He is, after all, Mario Andretti, one of the most accomplished racing drivers of all time, the only man to have won the Formula One World Championship, the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500, the 12 Hours of Sebring (three times) and the Pikes Peak Hillclimb. Throw in four American National Championships, an IROC crown and membership in three Halls of Fame, then remember that in addition to being the USA’s most prolific Grand Prix winner, and its most recent GP victor, he’s also the only American ever to win a United States Grand Prix. His 53 Indycar victories rank second only to A.J. Foyt, he’s the only man named U.S. Driver of the Year in three different decades, as well as being honored as Driver of the Century at the turn of the Millennium. This year marks the 45th anniversary of his 1969 Indy 500 win—six weeks or so before the Apollo XI mission—but the unfathomable aspect of that triumph is its singularity. He had several other excellent opportunities for victory both before and after that memorable Memorial Day, but the record shows only the one. Fortunately, the day before his 74th birthday he took some time to discuss those Indy experiences with VR Associate Editor John Zimmermann.
You came on the Indycar scene just as the transition from roadsters to rear-engined cars was happening, did you have any difficulty adapting to rear-engined cars?
