Newman/Haas Racing was an auto racing team that competed in CART , Champ Car , and the IndyCar Series from 1983 to 2011. The team operations were based in Lincolnshire, Illinois . Newman/Haas Racing was formed as a partnership between actor, automotive enthusiast and semi-professional racer Paul Newman and long-time auto racing owner/driver Carl Haas . The duo were competitors in sports car racing during the 1970s and early 1980s. In 1983, they joined forces to enter the ranks of Indy car racing . Newman/Haas was one of the most successful teams in Indy car racing during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. The team won 105 CART/Champ Car races and eight season championships, followed by two race wins in the IRL / IndyCar Series .
142-453: During the 1980s and for the better part of the 1990s, the team was closely aligned with the Andretti family. In 1983, Mario Andretti signed as the primary driver, an arrangement that would carry him through the remainder of his career, until his retirement in 1994. Michael Andretti drove for the team in 1989–1992 and again in 1995–2000. Both Mario and Michael won a CART championship driving for
284-443: A Buick entry, made his first attempt at 2:25 p.m. The crew waved off after a slower-than-expected speed. A little over an hour later, Crawford returned to the track. After a quick warm-up lap, he lost control in turn one, and hit the wall nose-first. He suffered severe injuries, fractures to both ankles, a fractured lower right shin, and a fractured left knee. He would be sidelined for an entire year. Johnny Parsons also brushed
426-569: A back-up, had been sitting in a hotel lobby in Reading, Pennsylvania , as a show car just weeks prior. The race was sanctioned by the United States Auto Club , and was included as part of the 1987 CART PPG Indy Car World Series . Of the notable statistics, the 1987 Indy 500 was the first such where the entry list did not include a single car built in the United States. During the race,
568-534: A broken ankle, and was sidelined for the rest of the month. The final regular day of practice took place on Friday May 15. Dennis Firestone suffered his second crash in a week, and 22nd overall for the month. In turn four, he slid into the outside wall, suffering a neck fracture and concussion. This would sideline him for the remainder of the month. Al Unser Jr. again led the non-qualified cars at 210.231 mph (338.334 km/h). The third day of time trials took place on May 16. Several veteran drivers, as well as
710-475: A couple rookies, completed qualifying runs. By the end of the day, the field was filled to 30 cars. Among the veterans qualifying early on were Al Unser Jr. , Gordon Johncock , and Al Unser Sr. Danny Sullivan withdrew his already-qualified PC-16 /Chevrolet, and re-qualified with a 1986 March /Chevrolet. His qualifying speed increased by 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h). Late in the afternoon, Kevin Cogan made
852-550: A deal with Roger Penske to field Indy veteran Danny Ongais in the third Penske entry. Al Unser was unable to secure a ride before the month of May, and arrived at the track unemployed, albeit shopping around for a competitive car. Goodyear arrived at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time with a new radial tire . After a few years of development in the CART series, the radials were ready for competition in
994-536: A feat that he accomplished four times. With his final IndyCar win in April 1993, Andretti became the first driver to have won IndyCar races in four different decades and the first to win automobile races of any kind in five. In American popular culture, Andretti's name has become synonymous with speed, similar to Barney Oldfield in the early 20th century, as well as Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton in Europe. Andretti
1136-406: A fractured vertebra, forcing him to miss the remainder of the season. He would finish 30th while Bourdais finished 12th. However, the team once again dominated the series as it had the year before. Bourdais again emerged as the champion, recording five additional victories. He won at Edmonton and San Jose, repeated his victories at Denver and Las Vegas and won at Surfers' Paradise. Oriol Servia ran
1278-489: A fuel system failure. Mansell was later knocked out of the race in a bizarre crash with Dennis Vitolo . Michael Andretti returned to the team in 1995. He experienced an unsuccessful season in Formula One (1993) and drove the 1994 season in CART for Ganassi . Paul Tracy took over the second team car for one season. Andretti scored one win and a 4th place finish in points. Tracy scored two wins and finished 6th in points. At
1420-684: A half-mile dirt racing track Nazareth Speedway in Nazareth. The twins worked on a 1948 Hudson and raced it in the Limited Sportsman Class, funded by money that they earned in their uncle's garage in 1959. They took turns racing the old Hudson on oval dirt tracks near Nazareth. After finishing high school, Mario planned to become a welder, but he falsified a driver license so he could pass for 21 and enter an amateur race. Mario and Aldo did not tell their parents that they were racing. The twins each had two wins after their first four races. Aldo
1562-463: A lap at 218.234 mph (351.214 km/h). Rocky Moran upped the crash tally for the week to eight, when he crashed exiting turn 2. Late in the afternoon of May 7, Penske Racing decided to park the PC-16 chassis in favor of their stable of 1986 Marches . However, none were presently at the track, nor immediately race ready. In some cases, they were serving as show cars . The first car would arrive
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#17328528283571704-446: A man's job up front," and he and Cogan were later involved in a shoving match. In 1983, he joined the new Newman/Haas Racing team, set up by Carl Haas and actor Paul Newman using cars built by British company Lola . Andretti took the team's first win at Elkhart Lake in 1983 . He won the pole for nine of sixteen events in 1984 , and claimed his fourth Champ Car title at the age of 44. He edged out Tom Sneva by 13 points. It
1846-409: A man's job up front." Andretti's Patrick Racing teammate that year was the eventual race winner, Gordon Johncock , who started next to Andretti in the middle of row two. In later years, Johncock pointed out that Andretti had jumped the start, and could have avoided the spinning car of Cogan had he been lined up properly in the second row next to Gordy. In the 1985 Indianapolis 500 , he was passed for
1988-482: A pitch to be his No. 1 driver but Andretti declined. "F1 didn't pay much back then and my contracts and commitments were so lucrative over here I couldn't give that up for the security of my family. The timing wasn't right yet, so I had to turn him down; but I always figured I'd get another opportunity." In 1975 Andretti drove a full Formula One season for the first time, for the American Parnelli team. The team
2130-471: A place in Tuscany . Life was a bit weird at the time but the one thing that my father always did, he always provided for us. As kids we were never cold, we were never hungry, we went to school, he always provided quite well. The twins' mother Rina said that when they were two years old, they would take pot lids out of the cupboards and run around the kitchen, going "Vroom, vroom," like they were driving cars before
2272-517: A point — you got nine points for a win back then — and he had to agree.' In 1978, the Lotus 79 designed by Chapman exploited ground effect even further. Andretti dominated the season and took the title with six wins. He clinched the championship at the Italian Grand Prix . There was no championship celebration though because his teammate Ronnie Peterson crashed heavily at the start of the race; he
2414-571: A positive and this was certainly one of them, here was an opportunity created for us, the kids, and my dad always cited that. He would say in a sense I am looking at your future, where I think would be the best solution for you kids to have opportunities and he was correct, he was right because if we had remained in Italy I don't know whether I could have pursued what my first passion was and the only passion I really had career wise. While getting acquainted with Pennsylvania, Mario and Aldo were surprised to find
2556-412: A race just four weeks after his crash. The 1993 Indianapolis 500 was Andretti's last notable run, and he had just come off a victory at Phoenix . On pole day, Andretti was the first car to complete a qualifying run, and sat on the provisional pole position. Andretti's speed held up all afternoon, but with less than an hour to go, Arie Luyendyk topped his speed, and took the pole. On race day, Andretti
2698-473: A return in 1986. Johncock was expected to immediately begin practicing on the track. The second day of time trials opened with two attempts, by rookie Ludwig Heimrath Jr. and Rich Vogler . Over an hour and half hour later, more cars lined up to qualify. By the end of the day, the field was filled to 18 cars, with Heimrath the fastest of the afternoon. Among those not yet in the field were Al Unser Jr. , Tom Sneva , and Kevin Cogan . Gordon Johncock took to
2840-485: A return to the race until 2004 . While maintaining a full-time effort in Champ Car, the team entered singly at Indy with driver Bruno Junqueira . He was leading the race on lap 150, hoping to stretch his fuel and be leading the race when impending rain arrived – which could have given him the race victory. He was forced to pit, and finished 5th when the race was called on lap 180. In the team's second post-"split" attempt at
2982-456: A rising star on the circuit, and the impressive victory from last starting position at Phoenix made him a favorite for Indy. For 1987, his Vince Granatelli Racing team was sporting a special paint job , a "throwback" day-glow orange which resembled the Andy Granatelli entries from the late 1960s and early 1970s. A new engine arrived at Indianapolis in 1987. The Judd AV V-8 was badged as
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#17328528283573124-470: A second crash would sideline him for the month. Four crashes occurred during practice on Wednesday. Kevin Cogan drifted high exiting turn 1, and crashed into the outside wall. Later, Scott Brayton hit the wall in turn four. Derek Daly and Dick Ferguson both brushed the wall in the south short chutes, but both nursed their cars back to the pits. None of the four drivers were seriously injured. Mario Andretti continued his dominance of practice, leading
3266-437: A second place in the first four races of the season. He became mired in a mid-season slump and later suffered a broken collarbone, dropping him to fifth in points at the end of the season. While Andretti recovered from injury, 1980 F1 World Champion Alan Jones drove one race in substitution finishing 3rd at Road America. Andretti's second place at the 1985 Indianapolis 500 would tie for the team's best result in that event but
3408-522: A second-place finish in the points while series Rookie of the Year Bourdais won at Brands Hatch, Lausitzring and Cleveland while finishing sixth. 2004 saw Bourdais have a breakout season and the team scored a 1-2 finish in the series standings. The Frenchman won seven times in the season, including three consecutive at Portland, Cleveland and Toronto, and won his first championship. Junqueira, meanwhile, scored wins at Montreal and Surfers' Paradise. He also
3550-553: A secondary sponsor for their second car; the restaurant would eventually take over as primary sponsor the following year. Needing to round out its driver lineup, Newman/Haas signed Bruno Junqueira and Sébastien Bourdais . Junqueira had driven for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2001 and 2002 but was not retained when the team elected to move over to the IRL, while Bourdais won the 2002 Formula 3000 championship driving for Super Nova Racing . Junqueira won twice at Road America and Denver on route to
3692-408: A single non-championship drag race in 1967 in a Ford Mustang . In both 1967 and 1968, Andretti lost the season USAC championship to A. J. Foyt and Bobby Unser , respectively, in the waning laps of the last race of the season at Riverside, California—each by the smallest points margin in history. Andretti won nine races in 1969, the 1969 Indianapolis 500 , and the season championship. He also won
3834-417: A slow qualifying run in his PC-16/Chevrolet. It was a strategic move, in order to secure Sullivan a tentative spot in the field in case time trials were rained out on the second weekend. At the close of pole day, only eleven cars had completed qualifying runs. With Andretti, Rahal, and Mears taking the top three spots, it was the first time since 1975 that the front row consisted of all former winners (and only
3976-407: A small single-car team, was entered by Lydia Laughrey, a rare female car owner. Pancho Carter withdrew his qualified car, and re-qualified faster in a backup. Phil Krueger was the third car out on the track, and his first lap would have been fast enough to ultimately make the field. On his second lap, however, he dipped low in turn one, hit the outside wall, then spun and hit the wall again. It
4118-471: A spectator was killed when an errant tire was hit into the grandstand, the first spectator fatality at the event in a racing-related incident since 1938. Defending Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal went on to win the 1986 CART championship . During the offseason, his Truesports racing team made a highly publicized switch from the March chassis to the up-and-coming Lola chassis. Truesports, however, stayed with
4260-421: A team with Kim Green as a satellite to his brother Barry's Team Green . The 2001 season saw another major change for Newman/Haas as they switched engine suppliers from Ford-Cosworth to Toyota. Cristiano da Matta was brought over from PPI Motorsports to take over for Andretti and in his very first race for the team, he recorded a victory at Monterrey. Fittipaldi, meanwhile, struggled and finished fifteenth in
4402-494: A third in his rookie year ( 1993 ). From 2007 to 2010, Mike Lanigan became a partner in the company and the team became known during that time as Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. After the 2011 season , Carl Haas announced that the team would not run in the IndyCar Series in 2012 due to the economic climate. Lanigan became a part-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing . The team closed its doors and sold off its equipment. Both of
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4544-463: A top driver on the circuit. Fittipaldi scored two wins and the best finish of 5th in points in 1996. In 1997–1999, the team utilized the Swift chassis but it did not prove to be very successful. The team went back to Lola in 2000. Andretti parted ways with Newman/Haas after the 2000 season, in part due to the team's refusal to enter a car at Indianapolis of the rival Indy Racing League. He instead formed
4686-467: A year earlier. He entered the 1987 month of May without a ride and without sponsorship money, which left him on the sidelines during the first week of practice. After Danny Ongais suffered a concussion in a practice crash, Unser was hired by Penske to fill the vacant seat. Unser proceeded to win the race with a year-old March 86C chassis, and the venerable Cosworth DFX , the powerplant's tenth consecutive Indy victory. Unser's car, originally entered as
4828-611: Is one of only three drivers to have won races in Formula One , IndyCar , the World Sportscar Championship , and NASCAR . He has also won races in midget car racing and sprint car racing . Andretti is the only person to be named United States Driver of the Year in three decades (1967, 1978, and 1984). He was also one of only three drivers to have won major races on road courses , paved ovals , and dirt tracks in one season,
4970-534: Is set to serve on the board of directors of Cadillac in Formula One from its debut 2026 season onwards. Mario Gabriele Andretti was born on February 28, 1940 alongside his twin brother Aldo in Montona , Istria, Kingdom of Italy (present-day Motovun , Croatia). He is the son of Alvise Andretti, a farm administrator, and his wife, Rina. Istria was then part of the Kingdom of Italy , but it became part of Yugoslavia at
5112-625: Is the only driver to win the Indianapolis 500 ( 1969 ), Daytona 500 ( 1967 ) and the Formula One World Championship, and, along with Juan Pablo Montoya , the only driver to have won a race in the NASCAR Cup Series , Formula One, and an Indianapolis 500. As of 2023, Andretti's victory at the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix is the most recent Formula One win by an American driver. Andretti had 109 career wins on major circuits. Andretti
5254-540: The 1967 Daytona 500 for Holman Moody . Andretti was invited to race in six International Race of Champions (IROC) series in his career. His best years were his first three years. He finished second in the final points standings in IROC III (1975–1976) and IROC V (1977–1978). He won the IROC VI (1978–1979) points championship with finishes of third, first, and second. He won three races in twenty events. Andretti's goal
5396-460: The 1991 CART championship and finished second in points in 1990 and 1992. Starting in 1992, the team switched to the new Ford Cosworth XB engine. Despite consistent success on the CART circuit, both Mario and Michael still failed to achieve victory for Newman/Haas at the Indy 500. Michael finished second in 1991 , and dropped out while leading with 11 laps to go in 1992 . Michael Andretti left
5538-452: The Brabham - Honda , and was fielded by Galles Racing . After part-time use during the 1986 CART season , the engine was utilized full-time beginning in 1987. Indy veteran Geoff Brabham , son of Jack Brabham (co-founder of Engine Developments Ltd. ) and rookie Jeff MacPherson were the drivers. At Penske Racing , Rick Mears and Danny Sullivan returned as the full-time entries. During
5680-744: The Indianapolis 500 in 1969 ; in stock car racing , he won the Daytona 500 in 1967 . In endurance racing , Andretti is a three-time winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring . Born in the Kingdom of Italy , Andretti's family immigrated to the United States when he was 15 during the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus . Andretti won the Formula One World Championship in 1978 , four IndyCar titles, including three under USAC sanctioning, and one in CART . He
5822-570: The Indy 500 , both team drivers Bruno Junqueira and Sébastien Bourdais were factors early on but both drivers crashed out. The team would skip the 2006 and 2007 Indy 500 races. In the wake of the 2008 open-wheel unification, the team transitioned from the Champ Car World Series to the IndyCar Series full-time. The team retained the services of drivers Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal . Like many of
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5964-487: The Italian Grand Prix , where Andretti saw Ascari and Juan Manuel Fangio race against each other. "I remember being just mesmerized, overwhelmed by the sound, by the speed" Andretti recalled years later. "We didn't even have a grandstand seat, we were up on that bank before the Parabolica on the left. You know, we had a good view of things". Andretti's father had maintained contact with his brother-in-law who had lived in
6106-556: The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb , which was part of the USAC National Championship. He was named ABC 's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year. Between 1966 and 1969 he won 29 of 85 USAC championship races. In 1973, USAC split its National Championship into dirt and pavement championships. Andretti had one win on the pavement and finished fifth in the season points, and finished second in
6248-510: The 1960s it included races worldwide. At Andretti's first Indianapolis 500, in 1965, he met Colin Chapman , owner of the Lotus Formula One team, who was running eventual race winner Jim Clark 's car. Andretti told Chapman of his ambition to compete in Formula One and was told "When you're ready, call me." By 1968 Andretti felt he was ready. Chapman gave him a car, and the young American took
6390-493: The 1960s. The new series had rapidly become the top open-wheel racing series in North America. Andretti joined CART full-time in 1982, driving for Patrick Racing . He started from row two in the Indianapolis 500 that year but was involved in a wreck on the approach to the start when rookie Kevin Cogan suddenly spun out. Three minutes after the wreck Andretti was heard saying "This is what happens when you have children doing
6532-580: The Frenchman had been unable to race, as was the case at the previous race in Canada . However, in the event, Tambay was able to take part in the race. Andretti was also considered as a replacement, again for Tambay who had been injured in Canada , at the 1986 Detroit Grand Prix , this time for the Carl Haas-owned Haas Lola team. Andretti declined, but recommended his son Michael Andretti. When Michael
6674-459: The Ilmor Chevrolet program, pairing the engine with a Lola T87 . With it, Mario Andretti scored the engine's first victory a month earlier at Long Beach . Patrick Racing ( Emerson Fittipaldi & Kevin Cogan ) was the third team to utilize the Ilmor Chevrolet, but they used the March 87C chassis. Roberto Guerrero won the second race of the season, held at Phoenix . Guerrero was
6816-519: The Indianapolis 500 en route to his only victory in the race. The race is notable as it is the only Indy 500 in history where the winning driver ran the whole race on only 1 set of tires. Between his 1969 victory in the race and 1981, Andretti dropped out of the races due to part failures or crashes. His luck seemed to turn around in 1981. Andretti finished second in the 1981 Indianapolis 500 by eight seconds behind Bobby Unser . The following day Unser
6958-447: The Indianapolis 500. Late in the season, Wilson won the race at Detroit, just weeks before the death of team co-owner Paul Newman. It was the team's 107th and final win in Indy car racing. Graham Rahal returned but Justin Wilson was replaced by former Champ Car driver Robert Doornbos . Milka Duno tested a third car during the offseason but a ride never materialized. Doornbos left the team in early August and Oriol Servià finished out
7100-516: The Indy 500. The most noticeable construction project completed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for 1987 was a series of electronic dot matrix scoreboards installed around the track. * Includes days where track activity was significantly limited due to rain ROP – denotes Rookie Orientation Program Practice started on Opening Day, Saturday May 2. Rookie Ludwig Heimrath Jr.
7242-469: The Joe James-Pat O'Connor Memorial at Salem Speedway ), but finished behind Roger McCluskey in the season championship. In 1967 he won two of the three events that he entered. From 1956 to 1979, the top open-wheel racing series in North America was the USAC National Championship. It was often referred to as IndyCar racing, referring to the famous Indianapolis 500 race which was the centerpiece of
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#17328528283577384-559: The U.S. for many years. It took the family three years to obtain a U.S. visa. Alvise Andretti initially told the family they would move to the U.S. for five years and then return to Italy. In 1955, the Andretti family emigrated to the U.S., settling in Nazareth in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania with just $ 125 to their name. In 2013, Andretti said: When I looked at my life in many ways out of so many negatives here comes
7526-405: The bubble spot. Over the final twenty minutes, Chassey held on, and the field was set. On Thursday May 21, the final scheduled practice session was held. The weather continued to be hot and dry. Two incidents during the session altered the grid for race day, bringing the total for the month to 25 crashes leading up to the race. About a half hour into the session, A. J. Foyt , who qualified 4th on
7668-508: The car for him. He would turn the car over to Kanaan on race day, though no plans had been made for Andretti to actually drive in the race. During the test, Andretti ran at competitive speeds, but running over debris saw his car becoming airborne and the attempt ended with a spectacular crash. Andretti was able to walk away from the wreck with just a minor cut on his chin. This was Andretti's last significant on-track activity at Indianapolis. 1987 Indianapolis 500 The 71st Indianapolis 500
7810-581: The car to optimize it for each track, an approach imported from his extensive oval racing experience in the United States. In 1977, at Long Beach , he became the only American to win the United States Grand Prix West , and the last American as of 2022 to win any US Grand Prix. The Lotus 78 "wing car" proved to be the most competitive car of 1977, but despite winning four races, more than any other driver, reliability problems and collisions with other drivers meant Andretti finished only third in
7952-517: The championship. At the end of 1977, Andretti was approached by Ferrari as a potential replacement for Niki Lauda . I had a handshake agreement with Colin and he'd already agreed to pay me what Ronnie Peterson was making, which was the highest salary in F1. So I asked Mr. Ferrari what was he willing to pay me. He said, 'You know, Mario, I can't put a price on your talent so you tell me.' That SOB threw it right back in my lap! Well, [Andretti's wife] Dee Ann
8094-789: The championship. The races were run on a mixture of paved and dirt ovals, and in later years also included some road courses. Andretti made his IndyCar debut on April 19, 1964, at the New Jersey State fairgrounds in Trenton, New Jersey . He started sixteenth and finished eleventh. Andretti was introduced by his USAC sprint car owner, Rufus Gray, to veteran mechanic Clint Brawner. Brawner was not impressed since sprint car drivers Stan Bowman and Donnie Davis had recently died, and Brawner's current driver, Chuck Hulse , had been critically injured. Chris Economaki recommended Andretti to Brawner, so Brawner watched Andretti race at Terre Haute, Indiana . Brawner
8236-409: The day, the weather cooled, and wind picked up. At 5:58 p.m., Pancho Carter suffered a spectacular crash. His car spun in turn three, air got underneath, and flipped upside-down. The car landed on the pavement on its roll bar, and proceeded to skid about 600 feet (180 m) through the north chute. The car hit the outside wall in turn four, and came to a rest still upside-down. Carter, however,
8378-669: The dirt championship. He competed in USAC's dirt track division in 1974, and won the dirt track championship while competing in both series. Andretti also competed in the North American Formula 5000 series in 1973 and 1974, and finished second in the championship in both seasons. Formula One is the highest form of open-wheel racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's international governing body. Although originating in Europe, by
8520-682: The end of World War II as product of the Treaty of Paris in 1947 and later the Treaty of Osimo in 1975. In 1948, the Andretti family, like many other Istrian Italians at the time, left during the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus . They initially ended up in a refugee camp in Lucca , Italy. In 2013, Andretti told author Paul Stenning : My father left everything behind, we left our home and took what we could carry and went further into Italy. They had to swallow all of these families that were dispersed and they formed all different camps over Italy and we were shipped to
8662-458: The end of the decade, Lola would be one of dominating chassis manufacturers in the paddock displacing March . Andretti won two races in 1983 and finished a strong third in points for the first-year team. In 1984 , Andretti won six races, nine poles and scored a total of 10 top-ten finishes to win Newman/Haas's first CART season championship. In 1985 , Andretti started off with three wins and
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#17328528283578804-413: The end of the season, the burgeoning open-wheel "split" saw Newman/Haas firmly taking the side of the CART contingent. Tracy departed to go back to Penske Michael Andretti and Christian Fittipaldi represented the team together for five seasons with Roberto Moreno driving as an occasional substitute. Andretti won ten races during this period, finishing second in points in 1996 and continued to remain
8946-585: The end of the season. He embarked on a year-long "Arrivederci Mario" tour which celebrated his career. The 1994 season, however, was more maligned for the team. Andretti scored no wins and only three top-five finishes. Mansell slumped as well, scoring no wins and with his contract till the end of 1995, eventually left Indy cars at season's end to return to Formula One after Bernie Ecclestone bought Mansell's contract out. Both Andretti and Mansell had miserable results at Indianapolis in 1994. Mario dropped out and finished 32nd in his final Indy 500 after only 23 laps due to
9088-484: The field, as well as Tony Bettehausen . After suffering two crashes during practice, Tom Sneva finally put a car in the field at over 207 mph (333 km/h). Shortly thereafter, the track closed for the day. The final day of qualifying was held on May 17. At the start of the day, three positions in the starting field were vacant. Steve Chassey was the first driver to attempt to qualify, but waved off after only one lap of 195 mph (314 km/h). Chassey's car,
9230-414: The first time in a 1986 March chassis, powered by an Ilmor Chevrolet Indy V-8 . Plans were being made to withdraw Sullivan's PC-16/Chevrolet from the qualified field, and re-qualify in the year-old March. Meanwhile, Penske was already prepping a third 1986 March for Unser, but his would be powered by a Cosworth engine. Late in the day Geoff Brabham broke a wheel, and slid into the wall in turn three. It
9372-422: The first week of practice, and was unable to qualify during the first weekend of time trials. Unser Sr. had planned to go home to Albuquerque by Monday, if he had not yet secured a ride. But he decided to stay through the week to help his son Unser Jr. get his car up to speed. About a day later, he was approached to drive for Penske. Al Unser Sr.'s Penske Racing teammate Danny Sullivan started taking laps for
9514-452: The following morning, and Rick Mears and Danny Sullivan flipped a coin to see who would drive it. Mears won the toss. The final day of practice before Pole Day was warm and windy. Mario Andretti led the speed chart once again (216.242 mph), but Bobby Rahal was a close second (215.568 mph). Four more crashes occurred, bringing the total for the month to twelve. Tom Sneva crashed exiting turn one. Dick Ferguson crashed for
9656-496: The former, it was their fourth time in an endurance race together as co-drivers. Mario finished seventh in points for the 1991 season, the year that Michael won the championship. Mario's last victory in IndyCar racing came in 1993 at Phoenix International Raceway , the year that Michael left Newman/Haas to race in Formula One. The win made Mario the oldest recorded winner in an IndyCar event (53 years, 34 days old). Andretti qualified on
9798-585: The front of the Formula One grid, culminating in lapping the field in his victory at the season ending race at the Mount Fuji circuit in Japan. Since mid-1975 Lotus had been developing the use of ground effect , shaping the underside of the car to generate downforce with little penalizing drag . For his part, Andretti worked at setting up his cars for the races, exploiting subtle differences in tire size ('stagger') and suspension set up ('cross weighting') on each side of
9940-465: The frustration the Penske team was having so far during the month. While they were having little trouble with the Ilmor Chevrolet engine, the PC-16 chassis was deemed a lemon . Rick Mears and Danny Sullivan were struggling to keep pace, and were rarely amongst the top ten each day on the speed chart. Meanwhile, Mario Andretti continued to top the speed chart, again by 2 mph (3.2 km/h), with
10082-402: The green flag. Cogan bounced off A. J. Foyt, slamming Foyt's steering rod. That contact turned Cogan's car left at a 90-degree angle to the field, where he was promptly T-boned by Mario. Andretti was livid and engaged in a shoving match with Cogan before walking off. In an interview, three minutes after the wreck, an irked Andretti was heard saying "This is what happens when you have children doing
10224-463: The lead by Danny Sullivan in Turn One on lap 20. Immediately after completing the pass, Sullivan spun in front of Andretti. A caution flag for the spin minimized the time Sullivan would lose to Andretti by pitting to replace his tires. Sullivan took the lead for good 20 laps later when he passed Andretti without incident. Andretti dominated the 1987 Indianapolis 500 , leading 170 of the first 177 laps of
10366-528: The lead up to the 2003 Indianapolis 500 , Andretti took to the track for the first time in ten years in a major open-wheel car at the age of 63. He participated in a test session for son Michael's AGR IndyCar team. One of the team's regular drivers, Tony Kanaan , suffered a radial fracture of his arm a week earlier in an April 15 crash at Twin Ring Motegi . If Kanaan was not cleared to drive in enough time, tentative plans were being prepared for Andretti to qualify
10508-475: The middle of the season to do so. When the Parnelli team pulled out of Formula One after two races of the 1976 season , Andretti returned to Chapman's Lotus team, for whom he had already driven at the season-opening Brazilian Grand Prix . Lotus was then at a low point, having failed to produce a competitive car to replace 1970's Lotus 72 . Andretti's ability at developing a racing car contributed to Lotus' return to
10650-465: The most laps, but slipped to 5th due to a penalty and handling problems. Mansell, still largely unfamiliar with rolling re-starts after a safety car period (safety cars would not be introduced into F1 until 1993 ), was passed for the lead on a restart with 16 laps. He later brushed the wall, and finished 3rd behind winner Emerson Fittipaldi and second-placed Arie Luyendyk . In 1994, the attention focused on Mario Andretti who announced he would retire at
10792-426: The offseason, three-time Indy 500 winner ( 1970 , 1971 , 1978 ), and three-time national champion ( 1970 , 1983 , 1985 ) Al Unser Sr. retired from full-time driving duties. Unser had been driving for Penske from 1983 to 1986, and was still interested in driving part-time, particularly at Indianapolis and the other 500-mile races ( Michigan and Pocono ). Meanwhile, businessman and media mogul Ted Field arranged
10934-436: The oldest winner of the Indy 500, a record that still stands as of 2024 . During the month of May, an unusually high 25 crashes occurred during practice and qualifying, with one driver in particular, Jim Crawford , suffering serious leg injuries. Al Unser 's victory is considered one of the biggest upsets in Indianapolis 500 history. Unser, whose driving career was beginning to wind down, had dropped down to part-time status
11076-564: The part. Marco De Cesari and Danilo Piccinini, the owners of the garage, noticed the Andretti brothers' passion for racing and brought them to the Abetone pass to watch a stretch of the Mille Miglia race in 1954 which caused him to become captivated by Italian two-time Formula One world champion Alberto Ascari , who won the race. Later in the same year, Piccinini brought the brothers to the Monza for
11218-471: The period, Andretti did not like the ground effect cars of the time: "the cars were getting absurd, really crude, with no suspension movement whatever. It was toggle switch driving with no need for any kind of delicacy...it made leaving Formula One a lot easier than it would have been." The next year, Andretti raced once for the Williams team, after their driver Carlos Reutemann suddenly quit, before replacing
11360-515: The points with no victories. Da Matta recorded two additional wins for a total of three on the year and would finish fifth. 2002 was a highly successful year for Newman/Haas. Fittipaldi managed to finish fifth in series points for new sponsor Eli Lilly (longtime sponsor Kmart had pulled out of all of its racing sponsorships, including Haas' NASCAR team, following its 2002 bankruptcy) but the season belonged to da Matta. After repeating his feat in Mexico in
11502-428: The points. The 2007 season would prove to be the final season for Champ Car and once again, Bourdais emerged as the champion. He recorded a career-high eight victories, including in five of the last seven events and easily took his fourth straight championship. Graham Rahal joined the team replacing Junqueira and finished fifth in the points, with the best finish of second behind his teammate at Houston. The Houston win
11644-456: The pole at the Michigan 500 later that year with a speed of 234.275 miles per hour (377.029 km/h). The speed was a new closed course world record. Andretti's final season, in 1994, was dubbed "The Arrivederci Tour". He raced in the last of his 407 Indy car races that September. Andretti won once at the Indianapolis 500 in 29 attempts. Andretti has had so many incidents and near victories at
11786-506: The pole position on his debut at the 1968 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen in his Lotus 49 . Andretti drove sporadically in Formula One over the next four years for Lotus, March , and Ferrari , while continuing to focus on his racing career in America. At the 1971 South African Grand Prix , on his debut for Ferrari, he won his first Grand Prix. "That was a big moment, one of those I'll always cherish," recalled Andretti. "Kyalami
11928-488: The powerplant's first Indy car victory. Andretti won one other race but suffered more disappointment than success, including another loss at Indy . Newman/Haas expanded to a two-car team starting in 1989, adding Michael Andretti . The father and son duo of Mario and Michael Andretti excelled as one of the top teams on the Indy car circuit over the next few years. In their first season as teammates, father and son finished 6th and 3rd in points, respectively. Michael Andretti won
12070-418: The process, became the fastest rookie qualifier in the field. With 49 minutes to go before the 6 o'clock gun , George Snider took another Foyt back-up car and bumped out Rocky Moran . It was the fourth Foyt entry to qualify for the field. The move put rookie Dominic Dobson (201.240 mph) on the bubble. Dobson survived attempts by Ed Pimm and Rick Miaskiewicz , and at 5:30 p.m., still clung to
12212-497: The proven Cosworth engine. Rahal was a strong favorite to repeat as winner. For 1987, the Ilmor-Chevrolet 265-A engine expanded its participation in Indy car racing . Penske Racing fielded a three-car effort with the powerplant, while resuming its in-house chassis program. The PC-16 chassis was the primary car for the team, but as a backup, three one-year-old March 86C chassis were also entered. Newman/Haas Racing joined
12354-424: The qualifying battle, placing machines 1st and 3rd, while Cosworth's best car (Rahal) was 2nd. Three more crashes occurred on Sunday May 10, lifting the total for the month to 18. The most serious by Tom Sneva , his second crash in three days. Former winner Gordon Johncock was announced as the replacement for the injured Jim Crawford . Johncock initially retired before the 1985 race, but had tentative plans for
12496-481: The race. His lead was so large, that he was advised to slow his pace to preserve his equipment. In a cruel twist of fate, when Andretti started running slower, his reduced engine rpm's created a harmonic imbalance in his turbocharged Ilmor/Chevrolet V8 that led to a broken valve spring with 20 laps to go. The 1992 Indianapolis 500 was run in extremely cold weather which resulted in a large number of wrecks by cars on cold tires. Andretti accelerated off of turn three for
12638-567: The racing ladder on the East Coast of the United States was to race in sprint cars in the United Racing Club (URC). Andretti was able to get a ride for individual races in the URC sprint car racing series, but was unable to secure a full-time ride. He once drove from Canada to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania hoping to find a ride in an event, but he went empty-handed. He bypassed the series when he
12780-416: The remaining events in place of Junqueira and won at Montreal, bringing his team home in second place. 2006 saw more of the same from Bourdais, as he recorded seven more wins. He won all of the first four races, then added victories at San Jose, Montreal and Mexico City on his way to a third consecutive series championship. Junqueira returned from his injury but failed to win a race, finishing fifth overall in
12922-461: The replacement for the injured Danny Ongais at Penske Racing . Unser took his first laps of the month, driving a newly arrived 1986 March / Cosworth . Unser had entered the month unemployed, and was at the track supporting his son Al Unser Jr. in his efforts at Doug Shierson Racing , all the while shopping around the garage area for a competitive ride for himself. Al Unser Jr. had been struggling to get his 1987 March/Cosworth up to speed during
13064-458: The restart at the end of the 83rd lap. Under acceleration, Mario's car got loose in the middle of turn four and rotated 270 degrees to smash nose first into the wall. Andretti was taken to the hospital with six of his toes broken and would shortly be joined by his son Jeff Andretti who smashed both legs after a wheel came loose on his race car on the 109th lap of the race. Mario would only miss one race due to his injuries, and returned to run 6th in
13206-399: The season in the car. Unable to find sponsorship at the beginning of the season, Graham Rahal was released and the team began the season with only one entry for Hideki Mutoh . Rahal rejoined the team later in the season at Toronto , finishing 5th. Rahal found sponsorship for five additional races. The team began the season with one car, driven by Oriol Servià . Prior to the second race of
13348-419: The season opener, he would later score four consecutive wins by taking the events at Laguna Seca , Portland , Chicago , and Toronto to take a commanding lead in the points. His later wins at Road America and Bayfront Park gave him seven for the year and he finished seventy-three points ahead of second-place Bruno Junqueira in the final points standings. When the 2002 season ended, both drivers departed
13490-513: The season points. He won three 1974 USAC stock car races on road courses, and won four road course races in 1975. Andretti competed in fourteen NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup (now NASCAR Cup Series ) events in his career. He competed in Holman Moody cars for his final ten events. Holman Moody was one of NASCAR's most successful teams at that time, as the team won NASCAR championships in 1968 and 1969 with driver David Pearson . Andretti won
13632-519: The season, James Hinchcliffe was added as a second driver for selected events, including Indianapolis . The team initially planned to run the full 2012 season , going as far as purchasing two Dallara DW12 chassis. However, before the season started, the team announced that they would not compete due to a lack of sponsorship. After briefly entertaining a one-off entry for Jean Alesi at Indianapolis , they withdrew and sold off their cars to Fan Force United . A return in 2013 failed to materialize, and
13774-428: The second time ever). With A. J. Foyt qualifying fourth, it was also the first time that former winners swept the top four positions. Rick Mears surprised observers by putting a year-old car (with only two days of shake-down practice) on the outside of the front row, his record seventh front row start. Veteran Dick Simon enjoyed his first start in the front two rows by qualifying 6th. The Ilmor-Chevy Indy V-8 engine won
13916-460: The second time, and suffered major damage. Gary Bettenhausen spun, and Phil Krueger suffered rear suspension damage after tagging the turn four wall. During morning practice on Saturday May 9, Bobby Rahal led the speed chart at 216.609 mph (348.598 km/h). Mario Andretti was second-fastest. Rick Mears , who only a day earlier stepped into a 1986 March , already had the car up to speed at 213.371 mph (343.387 km/h). Stan Fox
14058-530: The seriously injured Didier Pironi at Ferrari for the last two races of the year. Suspension failure dropped him out of the last race of the season, but at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza he took the pole position and finished third in the race. There was almost a return to F1 for Andretti at the 1984 Detroit Grand Prix when the Renault team put him on standby to replace regular driver Patrick Tambay if
14200-415: The speed charts again, at 216.502 mph (348.426 km/h). A surprising second-fastest was Jim Crawford , driving a Buick -powered 1986 March to a lap of 215.982 mph (347.589 km/h). Cogan , Brayton , and Daly were all driving 1987 March chassis. By mid-week, teams fielding the 1987 March chassis were finding the cars difficult to handle with the new Goodyear radial tires . Coupled with
14342-427: The starting field. Steve Chassey made his third and final allotted attempt. At 202.488 mph (325.873 km/h), he bumped his way into the field by just over 1 mph. Dobson was out, and Sammy Swindell (201.840 mph) was now on the bubble. Ed Pimm , after days of frustration, handling problems, and with the oil light flashing during his run, managed to bump Swindell out. That move dropped Chassey down to
14484-612: The team formally disbanded. ( key ) (results in bold indicate pole position) (results in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) Mario Andretti Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an American former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from 1968 to 1982 . Andretti won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1978 with Lotus , and won 12 Grands Prix across 14 seasons. In American open-wheel racing , Andretti won four IndyCar National Championship titles and
14626-597: The team to drive for McLaren in Formula One for 1993 and was replaced by English driver Nigel Mansell who arrived on the CART circuit with much fanfare. In his rookie season, Mansell, the reigning Formula One World Champion , won five races and had ten top-3 finishes, clinching the 1993 CART title to become the only driver in history to hold both the Formula One and Champ Car titles at the same time. Mario Andretti also returned to victory lane, winning what would be his final Indy car victory at Phoenix. Both Mansell and Andretti were strong contenders at Indianapolis . Andretti led
14768-448: The team was a single-car outfit with championship veteran Mario Andretti , the 1978 Formula One World Champion, hired as lead driver. Team co-owner Carl Haas brought in Lola as chassis manufacturer for the team, re-introducing the constructor to the sport. Haas spearheaded Lola's first full-time, full-scale assault on the Indy car market and the car was quickly picked up by other teams. By
14910-435: The team's original owners have since died; Newman in 2008 and Haas in 2016. Newman/Haas was one of the most successful teams in the history of CART, its drivers winning eight championships and over 100 individual races. The team's drivers over the years included Mario Andretti , Michael Andretti , Nigel Mansell , Paul Tracy , Cristiano da Matta , Sébastien Bourdais , Justin Wilson , and Graham Rahal . At its inception,
15052-533: The team. Fittipaldi became a full-time NASCAR driver following the season while da Matta was offered a lucrative contract to drive one of two cars for Toyota's factory-backed effort in Formula 1 . 2003 was a season of upheaval for CART as a whole. Following the lead of Team Penske the year before, several of the top teams in CART defected to the Indy Racing League . Newman/Haas did not and remained loyal to what
15194-411: The team. Newman/Haas was also the team for which Nigel Mansell competed in CART, winning the 1993 title . Despite their many years of success in Indy car racing, and their status as an elite team in the sport, the team never achieved a victory of any sort at the Indianapolis 500 . Their best finishes were second places by Mario Andretti ( 1985 ) and by Michael Andretti in ( 1991 ). Mansell managed
15336-467: The then-current Brabham Formula 1 design) earned him the race's Rookie of the Year award, and contributed towards Andretti winning the series championship. He was the youngest national champion in series history at age 25. He repeated as series champion in 1966, winning eight of fifteen events. He led every lap of the 1966 Langhorne 100 . He also won the pole at the 1966 Indianapolis 500 . Andretti finished second in IndyCar in 1967 and 1968. He also won
15478-408: The top spot with a run of 213.316 mph (343.299 km/h). Over the next hour and a half, five cars started runs, but all were waved off. By 1 p.m., there were still only two cars in the field. At 1:09 p.m., Mario Andretti took to the track. Despite hot and slick conditions, and gusty winds, Andretti took the pole position with a speed of 215.390 mph (346.637 km/h). Andretti's run
15620-425: The track at an unofficial track record of 218.204 mph (351.165 km/h). It made him the favorite for the pole position. The next fastest time, turned in by Bobby Rahal was a full 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h) slower. The second crash of the month occurred, involving Dennis Firestone . He spun and crashed in turn four, breaking bones in his left foot and fracturing his left leg, eventually this crash with
15762-415: The track for his first stint of laps at speed. At night, the first significant rain in many days washed the track of some rubber buildup. Mario Andretti (211.714 mph) was the fastest car of the day. Penske Racing driver Danny Ongais was officially withdrawn from his entry. Following his crash on May 7, Ongais was diagnosed with a concussion , and was not medically cleared to drive. No replacement
15904-443: The track that critics have dubbed the family's performance after Mario's 1969 Indianapolis 500 victory the " Andretti Curse ". Andretti finished all 500 miles (800 km) just five times, including his 1969 Indianapolis 500 victory. Andretti was the first driver to exceed 200 miles per hour (320 km/h) while practicing for the 1977 Indianapolis 500 . In 1969, after 4 years of bad luck and 4 non-finishes, Andretti dominated
16046-406: The transitional teams, Newman/Haas experienced mixed results getting up to speed compared to some of the established IndyCar counterparts but did achieve two victories during the course of the season. Justin Wilson led much of the race at St. Petersburg and Graham Rahal ended up winning the race. At the final Champ Car race at Long Beach, both cars dropped out. A month later, both cars crashed out at
16188-427: The twins had even yet seen a car. In 1945, at age five, he and Aldo were racing their hand-crafted wooden cars through the steep streets of their hometown. The brothers were later hired by a garage to park cars. In his autobiography, What's It Like Out There , published in 1970, Andretti described the experience, writing, "The first time I fired up a car, felt the engine shudder and the wheel come to life in my hands, I
16330-409: The wall in turn 2 during a practice run, upping the total to 15 accidents during the month. Late in the day, several veterans took to the track in an attempt to qualify. Among the fastest were Roberto Guerrero and Arie Luyendyk . Shortly after 5 p.m., A. J. Foyt qualified in 4th position, extending his streak to a record thirty consecutive Indy 500 races. With reluctance, Danny Sullivan completed
16472-424: The warmer temperatures, and often windy conditions, many teams were finding the search for speed difficult. Breezy conditions continued on Thursday. The most serious crash of the month to date occurred less than an hour into the day. Danny Ongais , driving the third Penske entry, crashed hard into the outside wall in turn 4. He suffered a concussion and was sidelined for the rest of the month. The crash added to
16614-535: The young Italian Elio de Angelis , and briefly with test driver Nigel Mansell , but the team was again unsuccessful. For the 1981 season, Andretti decided to move to the Alfa Romeo team run by Carlo Chiti . Although the car was reasonably competitive (Andretti finished fourth on his debut with the team in Long Beach ), a general lack of reliability resulted in yet another unsuccessful campaign. Like other drivers of
16756-399: Was "nerve-wracking", inconsistent, and at times he lost traction, but the battle for the pole was settled. After Andretti's run, sparse activity took place until late in the day. Most teams stayed off the track altogether. Veteran drivers, Johnny Rutherford and Dick Simon managed successful runs, and filled the field to five cars. Jim Crawford , a darkhorse favorite for the front row in
16898-459: Was Newman/Haas' 100th in the series. Before the season ended, Scuderia Toro Rosso of Formula 1 announced that Bourdais had signed to drive as teammate to Sebastian Vettel for the team beginning in 2008. Justin Wilson was tabbed to replace him, but he would do so in the IndyCar Series as the two organizations unified during the offseason. Though several CART-based teams had returned to the Indianapolis 500 beginning in 2000, Newman/Haas resisted
17040-431: Was a factor most of the afternoon, leading the most laps (72). While leading on lap 134, Andretti was penalized for entering the pits while they were closed. A stop-and-go penalty dropped him only down to second place. In the final 50 laps, he began developing handling problems because of his tires, and slid down the standings to finish 5th. Andretti's last race at Indy was the 1994 Indianapolis 500 . On April 23, 2003, in
17182-534: Was a fun circuit to drive with lots of elevation changes and Ferrari gave me equal equipment to my teammates. It was a good weekend." Three weeks later, at the non-championship Questor Grand Prix in the U.S., he brought the Italian team a second victory. The day before the Questor GP, he had finished 9th in the Indy car race at Phoenix International Raceway. At the end of the season, Ferrari called Andretti and made him
17324-517: Was convinced that he had found the new driver for his team. The two stayed together for six years. Andretti finished eleventh in the USAC National Championship that season. Andretti won his first championship car race at the Hoosier Grand Prix on a road course at Indianapolis Raceway Park in 1965. His third-place finish at the 1965 Indianapolis 500 in the Brawner Hawk (a mechanical copy of
17466-418: Was given a chance to run for Newman/Haas at Indianapolis in the team's return to the 500; Junqueira went on to finish fifth and lead 16 laps in the rain-shortened event. 2005 started out great for Newman/Haas as the team won the first two races. Bourdais took victory at Long Beach while Junqueira won at Monterrey. However, things took a bad turn as the team raced at Indianapolis. Junqueira crashed and suffered
17608-457: Was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana , on Sunday May 24, 1987. After dominating practice, qualifying, and most of the race, leader Mario Andretti slowed with mechanical problems with only 23 laps to go. Five laps later, Al Unser Sr. assumed the lead, and won his record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500 victory. At age 47, just days short of his 48th birthday, Unser became
17750-676: Was hooked. It was a feeling I can't describe. I still get it every time I get into a race car." Andretti's first racing experience was in a new youth racing league called Formula Junior in Ancona , Italy, when he was thirteen years old. Years later, in an interview during an RRDC Evening with Mario Andretti , Andretti implied that he and his brother made up the story of racing in the Formula Junior league when they moved to Pennsylvania to improve their chances of competing in dirt track racing because, having purchased racing suits in Italy, they looked
17892-514: Was hospitalised and died that night from complications resulting from his injuries. Andretti found little success after 1978 in Formula One ;– he failed to win another grand prix. He had a difficult year in 1979, as the new Lotus 80 was not competitive, and the team had to rely on the Lotus 79 which had been overtaken by the second generation of ground effect cars. In 1980, he was paired with
18034-456: Was involved in the 13th crash of the month, when he spun out of turn three and tapped the inside wall. Hot, slick, and windy conditions were observed during pole day. Many teams who had struggled during the week with handling problems, sat idle on pole day, waiting for better track conditions. The first two cars waved off, and Rick Mears became the first car in the field at 211.467 mph (340.323 km/h). Bobby Rahal tentatively secured
18176-470: Was new to Formula One, although it had been successful in both Formula 5000 and IndyCar racing in America with Andretti driving. The team had run Andretti in the two North American end-of-season races in 1974 with promising results. Andretti qualified fourth and led the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix for nine laps before his suspension failed. He scored five championship points in the season. Andretti continued to compete in IndyCar, missing two Formula One races in
18318-455: Was not seriously injured. His helmet had three major scrapes from rubbing along the pavement. Carter later proudly showed off the helmet, showing where he had rotated his head to spread the abrasion damage. High winds kept the speeds down. Dennis Firestone and Roberto Guerrero tied for fast lap of the day (211.565 mph), while Mario Andretti was third. Tuesday saw the fastest lap in Indy history to date. Mario Andretti blistered
18460-462: Was now called the Champ Car World Series. Not only was there a significant amount of team turnover but both Honda and Toyota also departed for the IRL leaving Ford as the only manufacturer. Newman/Haas also needed a new sponsor as ChevronTexaco, the parent company of Havoline, chose not to continue sponsoring the team. They signed PacifiCare as a new sponsor and also brought in McDonald's as initially
18602-541: Was offered a full-time ride in a United States Automobile Club sprint car for 1964. Andretti won the 1964 Joe James-Pat O'Connor Memorial USAC sprint car race at Salem Speedway in Salem, Indiana . Andretti continued to race in USAC sprint cars after moving into champ cars. In 1965 he won once at Ascot Park , and finished tenth in the season points. In 1966 he won five times ( Cumberland, Maryland , Oswego, New York , Rossburg, Ohio , Phoenix, Arizona , and his second win at
18744-433: Was penalized one lap for passing cars under a caution flag, and Andretti was declared the winner. Unser and his car owner Roger Penske appealed the race stewards' decision. USAC overturned the one lap penalty four months later, and penalized Unser with a $ 40,000 fine. At the start of the 1982 Indianapolis 500 , second-year driver Kevin Cogan , teammate to polesitter Rick Mears , suddenly spun right when accelerating for
18886-422: Was seriously hurt near the end of the season, and their parents were unhappy to find out that the twins were racing. Mario had 21 modified stock car wins in 46 races in 1960 and 1961. Andretti became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1964. He competed in United States Auto Club (USAC) stock car events in 1965, and finished twelfth in the season points. He won a USAC Stock Car race in 1967, and finished seventh in
19028-420: Was sitting next to me and I asked her what should I do and she said 'double it.' And Mr. Ferrari agreed. The next day I got a telex from him saying 'Let's just leave things alone' because he'd just had a visit from Colin (who'd) followed me to Maranello and raised hell with Mr. Ferrari. Can you imagine? So I told Colin he'd always been good to me but you don't want an unhappy driver. Then I told him I wanted $ 10,000
19170-407: Was the 19th crash of the month. Al Unser Jr. , after two weeks of struggling with speed, led the non-qualified cars at 208.913 mph (336.213 km/h). Mario Andretti continued to practice in his back-up car, posting the fourth-fastest speed of the day. Two single-car crashes by Johnny Parsons and Rick Miaskiewicz respectively, brought the total of the month to 21 crashes. Parsons suffered
19312-424: Was the 24th crash of the month. After the crash, the track stayed mostly quiet until 4:45 p.m. Steve Chassey made his second attempt to qualify, but again waved off following three, slow, inconsistent laps. Rocky Moran was next, and despite only a 199 mph (320 km/h) average, he completed his run. Dominic Dobson and Davy Jones (driving for Foyt Racing ) then filled the field to 33 cars. Jones in
19454-413: Was the first car on the track. A somewhat light day of activity saw several drivers pass their rookie tests. Michael Andretti posted the fastest lap of the day, at 210.772 mph (339.205 km/h). His father Mario , however, did not take any laps. The second day of practice saw increased activity. Mario Andretti posted the fastest lap of the day at 213.371 mph (343.387 km/h). Later in
19596-478: Was the first series title for the second year team. In August 1986, Andretti won the Pocono 500 , in his 14th attempt to win at the track near his Pennsylvania home. It gave Andretti 500-mile Indy car wins at Indianapolis , Michigan , and Pocono . Mario's son Michael joined Newman/Haas in 1989. Together, they made history as the first father/son team to compete in both IMSA GT and Champ Car racing. With regard to
19738-712: Was to race in single-seater open-wheel cars. Andretti said "Aldo and I were winning in the modifieds. But my objective was to get into open-wheelers." Andretti raced midget cars from 1961 to 1963. He started racing 3/4 (sized) midget cars in the American Three Quarter Midget Racing Association in the winter to be seen by full-sized midget car owners. He raced in over one hundred events in 1963. Andretti won three feature races at two different tracks on Labor Day in 1963. He won an afternoon feature at Flemington, New Jersey , and swept twin features at Hatfield, Pennsylvania . The next rung on
19880-650: Was unable to obtain the FIA Superlicense required to allow him to race in Formula One, the drive went to Eddie Cheever . Andretti had continued to race, and occasionally win, in the USAC National Championship during his time in the Formula One world championship. In 1979 a new organization, Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), had set up the IndyCar World Series as a rival to the USAC National Championships that Andretti had won three times in
20022-492: Was widely overshadowed as a highly disappointing defeat. Andretti lost the race to Danny Sullivan . In 1986 , Andretti suffered a crash during practice at Indianapolis , forcing him to start in a back-up car. He dropped out and finished 32nd. Andretti went on to win two races and finished 5th in points. For 1987 , the team switched to the Ilmor Chevy Indy V-8 powerplant. Andretti won the season opener at Long Beach ,
20164-419: Was yet announced, but Al Unser was rumored as the choice. Track activity was leisurely, with Mario Andretti leading the speed chart at 212.916 in a back-up car. Rookie Fabrizio Barbazza was the fastest driver not yet qualified at 206.091. Dominic Dobson , another rookie, used the afternoon to finish the final phases of his rookie test. Three-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser Sr. was officially announced as
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