This a funny little story, that I thought you all might get a kick out of. I live near Nazareth, PA, where the Andretti family lives. Back in the early 60's (I believe it was) my dad used to take me to the local dirt track stock car races in Nazareth. Mario Andretti (including a few others that went on to fame) raced there. It was totally wild & I loved the hell out of it. Flash forward 50 years. My dad is now 88 & practically blind, so my mom carts him around. He tells me that they're at the local health food store in their little car & my dad is waiting for her in the car. He tells me a black car pulls in next to him & instead of the door opening out, it opens up. It freaks him out. (I'm figuring one of those "gangsta" Honda custom things.) The guy goes in the store & comes out before my mom does. My dad rolls the window down & says, "Hey mister, what the heck kinda car is that?" The guy says it's a Lamborghini. My dad then recognizes him, they shake hands & have a nice conversation. My dad tells him that he enjoyed his racing 50 years ago (Mario must have gotten a charge out of that) & wished his son good luck at Indy. This happened earlier this week.
that's cool..bet they both fell back a few years for a moment. he could drive the wheels off of anything back in the day.
Not only could, he did. The joke at Indy was the four most famous words at Indy were not "Gentlemen, start your engines", but "Mario is slowing down!" Bill
I don't see the big deal. I drive my Lambo to the health food store all the time. So, the only difference with me is that I never raced a midget without a roll cage on dirt, or win Indy, Daytona, F-1, etc., etc., etc. Well OK, maybe it is a big deal.
In the pits at Belle Isle, Detroit, '99, a guy on a scooter ran over my foot. Pretty tight behind the pits there. I thought 'this guy can't drive'. Then I saw it was Mario. 'Oh. Well I guess he can drive'. Those things have big, squishy tires, so it didn't hurt.
The Jalopy Journal
