“There was never a plan B”

Mario Andretti, at the beginning of his career, emerging from his Rupp-Chevy Sprint Cars (photo above), making a name and reputation in the racing community, racing everywhere, all the time. Mario declared: “It was first and foremost about being a racing driver, there was never a plan B…!”

Mario Andretti began his motorsport career in 1964 in dirt track racing alongside his twin brother Aldo, a discipline that allowed him to develop his car control and feel for the road, qualities he would later use in single-seaters. He even won the USAC Dirt Track Championship in 1974, by which time his career in USAC, F1, and endurance racing was well underway.

Formidably talented and versatile, but also a great “bounty hunter,” running wherever he was paid best, Mario Andretti became a legend on both sides of the Atlantic by winning (amongst many others) the Indianapolis 500, the Formula 1 World Championship and the Daytona 500.