Mario Andretti

• Born: February 28, 1940
• Place of Birth: Montona, Italy (now Motovun, Croatia)

Sport: Auto racing

Early Life

Mario Gabriele Andretti and his identical twin brother Aldo were born to Alvise, a farmer, and Rina Andretti on February 28, 1940, in Montona, Italy (now Motovun, Croatia), near Trieste. The twins were born six years after their sister, Anna Maria. Times were hard in Italy after World War II, and the family spent seven years in a displaced persons’ camp in Lucca, near Florence, Italy.

Not long after World War II, the twins became involved with automobiles. Their first job was parking cars, even though, at age thirteen, neither boy could drive. Other than a cultural inclination toward automobile racing, Andretti recalled two major influences on his decision to become a career racer. First was his uncle, Bruno Benvegnu, a member of the Italian air force, who sparked Andretti’s interest in daring activities, and second was the thrill he got when he saw Alberto Ascari win the 1954 Monza Grand Prix. Barely into their teens, Mario and Aldo took advantage of an Italian government program designed to develop a new breed of Italian drivers. They found a sponsor for a three-hundred-dollar car and built up a local following as they won twenty or so motor races.

The Road to Excellence

Alvise and Rina Andretti decided to move the family to the United States, where their future would be brighter. In 1955, sponsored by a relative in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, the Andretti family left Italy for good. Life was indeed far brighter for the Andrettis. Within two years, they had achieved the American dream of home and car ownership. The twins started working at a gas station, where they further refined their mechanical skills as well as their grasp of the English language.

Both Mario and Aldo got involved in the local dirt-track racing scene, and both had their share of mishaps. In 1957, Andretti had his most serious racing-related injury when he broke his nose in a crash. Fate was not so kind to Aldo when, in 1958, he smashed against a fence and was in a coma for weeks. Aldo never fully recovered from this injury, but Andretti continued to race.

In 1961, Andretti married Dee Ann Hoch, who had been his tutor for correspondence courses he needed to earn his high school diploma. The couple had three children: two boys, Michael and Jeffrey, who shared their father’s enthusiasm for racing, and one daughter, Barbra Dee. Andretti worked his way up to the top ranks of sprint-car drivers. By 1964, the same year he became a naturalized American citizen, Andretti was third in the national standings.

The Emerging Champion

Andretti’s big break came in 1965. He was scouted by master mechanic Clint Brawner, who recognized his potential and was impressed by his extensive mechanical knowledge and ability to work with his crew. With Brawner’s recommendation, Andretti joined a professional racing team and that year won the United States Auto Club national championship. Also in 1965, twenty-five-year-old Andretti competed in the Indianapolis 500 for the first time. He placed third and was named Rookie of the Year. Four years later, and still a member of the same team, he won the 1969 Indianapolis 500.

At only 5 feet 6 inches tall and 134 pounds, Andretti was considered by many to be too small for racing. However, his powerful wrists, hands, and shoulders, his mechanical expertise, and his extraordinary stamina and determination proved to be more important than sheer size. Andretti also has a reputation for staying cool under pressure, which helped him in the racing cockpit, where temperatures can reach 140 degrees.

Having met the biggest challenge the oval track had to offer, Andretti began to compete in Formula One racing. Known for its treacherous winding roads and varied courses in countries throughout the world, this was an entirely different type of racing. In 1971, with wins at Kyalami, South Africa’s Grand Prix, and in Ontario, California, he began to develop his reputation as the man who could win any kind of auto race.

Continuing the Story

In 1978, victory and tragedy came together for Andretti when he won the international racing world’s most coveted prize, the Formula One world championship. His teammate and good friend, Swedish driver Ronnie Peterson, also was his primary rival for the championship. However, auto racing is a dangerous and sometimes lethal sport. Before the end of the season, when Peterson was competing in an important race, he got into a fiery ten-car crash that cost him his life. Andretti’s Formula One world championship win was tainted by the loss of a great friend.

During Andretti’s third decade of racing professionally, he joined the glamorous Newman-Haas team, partially named after racing enthusiast and well-known film star Paul Newman. In 1984, he won Driver of the Year, becoming the first individual to win this award in each of three consecutive decades. He won the Phoenix 200 in April 1993, his final race and his 109th major career victory. He retired from active racing in 1994.

Andretti’s sons, Michael and Jeffrey, inherited their father’s love for the dangerous sport. In 1990, all three made racing history when they competed against each other during an Indianapolis car race. In 2006, Andretti's grandson and Michael’s son Marco began racing in the Indy Racing League (IRL). He finished second in the Indianapolis 500 and was awarded Rookie of the Year, joining his father and grandfather as a recipient of the award. In 2000, Andretti's legendary status was solidified when he was voted Driver of the Century by the Associated Press and inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Throughout the first three decades of the twenty-first century, Andretti remained busy and continued to be a respected figure in the motorsports world, which included his being asked to voice an automotive version of himself in the animated feature Cars (2006). Starting in 2012, Andretti became the official ambassador for the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) and the United States Grand Prix, promoting awareness of Formula 1 and all motorsports in the United States. In addition, he attended many of his grandson's races, whom he lived close to in Pennsylvania. Andretti was also involved in his own businesses, one of which was a winery.

Summary

Arriving in the United States at age fifteen with only a rudimentary understanding of English did not stop Mario Andretti from developing his love for cars and auto racing. He soon rose to be the premier auto racer in America and later in the world. As the first driver in motor-racing history to win both the Indianapolis and Formula One titles, he proved to be not only a skilled driver but also a flexible one, winning on more than one hundred different types of tracks and courses.

Bibliography

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Gluck, Jeff. “Mario Andretti on His Love of Racing and His Family's F1 Pursuit: 12 Questions.” The New York Times, 29 May 2024, www.nytimes.com/athletic/5523544/2024/05/29/mario-andretti-formula-one-indycar-12-questions/. Accessed 6 July 2024.

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