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89-398: The facility is often linked to local drivers Mario and Michael Andretti 's early racing careers. It was also associated with Frankie Schneider due to his large number of wins on the two dirt tracks. As of November 2015, the site was purchased by Raceway Properties LLC under David Jaindl. There are no current plans to return racing to the facility. As of 2024 the track is abandoned and in

178-595: A 2.5-mile course in Speedway, Indiana , the Indianapolis 500-mile race and IndyCar from the Hulman Family for an undisclosed amount. As of October 2023, Penske's estimated net worth is $ 3.8 billion. Penske Racing donated $ 500,000 to Restore Our Future , Mitt Romney 's Super PAC . He was discussed as a potential candidate for Mayor of Detroit but declined to run. Penske endorsed Donald Trump in

267-406: A crowd of 11,000 spectators. In 1952, Jerry Fried purchased the fairgrounds. He continued the racing, and added in additional events, such as demolition derbies . The track was also the location of one of the first enduro races on the east coast. The 1 ⁄ 2 mile track continued to operate weekly during the closing of the large track from 1971 to 1982. In the time period the short track

356-534: A devout Episcopalian family, Penske was heavily involved with his church as a boy, singing in the church's choir and serving in the ministry as an acolyte . His father, Jay, was a successful corporate executive for a metal fabrication company and encouraged his son to become an entrepreneur. As a teenager he bought older cars, repaired them and sold them at a profit from his family's home in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from Shaker Heights High School in 1955 and

445-544: 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

534-699: 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

623-446: 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

712-409: 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

801-577: A nearby grocery store in 1988. The 1 ⁄ 2 mile dirt track was constructed in the 1900s as a horse racing track. The first automotive events held at the location were not racing, instead it was a sport called auto polo . Following the Great Depression the first large race that happened at the small track would be held in 1947 by the American Automobile Association . The race included 35 cars, and attracted

890-403: A new track on the footprint of the old 1 1 ⁄ 8 mile dirt oval. At the same time, he sold the section of the property that held the old 1 ⁄ 2 mile track to the owners of Laneco, a former grocery store chain. Laneco built a new store on the site of the original track, which is now home to a Giant grocery store. Penske's new track opened as Pennsylvania International Raceway in

979-490: 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

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1068-476: 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

1157-529: 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

1246-575: 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

1335-412: 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

1424-609: A significant stake in publicly-traded Penske Automotive Group , an international company that operates automobile dealerships in the United States, Canada, and parts of Europe; Penske Truck Leasing , a truck sales, leasing, and fleet maintenance company; Penske Motor Group which operates auto dealerships in California and Texas. On November 4, 2019, Penske acquired the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ,

1513-408: 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

1602-721: A song about a season of racing concluding at Nazareth Speedway titled "Speedway At Nazareth". The song appears on Knopfler's second solo album, Sailing to Philadelphia . 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

1691-510: A state of disrepair with much of the track's infrastructure (such as grandstands) having been removed. The track's racing surface still exists though it is in disrepair. Nazareth Speedway started as a horse racing track farther up in the center of the town in the 1850s known as the Northampton County Agricultural Fairgrounds. As the crowds grew, the location grew too crowded to remain in the center of

1780-950: Is a 1959 graduate of Lehigh University , where he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. Penske's first racing venture was in hillclimbing, but then ran road course racing at the Vineland Raceway in Vineland, New Jersey , as a member of the Philadelphia Region of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) in Porsches . Penske made his first professional racing start at the now-abandoned Marlboro Motor Raceway in Upper Marlboro, Maryland . Sports Illustrated named him SCCA Driver of

1869-574: Is an American auto racing team owner, businessman, and retired professional driver. Penske is the owner of Team Penske , the Indianapolis Motor Speedway , IndyCar , and other auto racing-related businesses. Penske is the founder and chairman of the Penske Corporation , a holding company for his various businesses. Penske is also a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. Penske was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio , in 1937. Born to

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1958-574: 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,

2047-467: Is restricted. Historical Google Earth imagery shows that by May 2008, large piles of earth were erected at various points around the track to prevent use of the racing surface. Images as of September 2020 show those piles remain in place, though show signs of weathering. Although the track closed in 2004, it is still featured in the EA Sports video games NASCAR SimRacing , NASCAR 2005: Chase for

2136-604: 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

2225-591: 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

2314-550: 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

2403-626: The 24 Hours of Daytona . He developed one of the most successful teams in IndyCar Series and NASCAR racing. He is the most successful team owner at the Indianapolis 500 with 20 victories. He is known by his nickname of "The Captain". Penske also served as a race strategist for his IndyCar team, most recently for driver Will Power . Penske won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship with driver Brad Keselowski on November 18, 2012. On September 16, 2018, driver Brad Keselowski won

2492-771: 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 emigrated 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

2581-493: 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

2670-581: 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

2759-523: 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

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2848-552: 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

2937-533: The August 24, 1968 modified event, and won the race by lapping all drivers except Schneider. USAC Dirt Champ cars raced at the track on July 13, 1968. The race was won by Al Unser , who beat local driver Mario Andretti . Mario Andretti won the USAC dirt champ car race in 1969. In addition, Rags Carter won four consecutive events. Buzzie Reutimann won a 150 lap race in 1971. Frankie Schneider won eleven races total at

3026-472: The Cup , NASCAR 06: Total Team Control , NASCAR 07 , NASCAR 08 (PS2) , and NASCAR 09 (PS2) , which are based on the 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 NASCAR seasons, respectively. For the 2006-2009 games, the track was considered a fantasy track. In November 2015, Raceway Properties LLC purchased the property. As part of the offer, there is a clause that states that racing remains banned from returning to

3115-600: 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

3204-464: 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

3293-476: 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

3382-532: The South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway , giving Penske his 500th race victory as an owner across all racing series. Later the same season, Joey Logano would clinch the championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway , winning Penske his second championship in the Cup series. Penske is chairman of Penske Corporation , based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan . Some of the company's holdings include

3471-627: 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

3560-555: The Year in 1961. He competed in two Formula One Grands Prix and won a NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model race at Riverside in 1963. He never ran the Indianapolis 500 : he was offered a rookie test at Indianapolis with the Dean Van Lines team. Penske continued racing until 1965, when he retired as a driver, to concentrate on his first Chevrolet dealership in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . Penske Racing debuted in 1966 at

3649-522: 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. Roger Penske Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937)

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3738-593: 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

3827-520: 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

3916-802: 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

4005-643: 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

4094-690: 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

4183-405: The event - he had the fastest qualifying time, won his heat race, and won the feature event. The event turned out to be the only event at the track in the season. The track held nine events in 1967, which was the most events the track hosted in one season. Schneider won five of the races. In 1968, the track hosted five modified events. Schneider won three of them. Al Tasnady started near last in

4272-431: The facility underwent improvements, including a new retaining wall, catch fence , and new grandstands. The paved track opened in 1987 and closely resembled the 1.125-mile dirt track layout. However, the length was shortened, and the turns were reconfigured to widen the radii. Though advertised as a 1-mile tri-oval, it actually measured less than one mile in length. The banking varied between 2.7° and 6.0°. The back straight

4361-434: The fall of 1987. It was paved in asphalt, and had very modest banking. The elevation change during the lap was significant, as the backstretch ran steeply downhill for a drop of approximately 30 feet. The remainder of the track trekked mostly uphill. It was the first racing oval to feature a warm-up lane to enter and exit the pits, designed in part by driver Rick Mears . In 1993, the track was renamed Nazareth Speedway. In 1997,

4450-501: 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

4539-595: 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

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4628-402: 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

4717-468: 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

4806-534: 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

4895-480: 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

4984-579: 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

5073-476: 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

5162-461: 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

5251-511: 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

5340-536: The property. The property is currently zoned as general commercial property, with the most recent plans being to convert sections to residential zoning and build a warehouse for local business, C. F. Martin & Company . The unofficial fastest all-time track record on the reconfigured 0.946-mile Oval is 0:18.419 seconds, set by Patrick Carpentier in a Reynard 98I , during qualifying for the 1998 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix . The fastest official race lap records at Nazareth Speedway are listed as: Mark Knopfler wrote

5429-481: 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

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5518-584: 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

5607-458: 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

5696-519: 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

5785-543: 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

5874-411: The speedway was severely limited, and reopening as a professional motorsports facility was highly unlikely. As of May 2007, the grandstands, signage and all visible structures at the racetrack have been removed. The disassembled grandstands were transported and erected at Watkins Glen and Michigan International Speedway. The track remains fenced off and access to any part of the track or land surrounding it

5963-467: 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

6052-460: The town. Around 1900, a new 1 ⁄ 2 mile dirt track was constructed at the current location between Route 191 and 248. The site began hosting motor racing events in the 1910s. In 1966, an additional 1 1 ⁄ 8 mile dirt track was added. In 1987, the Penske-owned paved speedway replaced the big track and the small track was demolished and the site was replaced by the expanding of

6141-443: 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

6230-504: The track, the most of any driver. In 1971, the large track was closed, and would remain closed until facility was purchased by Lindy Vicari in 1982. Vicari cleared eleven years of plant growth, refurbished the facilities, and shortened the bigger track to a one-mile (1.6 km) dirt oval. His idea was to host a series of high-paying special events for USAC’s Championship Dirt Cars and Modifieds. The races that he staged there drew big crowds, large competition, and much acclaim. Maintaining

6319-427: 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

6408-412: The two dirt tracks turned out to be a larger financial burden than expected, and Vicari closed the two tracks. Brightbill’s $ 50,000 victory in a 125-mile Modified contest on October 9, 1983, was the last race that was run there under Vicari’s direction. The facility remained closed for three years. The facility and a large amount of property behind it was purchased by Roger Penske in 1986. Penske built

6497-547: 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

6586-506: Was 1200 feet and main straight was 800 feet. Participants were known to exploit the inaccurate measurement for fuel strategy, knowing that they were running a shorter distance than officially advertised. In 1997, for fairness and accuracy, the track was remeasured by the CART sanctioning body, and was advertised as 0.946 miles (1.52 km) in length. The race, which had been 200 laps, was increased to 225 laps for time value purposes. This length

6675-431: 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

6764-596: 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

6853-531: 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

6942-687: 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

7031-526: 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

7120-470: 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

7209-545: 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

7298-406: Was open, Buzzie Reutimann won 33 races, leading to the 1972 and 1973 track titles. During Roger Penske's ownership in 1988, the track was sold to nearby Laneco supermarket and demolished. The big track was opened in April 1966, as a five-turn 1.125 mi (1.811 km) dirt track named Nazareth National Speedway. The track featured modified races. Frankie Schneider had a clean sweep at

7387-433: 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

7476-497: 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

7565-420: 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

7654-482: 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

7743-730: 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

7832-678: 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

7921-524: Was used between 1997 and the last CART race in 2001. The IRL used in 2002, 2003 and 2004 a length of 0.935 miles (1.504 km) for timing and scoring. However, NASCAR stayed to a length of exactly 1 mile till closing in 2004. Although the Nazareth Speedway hosted rather successful Busch Series and CART events, new owner ISC closed the facility in late 2004. The races were replaced with events at Watkins Glen , another ISC-owned track. Access to

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