Mario Andretti

People note victories of Italian-born American racecar driver Mario Andretti in the Daytona 500 of 1967 and Indianapolis 500 of 1969.

Mario Gabriele Andretti of the most successful in the history retired of the automobile sport. Only he and Dan Gurney won in all major motor categories: Formula One, IndyCar, World Sportscar Championship, and National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. He also won in midget, sprint, and drag.

During career, Andretti won four IndyCar titles, the world championship of Formula One in 1978, and international race of champions VI. Only he and Juan Pablo Montoya won in the Sprint Cup series of National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Formula One, and more. Since the Dutch Grand Prix of 1978, no compatriot won a Formula One. Andretti had 109 career wins on major circuits.

Andretti had a long career. He was 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 to win on road courses, paved ovals, and dirt tracks in one season, a feat that he accomplished four times. With his final IndyCar win in April 1993, Andretti became the first to win IndyCar in four different decades and the first to win automobile of any kind in five.

In American popular culture, his name has become synonymous with speed, similar to Barney Oldfield in the early twentieth century and Stirling Moss in the United Kingdom.