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TORONTO, Canada (March 11, 2004) – Everyone knows the name Mario Andretti, even people who don’t know a sports car from a streetcar. And what they know about Mario Andretti is that his is still the one name that conjures the meaning of ‘speed’. Over a long and exciting career, Mario has won many, many races, championships and awards, including the Formula One WDC and Driver of the Century, but through it all, he’s remained the same charming man he was when Nazareth was a dirt track and he was just beginning to make the racing world his own. Next weekend he’ll be inducted into the Sebring Sports Car Hall of Fame, along with other notables in the sports car world, an honour, he assured me today from his Pennsylvania home, that makes him feel very proud. “You never take anything for granted,” he said. “You don’t even think about winning awards like this when you’re racing, but I’m very proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish and pleased to be recognized by the Sebring Hall of Fame. Sebring has a strong tradition of hosting the best in sports cars and it’s a great honor for me to be among them.”

Mario has raced everything from a sprint car to a Formula One car, and has done a brilliant job in every one of them, sometimes jumping from one formula to another in a single weekend. “Do you think,” I asked him, “that a modern driver could replicate the career you have had, competing and winning in so many different kinds of cars?”

“Oh, I think it’s possible,” he answered candidly, “but it’s not very probable. Today’s top drivers have contracts in which their employers have met their demands – usually pretty steep ones – and frankly they don’t like to share their drivers after that! As for me, I had very strong contracts at times, but I never allowed those contracts to interfere with what I wanted to do. ‘As long as I’m doing what I’m obligated to do,’ I told them, ‘it’s none of your business what else I do!’ But really it’s a matter of your position in the team; I pointed out that I created that position for myself and after all, it was my career!”

Mario has been notably successful at Sebring, having won it in 1967, 1970 and 1972, with his greatest win coming in 1970 when he jumped into the second Ferrari after his expired, and made a run for the ages in the dark, beating Peter Revson and Steve McQueen in their Porsche for a memorable victory. “Is there anything that stands out in your mind about Sebring,” I asked him, “the track or the race, that separates it in your mind from other races?”

“To me,” he said, “the basic attraction of Sebring is the overall event itself. It’s been run since the 1950s – it has lots of tradition behind it, the strongest champions from every form of racing have run there – champions from Formula One as well as those from all kinds of sports car racing; just look at the roster of past champions! I’ve had some really great drives there with fine co-drivers, with Ford, with Ferrari – no question at all that the 12 Hours of Sebring is the best known sports car race in the USA!”

Although he has run at Le Mans 8 times in his long and exciting career, Mario has never won the 24 Heurs du Mans; his best finish was a second place in 1995. I was among those who watched him race with Panoz in 2000 – and coolly save the car from the wall after a tire blowout at 185 m.p.h. – a feat I attributed to his great experience and quick reflexes, and he modestly attributed to “A little bit of luck.”

“I never gave up,” he added. “I didn’t throw up my hands and let it go – I held onto it and I had the luck with me!” Would he like to go back to Le Mans? “Absolutely,” he said emphatically. “But it’s a matter of the right opportunity – and I’m pretty picky. I had some offers a couple of weeks ago, but I said no – I’m not going over there just to drive around. That's a good plan for someone just beginning his career; but for me it will be Audi – or someone equally competitive – or nothing. Otherwise it’s just not worth the risk.”

That led naturally to the question, “Any other 24 hour races you would like to try?”

“I’d like to do the 24 Hours of Daytona,” he replied. “In fact, it’s possible that I may do that race next year, driving with Michael and Marco [son and grandson]. We’re only in the talking stages now, but it’s very possible that could happen.”

“Would that be the first time three generations would have piloted one car?” I speculated.

“I believe it will be,” he agreed. “I hope it comes off.”

There aren’t many kinds of racing Mario has not tried, but rally raid is one of them. Would he be interested at all in trying the Paris-Dakar? “Not at all,” he said. “I’ve been asked about doing the Baja, but -- Rally is a lot of fun to watch, but I’ve never had any desire to try it. “

He was equally decisive in quashing any though of buying and managing a sports car team. “No interest at all,” he said firmly. Darn, I thought to myself. But I suppose it would be just too hard for a competitor like Mario to keep from locking his driver in the porta-john and taking his place on the track!

I could have spent the rest of the day asking questions and listening to that memorable voice; and some day I’d love to talk to him about the Lotus 79, the most perfect car every made, and hear him compare Colin Chapman with Enzo Ferrari … but as you can imagine, Mario Andretti has a lot of calls on his time, particularly with Sebring coming up next week. But before we took our leave, I couldn’t resist asking him, “Do you know that cops still ask speeders ‘Who do you think you are, then, Mario Andretti?” That made him laugh out loud, and he asked, “Does that mean you have been naughty?” “I admit nothing,” I said, “but if I really were Mario Andretti, no cop would ever have caught me!”

But that, of course, is a story for another time.

RFM Sports thanks Patty Reid and Mario Andretti for this interview. We’ll be bringing you news of the Hall of Fame Induction with our total-immersion coverage of the 12 Hours of Sebring beginning on Tuesday, March 16th. See you back here then!

Next week: Our in-depth coverage of Sebring begins Tuesday with the ACEMCO racing team!