Twenty-five years to the day after his 52nd and final Indy car victory, Mario Andretti is “humbled and totally flattered” by the attention he’s receiving as the Verizon IndyCar Series prepares to compete this weekend at the track near Phoenix where Andretti accomplished the feat.
On April 4, 1993, Andretti rallied to win at Phoenix International Raceway. Now known as ISM Raceway, it will host the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix on Saturday night. Andretti, 78, will be on hand to drive the Honda Fastest Seat in Sports two-seat Indy car and watch his grandson Marco race a car painted to resemble his winning entry.
“It’s so incredible that the whole promotion for this race surrounds something that happened 25 years ago,” Andretti said during a teleconference today. “I look back at how meaningful Phoenix has been to my career.”
It’s a race he won’t forget. After starting on the front row in the No. 6 Newman/Haas Racing Kmart/Texaco Havoline Ford-powered Lola, Andretti fell behind the leaders. He eventually caught up for the fourth Phoenix victory of his career. All his winning cars will be on display at ISM Raceway this weekend.
“The Penske cars seemed to be on a planet of their own,” Andretti said of Team Penske entries driven by Emerson Fittipaldi and Paul Tracy that day. “They were running 1-2. First, Paul Tracy crashed, which was unusual, out of the lead, and about 10 laps later Emerson Fittipaldi did the same thing. All of a sudden, here I’m leading the race. I figured, ‘How sweet this is.’”
Phoenix’s unusual 1.022-mile layout and its ideal weather served as more than just a regular visit for Indy cars since 1964. As a Firestone driver during the tire war with Goodyear, Andretti spent plenty of time at the facility outside of race weekends. His early days were spent driving the Dean Van Lines car based in Phoenix with legendary Clint Brawner as his chief mechanic.
“That was the theater for us to be at,” Andretti said of Phoenix. “I used to spend weeks and weeks at a time on the testing. I was able to put that to my advantage as far as honing my skills on the ovals. … You can see the span. I was there for 30 years as a driver. Phoenix as a track played probably one of the most important parts of my career, quite honestly.”
Jimmy Vasser, a 27-year-old in his second CART season at the time, finished third in the ‘93 race behind Andretti and Raul Boesel for the first podium finish of his then-young career. Vasser admitted to being involved in the crash that eliminated Tracy, but said he recently watched a replay of the race and doesn’t believe he was at fault. Now co-owner of Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan, Vasser idolized Andretti even before he had the chance to compete against him.
“He was just cool,” Vasser said. “To me, he was the epitome of a cool dude. Obviously, there were the race wins and the championships, but he was just the coolest. … He was the king of cool, like Steve McQueen.”
In all, Andretti won 52 races and four championships during his 31-year career, ranking second on both all-time Indy car lists behind A.J. Foyt (67 wins, seven championships). After he completes his ritual of driving the two-seater before the start of the 250-lap race on Saturday, Mario will stay to watch Marco drive the No. 98 Oberto Circle K/Curb Honda for Andretti Herta Autosport with a memorable white, black and red throwback livery.
“He’s going to have the (throwback) suit and the helmet and everything,” Mario said. “That’s going to bring back memories, obviously. I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s incredible and special. … I even changed my flight to make sure I don’t have to leave earlier after I do my two-seater start. I’m going to stay there until the end to see if it can all happen.”
A special program honoring Andretti and his ‘93 victory will be held at 10:30 p.m. ET Thursday in Phoenix. Hosted by NBCSN analyst Townsend Bell, it will feature racers who competed against Andretti and will stream live on IndyCar.com.
Andretti’s enthusiasm for the sport goes far beyond one race honoring his final victory. He is positive about the latest open-wheel era, including the new universal aero kit. In the season opener March 11 at St. Petersburg, Florida, rookie Robert Wickens led 69 of the race’s 110 laps before a crash during a restart on the final lap.
Vasser’s driver, Sebastien Bourdais, was the good-luck recipient of Wickens’ bad fortune and won the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg for a second consecutive year.
“I always say that when you have the product, you can feel very positive for the future,” Andretti said. “INDYCAR is exactly at that point right now. … There’s no weakness out there. Some what are considered smaller teams, in the past didn’t seem like they had a chance of winning, but we’ve seen it different just starting with St. Pete. With the new car, we’ve seen rookies showing the way.”
Opening practice from ISM Raceway streams live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com at 5 p.m. ET Friday. Qualifying airs live on NBCSN at 8 p.m. Saturday’s race coverage is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. on NBCSN and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.