities at the pinnacle of his career, in the 1960s and 1970s.

Fast and vibrant on the track, Mario kept that energy after retiring. His favorite sport activities are tennis, waterskiing and flying his ultralight. He is well-versed in digital innovations since he carries a tablet computer and has accounts on Twitter and Facebook.

Physical Characteristics: Mario Andretti is 1.71 meters tall.

In 1969, during a practice session before the qualifying race at his fifth Indianapolis 500, Mario Andretti lost control of his car and hit the concrete retaining wall. Fortunately, he had managed to walk away from the crash before the vehicle burst into flames. However, he suffered second-degree burns on his face.

Quotes from others about the person

• Dan Gurney, Champion race car driver: "Mario is a star, not only because of the titles he won, but because he has the aura that surrounds an unusual man, which people sense when they meet him..."
  
  Sir Stirling Moss, legendary British racing driver: "I rate him alongside the Maestro, Juan Manuel Fangio, not only for the sheer brilliance he has shown behind the wheel, but for the manner in which he accepted defeat and victory."
  
  Gordon Kirby, motorsports journalist and author: "He is the most accomplished driver perhaps of all time because he has driven and won in a wider range of cars than any other racing driver."
  
  Lyle Kenyon Engel, author: "Mario has a combination of various important factors that few of his fellow drivers in USAC share; a burning desire to prove his talents in all fields of racing. He's not satisfied in topping the list in his major racing area of interest, championship cars, but also he wants to excel in sports cars, stockers and Formula cars."
  
  Paul Newman, Oscar-winning actor: "Mario's esteem covers the globe like a blanket."
  
  Grand Prix Hall of Fame website: "Andretti was never petulant, juvenile or devious, which is a great deal more than can be said for a lot of other top-rank drivers in the Grand Prix pressure-cooker. His behavior was, invariably, a credit to his profession."

Interests

• Sport & Clubs

  tennis, waterskiing

• Athletes

  Alberto Ascari

Connections

Mario Andretti married Dee Ann on November 25, 1961. The family produced three children, boys Michael and Jeff, and a girl Barbara Dee.

The Andretti children were surrounded by racing atmosphere from an early age and got used to the lifestyle supposed by a rich athletic career of their noted father. Since childhood, all the kids occupied themselves with their own racing vehicles and motorized toys, including dirt bikes, go-karts, motorcycles, snowmobiles, and jet skis. So, it was quite logical that the boys followed in their father's footsteps and tied their lives with racing.

In fact, Andretti began the most successful racing dynasty in history since not only his sons, Michael and Jeff, became some of the top racing drivers. Andretti's nephews John and Adam (both Aldo's sons) have also shown their talent behind the wheel. During the early 1990s, Andretti's sons even competed against their father. In 1992, Mario, Michael, Jeff, and John met on the track in the Indianapolis 500.

Unfortunately, Jeff's athletic career ended following a serious accident that affected his legs. Still, John, Adam, and Michael have continued the Andretti racing legacy and the latter passed it on to his own son, Marco Andretti, who is also an auto racing driver.

Father:

Alvise Andretti

Known as "Gigi," Alvise Luigi was a respected and influential farm administrator.

Mother:

Rina Andretti

Sister:

Anna Maria Andretti

Brother:

Aldo Andretti

(born February 28, 1940)

Aldo Andretti raced on the United States Auto Club and the International Motor Contest Association circuits till 1969 when he crashed into a fence in Des Moines. After leaving the sport, he first set up a retail business, Andretti Firestone, and later opened a machine shop for hospital beds and tool manufacturers, Andretti Machine Engineering.

Though Aldo and Mario are identical twins, they don't look like the copy of each other as Aldo had reconstructive surgery after an important racing accident.

late wife:

Dee Ann Andretti

(née Hoch; born July 10, 1942 – died July 2, 2018)

Dee Ann came from Nazareth, Pennsylvania. She met her husband-to-be while teaching him English.

Son:

Michael Andretti

(born October 5, 1962)

Michael Mario Andretti is an American semi-retired auto racing driver. A winner of the 1991 CART PPG Indy Car World Series, he collected 42 victories in total during his athletic career, that is the best result in the history of the CART and fourth-most ever. After retiring from sport, he owned the Andretti Autosport auto racing team.

Son:

Jeff Andretti

(born April 14, 1964)

Jeff Andretti is a retired American race car driver. Competing in CART, he was the series' Rookie of the Year in 1991.

Daughter:

Barbara Dee Andretti

(born 1969)

Barbara Dee Andretti has shared her father's love for speed since an early age. As a child, she loved to race dirt bikes and later pursued a career in singing and songwriting.

nephew:

John Andretti

(born March 12, 1963 – died January 30, 2020)

John Andrew Andretti was an American race car driver. He was a winner of the individual races in CART, IMSA GTP, Rolex Sports Car Series, and NASCAR.

nephew:

Adam Andretti

(born March 24, 1979)

An American racing driver, Adam has been behind the wheel of sports cars in Indy Pro Series, NASCAR, and Stadium Super Trucks. In 2014, he raced in the Trans-Am Series for the first time.

Grandson:

Marco Andretti

(born March 13, 1987)

An American auto racing driver, Marco Michael Andretti competes as No. 98 in the IndyCar Series for Andretti Herta Autosport.

colleague:

Colin Chapman

(born May 19, 1928 – died December 16, 1982)

Colin Chapman, in full Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman, was an eminent English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry. A founder of Lotus Cars, he was named Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1970.

References

• Mario Andretti: World Driving Champion A book by Lyle Kenyon Engel.
  1979
• Mario Andretti: A Driving Passion Gordon Kirby documents the toughness, intelligence, and humor that makes Mario the man so compelling and reveals the remarkable mixture of determination and luck, both good and bad, that defined his career as the most versatile and accomplished racer of all time.
  2001
• Mario Andretti: The Complete Record Andretti's life-long race to the finish line is put into perspective by Mike O'Leary to deliver this information-packed statistical overview of his incredible racing career.
  2002
• The Official Website of Mario Andretti
• Mario Andretti's Twitter
• Mario Andretti's Facebook