Andretti Family - Mario Andretti - Indy 500 Troubles

Indy 500 Troubles

1966: Mario avoided the massive 11-car pileup on the start, and led 16 laps. However, despite the thinned-out field, he dropped out after only 27 laps with a bad valve.

1967: Mario lost a wheel and droped out after only 58 laps.

1968: Mario droped out after only 2 laps with a bad piston, and finished in last place. A few minutes later, he climbed into his teammate, Larry Dickson's car to drive relief. He did not fare any better, as that car dropped out after 24 laps with another bad piston.

1969: Mario switched to the Granatelli team for 1969. Granatelli had suffered heartbreaking misfortune in 1967 and 1968 with their Turbine-powered machines. Both years, they lost the lead in the final laps when the machines failed to finish. For 1969, he abandoned the Turbine program. During practice, Mario wrecked his revolutionary 4-wheel drive Lotus, suffering burns to his face. A week later, he climbed into his back up car and still managed to qualify for the front row. His twin brother Aldo stood in for him for qualifying pictures. Despite the incident, Mario went on to win the race in impressive fashion. Aldo, however, was not as fortunate, as less than three months later, he suffered a severely fractured face in a career-ending sprint car accident. In victory lane, an ecstatic Andy Granatelli rushed to greet his winner. After several years of heartbreak, he grabbed the victorious Mario and planted a kiss on his cheek. Some have pointed at that moment as the impetus of the curse.

1970: Attempting to defend his victory, Mario qualified in the dreaded "8-ball spot." (8th starting position was considered bad luck at the time; no driver had ever won the race from that grid position and wouldn't until 1984, a ironically Danny Sullivan was the first one to do it by winning over 2nd place Mario in 1985). On about lap 28, Mario was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop due to loose bodywork. He rejoined the race, but lost many positions. He led no laps, and finished a lap down in 6th place.

1971: Mario wrecks out in turn 3 after 11 laps, placing 30th.

1972: Mario joins "Super Team" Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing, he runs out of fuel with 6 laps to go and falls to 8th place.

1973: At the start, a massive crash involving Salt Walther halts the race. Two days later, the race finally gets going, but Mario completes only 4 laps and drops out with a bad piston. Incidentally, Andy Granatelli, for whom Andretti no longer drove, was the winning co-owner along with U. E. Patrick, who Mario would later drive for in 1981-1982.

1974: Mario suffers yet another early drop out, completing only 2 laps. He dropped out with a bad valve, and finished 31st.

1975: Despite racing regularly in Formula One, Mario skips the Belgian Grand Prix to race at Indy. Early on, his car stalls several times while trying to leave the pits, and he lost several laps. He would eventually crash out on the backstretch when a mechanical failure sent his car spinning into the inside wall.

1976: Mario is running a full schedule again in Formula One for 1976, but chooses to race at Indy once again in his first of four starts for car owner Roger Penske in the next 5 years. The Belgian Grand Prix is held the same weekend as pole day time trials, so the conflict prevents Mario from a chance at the pole. On the second weekend of qualifying, he posts the fastest overall speed in the field, but as luck would have it, he is forced to start deep in the field as a third-day qualifier. On race day, Mario was a lap down in 8th when the officials called the race for rain on lap 102.

1977: Another busy schedule finds Mario squeezing in Indy right after Monaco. He drops out and finishes 26th.

1978: Mario squeezed in another attempt at Indy during his full-time Formula One effort. Mario plans to qualify at Indy during the first weekend of time trials (which was an off-week for F1). He is quickly up to speed during practice, running an "unofficial" track record of 203.482 mph. He went into the weekend as a favorite for the pole, but the first two days of time trials were rained out. He was forced to leave and go back to Europe for the Belgian Grand Prix. During the second weekend of time trials, Mike Hiss was drafted as a substitute, and qualified the car for Mario (he qualified 8th fastest). Mario himself won at Belgium. On race day, Mario got back in the cockpit and the car was moved to the back of the field due to the driver change. Early in the race, Andretti lost 8 laps when he had to make a long pit stop to change a spark plug wire. He was effectively out of contention very early on, and wound up 15 laps down at the finish.

1979: Monaco and Indy are held the same day, therefore Mario was forced to skip the 1979 Indy 500.

1980: No date conflict in 1980 allows Mario to try Indy again during a Formula One off-week. Much of the same though, as he drops out and finishes 20th in his final start for Roger Penske.

1981: Driving an STP sponsored car owned by U. E. Patrick, Mario finished 2nd in the 1981 race, eight seconds behind winner and former teammate from 1980 Bobby Unser. The following day Unser was penalized one lap for passing cars under a caution flag, and Mario 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, restoring Unser as the winner.

1982: Mario had firmly returned to race full-time in the CART series. At the start, Mario was tangled up in the infamous Kevin Cogan, who ironically took recently retired defending champion Bobby Unser's place driving for car owner Roger Penske, crash, and was out of the race before the green flag.

1983: Mario joins the new Newman/Haas Racing team, with co-owners Carl Haas and Paul Newman. Johnny Parsons spun in front of him in turn one, he was collected, and both cars crashed hard into the wall.

1984: On his first qualifying lap, Mario set a one-lap track record, and appeared on his way to a front row starting position. On the fourth and final qualifying lap, his car quit coming off of turn four, and he coasted across the finish line. He dropped to 6th starting position. On race day, he was in contention to win most of the afternoon, but a broken exhaust pipe was causing his engine to lose rpms. On lap 153, he came into the pits for a routine stop, but Josele Garza cut in front of him down the pit lane, made contact, and damaged Mario's nosecone. The car was too damaged to continue, and he was out of the race (17th finishing position), and Rick Mears, driving for car owner Roger Penske, won by two laps.

1985: Danny Sullivan, driving for car owner Roger Penske, passes Mario for the lead on the 120th lap, but immediately spins. Andretti somehow avoids contact and regains the lead. Both drivers pit under the ensuing caution. About 20 laps later, Sullivan passes Mario again, this time cleanly, to go on for the win. Mario had described the 1985 race as his "best chance to win" perhaps in his career, but managed only a disappointing, and somewhat distant, 2nd place.

1986: After qualifying 5th on pole day, Mario badly wrecked his car in a mid-week practice run. The car was sent to England for repairs, but didn't make it back in time. On race day, he was forced to start an unproven back-up car at the rear of the field. The car lasted only 19 laps, and he finished 32nd.

1987: Mario dominated the 1987 event, and in fact, the entire month of May. He won the pole position, the pit stop contest, and led the daily practice speed chart every day he took practice laps. Driving the new Ilmor Chevy Indy V-8, He led 170 of the first 177 laps, giving up the lead only during pit stops sequences. He had such a big lead that he backed off, but the reduced revs created a harmonic imbalance in his Ilmor/Chevrolet engine that led to a broken valve spring with 20 laps to go. Al Unser, of the rival Unser family driving for car owner Roger Penske, won his record-tying fourth Indy 500 after Andretti's, and later Roberto Guerrero's, who ironically drove an STP sponsored car owned by Andy Granatelli's son Vince, misfortunes.

1988: Mario was the fastest driver in practice all week, leading the charts at 221.565 mph. On the morning of pole day, he drove a practice lap of 220.372 mph, second only to Rick Mears (222.827 mph). Mario drew the coveted first qualifying attempt, but his qualifying speed was curiously slow and disappointing (214.692 mph). On race day, his car was plagued with problems. About 30 laps into the race, a gearbox bearing failed and created an oil leak. A long pit stop was needed to make repairs. Later in the race, an ignition problem forced another series of long pit stops to change various electrical components. With the leaders at lap 170, Mario was about 50 laps down, when the team finally called the day quits with a dead engine. Mario was credited with 118 laps in 20th place.

1989: Around the halfway mark, Mario was forced to the pits with a throttle problem. After losing several laps, Mario returned to the track after repairs. Mario found himself running at the finish, albeit 7 laps down in 4th place, which is considered an unusually large deficit for fourth place in the modern era. The 1989 race marked the first year he was teamed-up with his son Michael, who blew an engine while leading.

1990: Mario was running as high as third until his second pit stop. He pitted on lap 45, but as he was exiting the pits, the caution flag came out, and he lost a lap. On lap 60, he dropped out with engine trouble, finishing 27th.

1991: Late in the race, Andretti was running in the top five, although a few laps down. On lap 188, Mario's son Michael Andretti took the lead on a restart, passing Rick Mears, driving for car owner Roger Penske, on the outside of turn one. One lap later, Mears pulled the same move, and re-took the lead. Mears began to pull away, and Michael's hopes for victory began to fade. Suddenly Mario coasted to a stop at the entrance to the pits, bringing out the caution. A mild controversy emerged when observers speculated that Mario had stopped on purpose to help Michael. The field bunched up under the yellow, and the caution gave Michael one last chance to challenge for the win. Mears pulled away on the restart, and the controversy eventually fizzled.

1992: At the start, Mario and his son Michael led the field into the first turn. Michael came around in first, and Mario already a somewhat distant second. On the 5th lap, a caution came out. Mario ducked into the pits with a misfire. After several pit stops, the problem was fixed and he returned to the track, but dropped down the standings a lap down. Later in the race, Mario pitted for tires, and cross-threaded a wheel nut. He was again shuffled down in the running order. A few moments later, on a restart, he crashed in turn four. He was among several front-runners to crash due to cold tires on the unusually cold afternoon. Mario suffered broken toes, and was taken to Methodist Hospital in downtown Indianapolis for surgery. A short time later, Mario's son Jeff shattered both of his legs in a terrible crash, and was also taken to the hospital. Both required considerable rehabilitation, although Jeff's was significantly more severe. Back at the track, Mario's other son Michael was dominating the race, and looked poised to win. However, with 11 laps to go, his car quit, and he was out of the race. Ironically, the rival Unser family prevailed over the dismayed Andrettis yet again, with Al Unser Jr. winning and Al Unser Sr. finishing third. In his autobiography Andretti, Mario described the day, which saw him laid up in a hospital bed, witnessing his youngest son's serious injury, and then woke up to hear the news that his other son Michael had lost, as the "worst day of my life."

1993: The 1993 race 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. Mario'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, Mario was a factor most of the afternoon, leading the most laps (72). While leading on lap 134, Mario 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, and slid down the standings to finish 5th.

1994: Mario's last race at Indy. He entered with much fanfare through his "Arrivederci Mario" tour. His race was very short though, and he dropped out early due to mechanical problems.

In total, Mario finished the full 500 miles just five times, including his lone victory.

2003: On April 23, 2003, in the lead up to the 2003 Indy 500, Mario took to the track for the first time in ten years in a major open wheel car. 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 on April 15 a crash a week earlier at Motegi. If Kanaan was not cleared to drive in enough time, tentative plans were being prepared for Mario to qualify the car for him. He would turn the car over to Kanaan on race day. No plans had yet been made though for Mario to actually drive in the race.

During the test session, it was noted by many observers that despite his lack of experience in modern Indy cars (which had changed substantially since his retirement) and his advanced age (63), he quickly reached competitive speed. He was quickly over 212 mph, and looked "as if he had never been away." The success of the testing caused growing speculation during the afternoon that Mario may even attempt to qualify for the race.

With only 2 minutes left in the day, Kenny Bräck crashed in turn one, and the yellow light came one. Mario entered turn one at full speed, and struck debris on the track from Bräck's car. The object, identified by most as the rear wing, forced the nose of Mario's car to become airborne, and the car went into a rapid double reverse somersault at speeds exceeding 200 miles per hour. Television footage from the WTHR helicopter-cam showed that the car clipped the top of the debris fence, and was nearly high enough to go over it. The car fell back to the ground, slowed by its mid-air tumble, and slid to a stop. Luckily, the car landed right side up and Andretti walked away from the crash with very minor injuries.

Mario initially shrugged off the accident, and still contemplated returning to qualify the car in May. A day later, however, he reconsidered, and has not climbed back into a race car. This was Mario's last significant on-track activity at Indianapolis to date.

Indy 500- Races involved in crashes

• 1967 (lost wheel), 1969 (practice), 1971, 1975, 1982, 1983, 1986 (practice), 1992, 2003 (testing)

Indy 500- Races suffering mechanical/engine failure

• 1966, 1967, 1968, 1972 (ran out of fuel), 1973, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1994

Indy 500- Races leading the most laps without winning

• 1985, 1987, 1993