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Mike Hembree: Mario Andretti, NASCAR were a brief marriage
By Mike Hembree - Associate Editor
Friday, January 30, 2009
Mario Andretti, winner of the 1967 Daytona 500, speaks to reporters at Hendrick Motorsports during the Sprint Media Tour hosted by Lowe's Motor Speedway.
David Griffin
NASCAR Scene
COMMENTARY
At 68 years old, Mario Andretti looks as if he still could kick some butt on the race track.
He has no plans for that, of course. The last time he had thoughts along those lines, he almost killed himself. Years after retiring from
Indy-car racing, he returned to test a car at Indianapolis in 2003, hit a piece of debris and sailed high into the air in one of the scariest
incidents at Indy in recent years. Andretti had only minor injuries, but he was shaken – as were more than a few people who were there that day.
It is best that racing remains a memory for Andretti. But, boy, does he have a few memories. He’s the only driver to win a Daytona 500 (1967), an Indianapolis 500 (1969) and the Formula One championship. He won four Indy-car titles and the International Race of Champions and was a threat to win in almost anything he drove for decades. And he did it all with class.
In 1999, the Associated Press named Andretti the driver of the century. Among the candidates he outran for that award were A.J. Foyt, Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr., all racers who could have legitimately filed claim to such an honor.
Andretti continues to hang around the sport, and that’s a good thing. He’s smart, personable, articulate and a walking encyclopedia of motorsports.
Even the best of current drivers seem to step back in his presence, as if they’re a little afraid to touch greatness. He has a unique perspective, having had his feet in practically every form of motorsports and at high levels.
Andretti had barely a drive-through presence in NASCAR, running 14 Cup races from 1966 to 1969. He won only once, but it was a significant resume-enhancer – the ’67 Daytona 500, in which he led 112 of 200 laps and outran Holman-Moody Ford teammate Fred Lorenzen to the finish.
Andretti came south and beat the stock car boys at their game. The vast majority of his career – and almost all of his success – would come in open-wheel cars, but that day in February 1967 put him in the Daytona hierarchy for all time. It gives him a snippet of bragging rights when he’s in the room with Petty, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison and others.
Although he’s seen a majority of the great drivers in every form of the sport and in much of racing’s history, Andretti won’t be pulled into a conversation comparing eras.
“We can debate this until the cows come home,” he said. “Motor racing has come of age. We have decades after decades after decades. I think the sport probably enjoyed tremendous talents in the past and today. I’m a great believer that the talents of yesteryear, the Cale Yarboroughs, the David Pearsons, the Allisons and Richard Pettys, would run wheel to wheel with today’s best talent with the same equipment, and today’s best talent would do the same with the equipment of the past.
“In those days [the 1960s] you did the maximum that you could with the equipment you were given. As long as you took that to the limit, you did your job. Today you do the same thing. You may have more tools to work with because it’s more sophisticated and you have more technical help, but, again, if those guys had the same thing I think they would do the same. As far as raw ability, I don’t think you could ever assess one era against another. I think it would be impossible to do.”
It seems safe to predict that Andretti, given decent equipment, could race competitively against anybody, in any era, on practically any landscape.
2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings
Driver Standings after the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 6492 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | -108 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | -169 |
| 4 | Kurt Busch | -211 |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | -285 |
| 6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | -289 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | -321 |
| 8 | Denny Hamlin | -352 |
| 9 | Ryan Newman | -411 |
| 10 | Kasey Kahne | -476 |
| 11 | Carl Edwards | -520 |
| 12 | Brian Vickers | -666 |
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Comments
12 responses to "Mike Hembree: Mario Andretti, NASCAR were a brief marriage". Post a Comment.
Rob Turner said:
Jan 30, 2009 at 10:48 AMQuite simply, the best of all time: Mario Andretti
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» Confirm Abuse Reportterry ruth said:
Jan 30, 2009 at 11:10 AMANDRETTI, JIM CLARK, RICHARD PETTY, DAVID PEARSON, AND A J FOYT.....NO ONE ELSE SHOULD BE IN THE SAME SENTENCE....
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» Confirm Abuse ReportAnonymous said:
Jan 30, 2009 at 3:56 PMAll winning Daytona did to Andretti's NASCAR legacy was put him on par with Derrike Cope and put him just one win behind Sterling Marlin (with all due respect to Derrike and Sterling)!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJames Mogseth said:
Jan 30, 2009 at 4:24 PMWho is the idiot that posted comment #3? Winning in the Cup series, especially when you only run 14 races is really tough!! And to make the Daytona 500 your win, well, that is REALLY something. I don't know any other driver that ever had the control and feel for a race car that Mario showed. How many races did Cope and Marlin run to get their wins? More than a couple a year!! Hey anonymous, pull your head out and give Mario his due!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportBernadette Motherway said:
Jan 30, 2009 at 4:46 PMThe name Mario Andretti and MOTORSPORTS are synonymous.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportdavid larison said:
Jan 30, 2009 at 4:49 PMMight want to add D.E,Sr to that list.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportjerry swiatek said:
Jan 30, 2009 at 6:42 PMI am more of a Foyt fan but #3 Mario led 112 of 200 laps, as nI remember cope won because of was it Dale Sr? with a tire on the last lap, Marlin however did lead his share of laps but memory kinda says he fell into some luck, Anyway the car sure sounded like an Indy car didn't
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» Confirm Abuse ReportSteve C said:
Jan 30, 2009 at 8:08 PMThe man is among one of the Greatest Race Car Drivers ever and he is a very nice person too
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» Confirm Abuse ReportDaniel Kelley said:
Jan 30, 2009 at 8:55 PMWell said #4.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportWerner Boehmert said:
Jan 30, 2009 at 9:22 PMthere's one in every crowd..
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» Confirm Abuse ReportRobert Airheart said:
Jan 31, 2009 at 2:09 PMTerry, you forgot one of the greatest -real Indy cars, Formula I and stock cars - Dan Gurney
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» Confirm Abuse ReportAnonymous said:
Feb 2, 2009 at 4:21 PMGive Mario his due because he won at Daytona after only 14 races? Johnny Rutherford won at Daytona his first race in a stock car. Does that make him 14 times as good as Andretti? Read a recent account of Andretti"s "victory" that stated he was all over the track to the point that the other drivers were afraid to try to pass him. NASCAR would have parked a rookie driving like that...
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