Mario Andretti Pays Tribute to Bobby Allison

BRUCE:

IndyCar fans, it's time to start your engines. Welcome to Pit Pass Indy, a production of Evergreen Podcast. I'm your host, Bruce Martin, a journalist who regularly covers the NTT IndyCar Series. Our goal at Pit Pass Indy is to give racing fans an insider's view of the exciting world of the NTT IndyCar Series in a fast-paced podcast featuring interviews with the biggest names in the sport. I bring nearly 40 years of experience covering IndyCar and NASCAR, working for such media brands as NBCSports.com, SI.com, ESPN SportsTicker, Sports Illustrated, AutoWeek and SpeedSport. So let's drop the green flag on this episode of Pit Pass Indy. Welcome to Pit Pass Indy as we continue our fourth season of giving IndyCar fans a behind-the-scenes look at the NTT IndyCar Series and the drivers and teams that compete in the Indianapolis 500. Racing lost a true hero on November 9th, 2024, as the great Bobby Allison passed away at his home in Mooresville, North Carolina. He was 86 years old. He was considered the blue-collar hero to his huge following of fans during his NASCAR Cup Series career that included 85 wins and the 1983 NASCAR Cup Series championship. His 85 career wins is fourth on NASCAR's all-time winners list behind Richard Petty's 200, David Pearson's 105, and Jeff Gordon's 93. Born in Miami, Florida, Allison began his racing career in South Florida in the late 1950s using the assumed name Bob Sunderman because his family did not want him to race. When Bob Sunderman appeared in the Sunday paper in Miami after a race, Allison's father saw the paper and said if he was going to race, he should do it with honor and use his own name. Allison and his younger brother Donnie and friend Red Farmer moved to Alabama in the early 1960s to continue their racing career. The three would become known as the Alabama Gang. When Neil Bonnet, who lived in Hueytown, Alabama, along with the Allisons, began racing, he became part of the Alabama Gang. Allison's first NASCAR Cup Series race was in the 100 mile Daytona 500 qualifier in 1961. His first NASCAR Cup Series win was in the 1966 Maine 100 in Oxford, Maine. His last win came in the 1988 Daytona 500 when he finished just ahead of the second place car driven by his son, Davey Allison. In between, Bobby Allison did it his way and had celebrated feuds with Richard Petty and later Daryl Waltrip. He was involved in the fight in Turn 3 of the 1979 Daytona 500 after his brother Donnie and Cale Yarborough were fighting for the win on the final lap before crashing each other out of the race. When Yarbrough climbed out of the car to charge Donnie Allison, Bobby had also pulled off in turn three to come to his brother's defense. Bobby Allison's famed quote afterwards was, Kale kept beating my fist with his face. The 1979 Daytona 500 was the first time NASCAR's biggest event was televised live in its entirety on CBS. The blizzard of 1979 kept much of the Northeast and Midwest under an avalanche of snow, and at a time when there were only three television networks, many viewers discovered NASCAR that day. The 1979 Daytona 500, including the fight in Turn 3, became the moment NASCAR began its rapid ascent into mainstream sports. Prior to that, it was a highly regionalized racing series with its core fan base in the Southeast. There was more to Bobby Allison than driving stock cars, however. He was a racer. He would race everything from late models on dirt to the big time of USAC with IndyCars. He joined Penske Racing's Indianapolis 500 effort in 1973. He qualified 12th, but dropped out on the opening lap when a connecting rod broke. The 1973 Indianapolis 500 was a race that many would prefer to forget. By the time the month of May concluded, two drivers would die, including Art Pollard from a crash in practice the morning of pole qualifications. Swede Savage crashed in the race and would die a month later from contaminated plasma that caused his liver to fail. Armando Teran, a crew member for driver Graham McRae, was killed when he was hit on Pitt Road by a safety vehicle. Two days of rain pushed the race to Wednesday, and Allison was the first to drop out of the Indianapolis 500. Allison did not return to IndyCar racing in 1974, but drove five races for Penske Racing in 1975, with a best place finish of sixth at Ontario Motor Speedway in California. In the 1975 Indianapolis 500, Allison started 13th and led the 24th lap. His car lasted for 112 laps before gearbox failure put him out of the race. His final IndyCar race was at Michigan Speedway on July 20th, 1975. He started 15th and finished 17th. Allison was as respected by the IndyCar drivers as he was in NASCAR. He quickly struck up a friendship with a young driver from Italy who came to the Daytona 500 for the first time in 1966. One year later, that driver won the Daytona 500 thanks to some advice from Bobby Allison and his brother Donnie. That driver was Mario Andretti, who became one of the greatest drivers in auto racing history, and to this day remains the only racer to win the Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500, and the Formula One World Championship. Allison and Andretti admired each other's skill and forged a lasting friendship. I had an exclusive interview with Mario Andretti on Monday, November 18th, as the racing legend paid tribute to the great Bobby Allison for Pit Pass Indy. It's the Thanksgiving season is rapidly approaching us, and we're always thankful to have our next guest on Pit Pass Indy. It's the great champion Mario Andretti. Mario, thank you for joining us today.

MARIO:

Oh, my pleasure, Bruce. Thanks for having me.

BRUCE:

Great driver, great man, strong man, endured a lot of personal pain through his life with the loss of his two sons. But the man was always a pillar of strength. And I know that you raced a lot against him when you were running a NASCAR and also raced against him when he ran a few of the races in IndyCar with Penske Racing. What do you recall about Bobby Allison?

MARIO:

Well, what I recall is obviously meeting Bobby, Donnie and many of the other drivers in NASCAR when I did a few races, you know, like the 500. a few times, and especially when I won, obviously we spend more time. And I remember clearly that whenever I got to talk to him, always he would talk up Indianapolis. I said, you guys, you know, we're coming down here. I said, you're playing in your sandbox. Why don't you come up and play in our sandbox? with the Alisons, Kelly Yarborough. So I take some credit for having some of those drivers, like as I mentioned, the Alisons come up and give it a try at Indy. And so with that, you cement the relationship because it's all about getting to know one another and then follow the careers of each other. I remember some tragic moments like when he had this big accident here in Pocono that he was in a hospital locally and I would visit and so on and so forth. Like I said, Bobby had gone through some very challenging moments throughout his life, as you said, not just with his family but also himself.

BRUCE:

You were both fairly young drivers when you raced against each other and met each other. What was he like back then, you know, before he became this big star in NASCAR?

MARIO:

Well, number one. On a personal side, a good guy, you know, really very approachable, very knowledgeable. As a matter of fact, it was the Allison's that gave me some tips where I was not getting, you know, obviously the strong engines that my teammate Fred Lorenzo was getting at home on the Moody. And nobody was telling me just what revs I should be pulling with the gear. that I was pulling and then it was actually Donnie Allison that told me about it and I had a reason to complain and go and then I got, you know, I got the engines that I needed and I won the race. But it was, I couldn't, again, you know, I was sort of a stranger in that, you know, in NASCAR, and I couldn't find any help, but the Allison's did. And whenever I needed to know something in depth about handling of the car, one thing or another, that's where I would go. I would go to them, and I would get a straight answer. And to me, that was very, very precious, and I never forgot that.

BRUCE:

So you got the advice from them that helped you win the 1967 Daytona 500? Yeah. In 1966, you drove in four NASCAR races. At that time, you had already been the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year and also the IndyCar National Champion, the USAC National Champion. I know that you've said in the past, the national championships, in your mind, deserved as much credit as being the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year. What was it that led you decide to go ahead and do some NASCAR races in 1966?

MARIO:

Well, Bruce, it was just purely desire. You know, I was curious. Uh, I mean, that was big time motor racing on the other side. There was, uh, uh, another, uh, you know, and. and another form of the sport that I just wanted to see whether I could understand and do something with. And so again, I was attracted to it. But then, you know, you had the AJ voice, you know, Rutherford and and Pernelli Jones and some others who had, who were, you know, doing some of that. So once I got to the point that, you know, I made some waves in USAC with the championship, I thought that maybe some people would see some value in having me on their team. And so I expressed the desire to do it and I got some offers. So, um, and I was happy to do so.

BRUCE:

So getting back to Bobby Allison, all the races that you had a chance to race against him in person, like I said, he hadn't quite yet become the, the big name star that he would become, but what was it about racing Bobby Allison that you remember?

MARIO:

Well, he was a force to be reckoned with. He was a very intelligent driver. Everyone knew that. And everyone obviously had that respect and appreciation for what he could bring to the game. And he was a tough competitor. But he was correct. And he could drive side by side with him. And you knew that he would not You know, he would not do anything, you know, detrimental or something like that. You know, he was a great race driver. I knew what he was doing. And those are the drivers that you learn to appreciate. And you feel that if you in any way have a better day than they do in that particular event, you feel that that's a great reward.

BRUCE:

What do you recall about his personality in the early days?

MARIO:

Just a good guy. Just very, very approachable. And you almost felt like just by, you know, just by having had the opportunity to be with him, you know, and not, you know, not a lot. You always, you felt that you were You know, like you knew him forever. That was the kind of a person he was.

BRUCE:

Now in 1973, he tried his racing in an IndyCar at the Indianapolis 500. The 1973 race was one that he basically said he didn't really have a whole lot of fun because it was just a horrible month of May as we all know from everybody who was involved in some fatal crashes and the fact that the rain had the race all the way into Wednesday of that year. But to have a big name from NASCAR come over and get in a Roger Penske IndyCar, how good could he have been if he had been a full-time IndyCar driver?

MARIO:

Oh, he would have been a force to be reckoned with, no question about it. As dedicated as he was with his talent, no question. I think if he would have decided to pursue a full-time, yeah. And yeah, I'm sure that it would have been another one that you would have had to deal with race in and race out, 100%.

BRUCE:

After not returning in 1974, Bobby Allison returned to the Indianapolis 500 in 1975. He actually ran in five USAC champ car IndyCar races that season, finished sixth at Ontario, He finished sixth at Ontario, that's not a bad finish back then. So he did have a little bit more success when he returned. Was it natural ability or was it being smart that really was one of the things, or was it just a combination with Bobby Allison?

MARIO:

Well, here again, I think he was a very technical driver because he understood all of the elements of a race car, the dynamics of a race car, and he would ask the right questions. whenever he was curious about or something that he did not understand, he wanted clarification, he knew exactly what he was looking for. And so again, he was all in. I mean, and again, whatever his pursuit would have been, I think he would have been excellent at it if he would have pursued the open wheel cars. He would have been probably as successful as he was in NASCAR, I would suspect. That's the quality of the individuals that whenever they move over to another discipline, if they embrace it and they become a force to be reckoned with there, you know that they have that talent. if they really pursue it 100%.

BRUCE:

It was one of the cool things about that era is you had drivers not only compete in the Indianapolis 500 from other forms of racing, but they would compete in other USAC IndyCar races. We've seen lately Kyle Busch back with Andretti Autosport, now known as Andretti Global in 2014, came to the Indianapolis 500, ended up being Rookie of the Year that year. And also Kyle Larson with Arrow McLaren. great job this past year in the Indianapolis 500, but those are the only races those drivers have competed in, in IndyCars. Back then, we would have drivers who would run a combined schedule. Do you think that we'll never see that day again because of how specialized and how important each series places the championship now?

MARIO:

Well, I think a lot of it, you've got to look at the NASCAR schedule. You know, if you're going to go for the championship there, There is no way that you have the time to pursue any other discipline, you know, with any number of races. That's why. And India, of course, falls into, you know, the conflict also, you know, as we all know, on the same day with the 600 in Charlotte. And so, like I said, there are some some issues there at the moment. But the fact that I think a lot of what, you know, I think what what why we had this crossover is because I think it was pretty much started from from the USAC ranks, top of the USAC ranks to NASCAR rather than the other way around. And so once, you know, you get some of our drivers like AJ and Dan Gurney and so forth, you know, just being competitive, winning races there, they figure, well, let's go on their sandbox, see if we can win at their own game. So that's what it really was. And like right now, I mean, if you're a hundred percent NASCAR driver and want to compete in Indianapolis, You're going to have to sacrifice a little bit because, like I said, there's a direct conflict with the world's 600. So times do change in that respect. But any driver that has that sort of that type of talent and knowledge about the sport. If you end up with a top team on either side, you have definite opportunity to get some results.

BRUCE:

In 1978, after a lengthy losing streak, Bobby Ellison won the Daytona 500 with Bud Moore. That's also the same year you won the Formula One World Championship. It seemed like from that point on with Bobby Allison, it rejuvenated his career. He would win the 1983 NASCAR Cup Series Championship, his only NASCAR Cup Series Championship. But he won Daytona 500s. He won a lot of big races. He was a true racing star. And during those years, there would be a lot of times you would compete against each other. IROC and how cool was that to bring all those big name drivers from all those great disciplines, different disciplines of motor racing together to run in IROC?

MARIO:

That was actually, I'm glad you mentioned that. That was fantastic. I really loved the opportunity to be invited to race at IROC because of what you mentioned. You had drivers from different disciplines and we're all pretty much, I guess, pretty equal cars. But the fact that you had some ovals, super speedway ovals, and some road racing, all of that mixed up, I think it was very meaningful. to be able to win that. I feel very proud to have one of those IROC championships in my trophy case, I can tell you that. Actually, it was basically the same year that I won the world championship, even though they say 79, because the last race was in 79, but it was a 78 championship. Anyway, yeah, it was, and that's another reason Another thing that was good because you got to know some of the drivers that you don't rub elbow with, you know, week in and week out. And I know that they always invited cream of the crop, you know, so you were up against the best that other disciplines had to offer. So it was really, to me, for as long as that series lasted, it was a lot of fun. It was awesome to be part of it.

BRUCE:

Bobby Allison was always a bit of a hard luck driver when it came to the NASCAR Cup Series Championship, but he finally won it in 1983. And you as a fellow competitor, having known Bobby, even though you were running and cart going for the championship over there, how excited were you to see him finally get that championship?

MARIO:

That was because in so many ways we used to share at one point some of the sponsors. So we had that going for us and that was the reason to sort of stay in touch. Yeah, I mean, once you get to know somebody at that level and when you see that they're finally getting their dues, in their own game, you feel good about it, obviously. You know darn well when you're experiencing yourself how much that means to the individual. So I thought he certainly, I knew that whenever he gets a champion, you knew that he deserved it. Because he had some other, you know, there were times when he didn't have a lot of luck, you know.

BRUCE:

And then the next year, you won the cart championship. So it really did show that the two of you, even though you'd entered your 40s at that point of your career, were still pretty much on top of the game.

MARIO:

Yeah, I mean, yeah, for sure. And, you know, for myself to be able to, to be able to put together and be, you know, I think I had something to do with putting Paul Newman and Carl Haas together for the team and then being able to do 12 seasons, 12 years after I came out of Formula One and winning the championship in 18 races, having some, you know, podiums with my son, Michael, along the way. I mean, that stretch was really golden for me. And again, and then, and the Allison's and the family, you know, how successful they were in NASCAR. Again, you know, it was something almost two families thriving in what we love, doing what we love.

BRUCE:

Only time that's happened, a father and son finish 1-2 in the Daytona 500. You've had a little bit of experience with that, racing with your son Michael. So that's an experience that probably only you could relate to what he was going through. How cool was that to see him be able to have a 1-2 finish with his son Davey? I don't even know.

MARIO:

how I could really properly explain just the feeling of having those events with your own family, with your own kids. And as you say, I've experienced that. And that's clearly, to me, the highlight Those are the highlights of my career. It's one of those things I remember so vividly and that's why we could always identify with what the Alice's had experienced and it's such a blessing to have had that opportunity and then these things happen. How could you ever, ever design that? How could you ever hope? But when it happens, My goodness, you know, you're over the moon. And again, it was just, that's when you know you've been blessed.

BRUCE:

Unfortunately, later that year, Bobby Ellison had the crash at Pocono that really ended his racing career. In his latter years, or other times I've had interviews with him since then, said that watching the end of the 88 Daytona 500 was like watching a movie because he has no recollection of doing that. He said it was like watching someone else win that race other than him. And when you think of what he had to survive from that crash. Like you said, it happened in Pocono. You were able to go up and check on him, but how big of a struggle did he go through just even surviving that?

MARIO:

Well, I don't know if you could even imagine that, you know, with having head injuries and so on and so forth and not remembering and then having a career, you know, beautiful career. And like that, yeah, I mean, again, that's as tragic as it gets, quite honestly. But again, I don't know. That's our sport. We realize, you know, a sport, how cruel it could be at times. You know, you can go from the best of what could ever experience to the worst. And unfortunately, you got to experience both sides of it.

BRUCE:

Unfortunately, there was even more tragedy that he would have to endure. His son Cliff was killed in an Arca crash at Michigan Speedway. And then in 1993, his son Davey, in a helicopter crash, he had just gotten his helicopter license and flown the helicopter to Talladega Speedway and crashed. And he also died. And for a man to go through that kind of pain, It's unimaginable to us how he did it, but he was able to survive. And if anything, it just really showed how strong of a man Bobby Allison really was.

MARIO:

Well, he said it, you know, I don't know how else to put it, you know, that you really feel, feel for the family, you know, to undergo such tragedies, um, you know, one after the other, uh, including himself, yes, I mean it's sometimes you wonder why things that can happen to any family, any individual, but they did, they experienced it all, unfortunately.

BRUCE:

And the other sad thing was all the money that he had won in racing decided to become a NASCAR team owner, pretty much lost all the money that he had earned in racing, which is another tragedy in itself. And probably a lesson learned, a lot of great race drivers probably should think twice before becoming a team owner.

MARIO:

Yeah, well, I mean, it's a personal thing, you know, it's whatever your objectives are. I know I just see my own family. You could see that Michael, he stepped out of the cockpit as a driver and he thrived as an owner. And but, you know, myself, I got enough of driving that I more than I deserve. and I never ever had any ambition to become an owner. So you can see it's a personal thing, but if desire is there, that's what you pursue. Yeah, but as you said, when you're an owner, you have other responsibilities, and it's usually the commercial side that sometimes can be pretty challenging.

BRUCE:

And in Bobby Allison's later years, he moved to Mooresville, North Carolina. Believe he went to the same church that John Andretti attended down the street in Huntersville, North Carolina. The man hung in there. It got to the point where he couldn't really walk very well anymore, but you would see him at the Daytona 500 and here and there. But he always had that bright smile when you would approach him. And I guess that's the one thing that we'll really remember about Bobby Allison.

MARIO:

Well, indeed, as I said, it's just that he's just a good man. That character is something that you always appreciate. And as you say, no matter what challenges he was dealing with, he always had a smile on his face. And that speaks volumes for any individual.

BRUCE:

He earned the title blue collar hero. And on November the 16th, the public said goodbye to Bobby Allison and Hueytown, Alabama, which was where he lived for so many years with his family, his race teams and everything being from a member of the Alabama gang. And do you think that that was probably one of the most fitting titles or nicknames for a great driver like Bobby Allison? Because it really seemed like Bobby Allison fans were really the blue collar people.

MARIO:

Well, yes. I mean, uh, he, he just fit that obviously, uh, uh, he was very modest, you know, in his own way. Uh, We never, you know, carried on like the superstar that he really was. He just let other people really frame him that way. But like I said, he was appreciated because of that. And yeah, that was fitting. And I'm sure that he agreed with all that.

BRUCE:

We'll be right back to Pit Pass Indy after this short break. Welcome back to Pit Pass Indy. Here is the second part of my exclusive interview with Mario Andretti as we get his thoughts on some of the bigger developments in IndyCar during the off-season, including his son Michael's decision to give up ownership of the Andretti Global Racing Operation. Now a few other topics that I'd like to touch on real quick. Back in October, IndyCar announced the Grand Prix of Arlington. It involves the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League, the Texas Rangers, Major League Baseball, their partners in the project. This really seems like it's going to be a great event. What was your reactions when you heard about the Grand Prix of Arlington?

MARIO:

I love that. I love, love, love that idea. And to have Jerry Jones behind it as well with Roger. Roger's group. Yeah, I that's that's what I like to hear. You know that and then Roger taking over, you know, the Long Beach event. And, you know, this is what I call a real positive looking solid into the future of the series. But, you know, with Arlington coming on, that's growth because that's a new venue there. And yeah, yeah, I love that. And whenever things like that come up, you know, I always say, man, I wish I was active. But that's music to my ears.

BRUCE:

Well, also from a marketing standpoint, it really seems to be a great opportunity because if you tap into the season ticket fan base of the Dallas Cowboys and start to try to sell tickets to the race for them and do the same thing with the Texas Rangers, you can have a huge crowd just from their fans.

MARIO:

Oh, for sure. And I think they will for sure. Why not? I mean, I'm positive that that's going to be a barn burner for sure.

BRUCE:

You also mentioned the Grand Prix of Long Beach, the fact that Roger Penske purchased it last week and it's going to remain an IndyCar race, basically preserving it on the schedule. I know that there's been some interest in going back to that race from others although Jim McAleen was pretty adamant that when Jerry Forsyth bought Kevin Kalkoven's share it was to keep it as an IndyCar race but now it's just bringing Roger Penske and the Penske Corporation to solidify that ownership They're going to celebrate the 50th anniversary. You've competed there in Formula 5000, in Formula One, car to IndyCar. You've won in those divisions. That is a major race that when you think now that Roger Penske owns two of the biggest races on earth, what goes through your mind?

MARIO:

Well, it's in the right hands. I mean, if there was ever a doubt that what would happen, you know, as you mentioned, if the four sides, you know, would not continue, you know, to be part of it, it could have It couldn't have gone into better hands because of the self-interest that goes with it. And as you mentioned, these Indie Long Beach are marquee events in our IndyCar series. and to be part of both, and I'm sure that that will continue. Well, that's what we want to see, that's what we want to hear, is fans and lovers of IndyCar racing.

BRUCE:

Beginning next season, all races will be on Fox Sports. It'll be on the Big Fox, it's not going to be on FS1. Practice and qualifying will be on FS1, but all the races are going to be on the Big Fox network. And how important is that for you to see a major network covering every race? You're going to know week in, week out what channel the IndyCar race is on.

MARIO:

I love it. Love it. Love it. Quite honestly, I think as you said, you just said the key word, it's be easy to remember which channel is going to be broadcasting. And Fox with FS1, it's obviously extremely popular. So it'd be easy to navigate. And yeah, this progress again.

BRUCE:

Also, they've done a lot of promoting already with their National Football League telecasts and also during the World Series and the baseball playoffs. And there's been a lot of really cool promotion that Fox has done already, and they don't even start till 2025. But how valuable is that to have those promotions on other sports telecasts?

MARIO:

Well, what it shows that it's going to be a win-win situation. You know, if they have contracted to showcase the series, you know, they want it to be successful. So that's the beauty of it. They see the importance of really promoting, promoting, promoting. That's the key to everything. And they get it. So that's the part that again, you will be assured it's going to be a winner, period.

BRUCE:

Do you feel more enthused and excited about the future of IndyCar at the end of the season than you may have felt at the beginning of 2024? 100 percent, yes.

MARIO:

And the reasons being all of what we just mentioned, all the things that are happening, you know, a solid TV coverage, you know, and then new events such as we said, and cementing the, you know, the marquee events like, you know, Long Beach, a lot of these things, you know, tells you that IndyCar racing is alive and well and progressing and regaining the status that I once enjoyed.

BRUCE:

And I'd be remiss if I didn't bring this up, but on September 27th, your son Michael decided to relinquish his role at Andretti Global. The team is now owned by Dan Taurus. He's going to remain in an ambassador's role. I believe that Michael wanted to spend a little more time with the grandkids, as he said, and enjoy himself a little bit more. Really ran a really good race team that achieved a lot of success. Do you think it was just a situation where in order to be successful these days, you're always out there chasing money as a team owner?

MARIO:

Well, I mean, the thing is, these are individual decisions. You know, sometimes you feel maybe it's time. He's given enough time to the sport. And he's at a place where he is comfortable. And as you say, he just wants to be able to have more freedom to spend time with a family. I respect that. I respect that. You know, my kids, you know, I've been very proud of a lot of what they've accomplished and, you know, whatever their decisions are, they're adults. They've, again, accomplished quite a lot. And I support them in whatever endeavor.

BRUCE:

How often will we get a chance to see Mario Andretti at the races in 2025?

MARIO:

Well, as I said, whenever it makes sense for me to go and I have a... some sort of a business reason to be there. I want to be able to just have, like I said, I'm not just the spectator, idle spectator, if you will. I love it, I love it, but it's been something that had been my job, my work, and you'd be surprised maybe. I'm not looking for a job, by the way, but at the same time, Uh, I still follow the, you know, the series, I think, you know, Michael still will be involved. So I know that I'll have a home to go to when I go to the IndyCar races and, uh, and that's it. I'll just, um, I'll do it whenever it seems right for me to be there.

BRUCE:

And your grandson, Marco plans on returning to the Indianapolis 500. And I know that you've been one of his biggest proponents throughout his career. What does it mean that Marco, at least for the time being, is going to be the last Andretti at the Indianapolis 500?

MARIO:

Well, as you say, I'll be behind him 3,000%. That's for sure, as you can imagine. That also gave me a lot more reason to be there and, you know, to practice qualifying in the race.

BRUCE:

But throughout Marco's career, I'm sure one of the proudest moments was in 2020, even though the fans weren't allowed in because of the COVID pandemic. But when Marco got the poll, I remember calling you after that. You were as excited as if you had won the poll. And the fact is that Marco's put a lot of effort into trying to win the Indianapolis 500. It's come close numerous times. But when you look at what he's been able to accomplish at that track, he's had some pretty good moments there.

MARIO:

No question. Like I said, you look at his record there at Indy and it's something to be proud of. And it's not over yet. You know, he's got some work to do yet. And like I said, he'll put every effort, every bit of energy that he has, you know, to try to, you know, to come away. Obviously, I think he's still capable. He could still be capable of winning that. So that's important.

BRUCE:

But from a patriarch of the Andretti racing family, you started the great tradition, the great name in the United States of Andretti and racing. And Marco, like I said, at least for the time being, will be the last one at the Indianapolis 500. Who knows, maybe one of his sons or another one of your grandsons ends up becoming a race driver. But there's got to be a little sadness in seeing that great tradition of the Andretti's coming to an end at the Indianapolis 500 one day.

MARIO:

Well, of course. I mean, you know, we're the only family that can that obviously can say that we had four members of the same family two years in a row qualify for this great race. And so, as you said, you could see how much this event really meant to all of us. And but, you know, that's life, you know, life. Things don't last forever. But at least we have a pretty good stretch of having an Andretti at Indianapolis. And that stretch is not over yet. So we'll take advantage of what we can while we're still there. That's the main thing. So I'm always looking at the positive side of it, and it's not over yet.

BRUCE:

Well, Mario Andretti, you've always been a true American treasure. You have the American dream story of how you got over here from as an immigrant from Italy in 1955 and what you've been able to create in racing, worldwide fame and reputation, and one of the greatest champions both on and off the racetrack that we've ever seen. Have a happy Thanksgiving. Good luck in 2025. And thank you for joining us today on Pit Pass Indy.

MARIO:

Well, thank you so much for having me. Happy Thanksgiving to you. Yes. Thank you.

BRUCE:

And that puts a checkered flag on this edition of Pit Pass Indy, as Mario Andretti pays tribute to racing hero Bobby Allison. Along with loyal listeners like you, our guests help make Pit Pass Indy your path to victory lane in IndyCar. For more IndyCar coverage, follow me on X, previously known as Twitter, at BruceMartin, one word, uppercase B, uppercase M, underscore 500. This has been a production of Evergreen Podcast. A special thanks to our production team, executive producers are Bridget Coyne and Gerardo Orlando. Recordings and edits were done by me, Bruce Martin, and final mixing was done by Dave Douglas. Learn more at evergreenpodcast.com. Until next time, be sure to keep it out of the wall.