Misplaced Pages

#820179

96-458: 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

192-544: 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

288-406: 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

384-546: 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

480-699: 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

576-446: 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

672-409: 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

768-490: 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

864-476: 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

960-529: 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

1056-575: 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

SECTION 10

#1732791857821

1152-412: 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

1248-490: 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

1344-437: 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

1440-529: 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

1536-556: 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

1632-408: 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

1728-421: 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

1824-501: 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

1920-467: 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

2016-633: 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,

SECTION 20

#1732791857821

2112-544: 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

2208-651: 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

2304-550: 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

2400-464: 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

2496-771: 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

2592-588: 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

2688-493: 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

2784-581: 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

2880-523: 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

2976-552: 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

Newman/Haas Racing - Misplaced Pages Continue

3072-600: 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

3168-525: 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

3264-447: 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

3360-476: 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

3456-571: 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

3552-528: 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 Too Many Requests If you report this error to

3648-656: 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

3744-520: 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

3840-802: 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

3936-694: 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

Newman/Haas Racing - Misplaced Pages Continue

4032-690: 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

4128-464: 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

4224-413: 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

4320-585: 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

4416-501: 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

4512-595: 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

4608-402: 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

4704-468: 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

4800-534: 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

4896-480: 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

SECTION 50

#1732791857821

4992-465: 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

5088-579: 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

5184-476: 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

5280-519: 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

5376-428: 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

5472-461: 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

5568-511: 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

5664-488: 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

5760-481: 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

5856-584: 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

SECTION 60

#1732791857821

5952-416: 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

6048-458: 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

6144-399: 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

6240-419: 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

6336-519: 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

6432-519: 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

6528-543: 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

6624-623: 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

6720-597: 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

6816-452: 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

6912-435: 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,

7008-546: 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

7104-411: 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

7200-467: 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

7296-443: 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

7392-406: 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

7488-427: 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

7584-547: 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

7680-459: 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

7776-431: 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

7872-545: 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

7968-531: 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

8064-418: 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

8160-687: 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

8256-526: 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

8352-470: 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

8448-467: 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

8544-545: 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

8640-433: 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

8736-497: 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

8832-420: 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

8928-482: 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

9024-730: 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

9120-678: 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

9216-501: 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 ,

#820179