Mario Andretti

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia   Mario Gabriele Andretti born February 28 1940 is a retired Italian American world champion racing driver one of the most successful Americans in the history of the sport He is one of only two drivers to win races in Formula One IndyCar World Sportscar Championship and NASCAR the other being Dan Gurney He also won races in midget cars sprint cars and drag racing During his career Andretti won four IndyCar titles three under USACsanctioning one under CART the 1978 Formula One World Championship and IROC VI To date he remains the only driver ever 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 Sprint Cup Series Formula One and an Indianapolis 500 No American has won a Formula One race since Andrettis victory at the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix Andretti had 109 career wins on major circuits Andretti had a long career in racing 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 drivers to win races 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 driver to win IndyCar races in four different decades and the first to win automobile races 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 Description above from the Wikipedia article Mario Andretti licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia