Detroit. Racing a car, motorcycle or anything with some sort of power is a pursuit like no other. It is a passionate endeavor requiring an obsessive single-mindedness that consumes the people involved to a degree that outsiders find hard to understand. Ask any driver who has competed at the top level, and they will tell you that there is nothing half-assed about what they do, because the focus required is almost incomprehensible. Drivers talk about being in "the zone" - a strange state of mind that takes over their entire being while they're racing - when the faster they go the more things seem to slow down for them. They're aware of everything around them, but at the same time their focus on the task at hand is impenetrable, because anything less can result in a mistake that will likely have severe consequences. Racers are indeed a rare breed, willing to sacrifice everything for the pursuit of what they love to do, to the detriment of everything else. These racers have left an indelible mark on the sport. Drivers who were fierce competitors, flawed heroes and incredible, gifted talents. Their legacies are what make the sport of motor racing so fascinating. In the next few issues of "Fumes" I will recall some of my favorites. This week, I'm focusing on one of America's all-time greats: Mario Andretti.

(Getty Images)
Mario Gabriele Andretti - this picture of Mario is after he won the 1970 12 Hours of Sebring - is one of the greatest racing drivers of all time. The Italian-born American is one of only three drivers to win in Formula 1, Indy-type cars, World Championship sports cars and in NASCAR. (Dan Gurney and Juan Pablo Montoya were the other two.) Mario became only the second American driver to win the Formula 1 World Championship when he won it in 1978 driving a Lotus-Ford for Colin Chapman. In fact, no American racing driver has won an F1 race since Mario won the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix.
(Getty images)
Riverside International Raceway, October 1967. Mario Andretti in the Ford-powered Honker II, entered by Holman & Moody. Mario wrestled the evil-handling machine to the fifth qualifying position, two seconds off of the pole time, but did not finish due to gearbox issues.(Getty images)
Besides his F1 exploits, Mario won four championships in Indy cars (one in CART and three in USAC), he won the Daytona 500 in 1967 and the 1969 Indianapolis 500 (above) driving for Andy Granatelli. Mario was named United States Driver of the Year in three decades: 1967, 1978 and 1984. Mario is one of only three drivers to have won on road courses, paved ovals and dirt tracks in the same year, and he did it five times. After Mario scored his final Indy car win in April 1993, he became the first driver to have won Indy car races in four different decades.(indycar.com)
Mario won 109 major races during his spectacular career. Besides his Indy 500 win in 1969 (and missing out on so many others), my most memorable wins for Mario were the 1967 Daytona 500 and the 1970 12 Hours of Sebring. Discounted by the NASCAR establishment, Mario was in the No. 11 Ford Fairlane prepared by Holman & Moody for the race, and the team was split as to whether or not they were supporting the Italian-American interloper. His teammate was the great Fred Lorenzen, but it was clear after practice and qualifying that Mario had been given a engine that was down on power. He made his displeasure known to Ford - it was a one-off race for Mario - and he was given a new engine for the race. The only problem was that Mario had set up his car in qualifying super-loose to compensate for the lack of power, which meant that in the race he would be forced to hang the rear end out and dirt track it for the entire 500 miles if he wanted to go fast. Which is exactly what Mario did in a jaw-dropping display of car control the likes of which the NASCAR boys had never seen. But Mario had one more hurdle thrown at him before his trip to Victory Lane. He made his last pit stop at the same time as Lorenzen, but the pro-Lorenzen Holman & Moody crew kept Mario up on the jack stands until Freddie got down to the end of the pit lane. Furious, Mario caught and passed Lorenzen and went on to win. It was a very unpopular victory in NASCAR Land, but for Mario it was one of his greatest performances.
(Sports Car Digest) 
The 1970 12 Hours of Sebring was another incredible performance by Mario. Driving for the factory Ferrari team (with co-driver Arturo Merzario), Mario put the No. 19 Ferrari 512 S on the pole, almost one second clear of the factory No. 14 Gulf Porsche 917K driven by Jo Siffert and Brian Redman. Another interesting entry was the No. 48 Porsche 908/02 driven by Peter Revson and actor Steve McQueen. McQueen had a cast on his foot, which made it extremely difficult for him to drive, so Revson did the majority of the driving in the race. (Mario was irked that McQueen garnered all of the attention from the press, knowing full well that the fate of the No. 48 machine rested on Revson's shoulders.) After Mario and his teammate either led or were up front most of the race, the No. 19 Ferrari had to be retired with gearbox issues with 30 minutes left in the race. Ferrari team leader - the late Mauro Forghieri - made the decision to pull Ignazio Giunti out of the No. 21 Ferrari 512 S and put Andretti in, because Mario was quicker. Though the No. 21 Ferrari was a lap down to Siffert and Revson, who were running 1-2, Mario went out and turned in lap after lap at qualifying speeds, un-lapping himself in short order. As Mario set out to run down the leaders, Siffert's Porsche 917 was suddenly out of the race with a front suspension failure, and Revson took over the lead. Mario got past Revson, only to have to give up the lead again when he had to make a last-gasp pit stop for fuel. Mario entered the track with one lap to go in the race, and delivered a blistering last lap to blow by Revson for the win. It was a truly magnificent - and memorable - performance (watch here).Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, July 28, 1974. One of my personal favorite memories of Mario Andretti was watching him race his Vel's Parnelli Jones/Viceroy Lola T332 Chevrolet in the Formula 5000 series. Here he is on the way to the win at Road America. F5000 cars were brutally fast and sounded great with their booming, fuel-injected V8s. And Mario and Brian Redman had some fierce battles. Brian Redman was second that day in his Lola 332 Chevrolet.

See website for complete article licensing information.