Page 19 - AAA Magazine – AAA Ohio Auto Club – May 2020

Asthe story goes, at the age of two, Mario Andretti and his twin brother, Aldo, would
often race around the family kitchen in Italy, holding pot lids like steering wheels. Seventeen
years later, Mario and Aldo began tearing up racetracks for real.
The brothers were born in 1940 in Montona, Istria, which was part of Italy until Yugoslavia annexed it at the end of World War II. The Andretti family left in 1948 and spent the next seven years in a refugee camp in Lucca in Tuscany. While there, Mario was introduced to the glamorous and thrilling world of racing at the Mille Miglia race and later the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Two-time Formula One driver Alberto Ascari instantly became Mario’s superhero.
In 1955 the Andretti family emigrated to the United States, where they settled in Nazareth, Pa. Mario and Aldo brought their passion for racing with them.
“I don’t know where that came from,” said Mario. “For some reason, we were drawn in that direction. I keep searching for myself as to why. There was no family background that was tilted toward motor racing, but my brother Aldo and I, it just captured our imaginations.
It was always one of those distant, impossible dreams. I always say this; for some reason, we never had a Plan B.”
At the age of 19, the twins hit the oval dirt tracks in a 1948 Hornet Hudson they had rebuilt. But they had two problems. The first was their father, who would have been furious to know his boys were racing cars.
“That first year we didn’t dare tell him that we were racing because all he knew about racing was fatalities,” Mario explained.
Their second problem was their age. You had to be 21 to drive professionally, so they had their driver’s
licenses altered and told everyone they used to race
in Italy in the Formula Junior series. The Italian brothers sure looked the part and were accepted with open arms by the regional racing community.
They each had two wins after their first four races.
While Aldo’s career was cut short because of two major crashes, Mario’s illustrious racing career spanned from 1959 to 2000, his last race coming at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. His accomplishments on the track are nothing short of astonishing.
He took the checkered flag 111 times. He won the Indianapolis 500. He won the Daytona 500. He grabbed the Formula One World Championship and the Pike’s Peak Hillclimb. He’s won on ovals, road courses
and even on the drag strip. Mario Andretti will be remembered as one of the world’s greatest and most decorated athletes.
“That’s an incredible compliment,” said Mario when presented with that fact. “You don’t think about those things; they happen. It’s been very fortunate, you know, because looking at the reality of the sport – the danger of it through the decades – it’s unusual. I was one of the lucky ones. Most of our peers didn’t make it. We used to lose four or five guys a year. I was able to pursue my most ambitious goals and somehow, I came out on the other side. I count my blessings every day.”
Continued on page 18
MAY 2020 | 17
Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Photo courtesy of Mario Andretti
Andretti at the 1969 Indianapolis 500
Photo courtesy of Visit Indy