Car Guy Magazine Car Guy Magazine issue 115 | Page 15

Grand Prix. Before that, in 1969, just before his Indianapolis 500
victory, Andretti himself suffered a brush with disaster. During practice for the big race, the right rear wheel came off of his British-built
Lotus-Ford, launching the car in a 320-foot slide into the wall where
it burst into flames. Andretti suffered facial burns before qualifying
second in the race in a back-up car. Because of his burns, his twin
brother Aldo stood in for him for the traditional front row photo
shoot for the race, making the shot a sought-after collector’s item.
Ironically, Andretti’s ’69 victory ignited an era of frustration for
the Andretti family at Indianapolis. Five Andrettis over three generations (Mario, Michael, Jeff, John and Marco) have competed some
fifty-three times in the famous 500-mile race with Mario’s single victory the only moment of glory. This despite Michael, Jeff and Marco
following in Mario’s tire tracks by capturing Indy 500 Rookie of the
Year honors.
This so-called “Andretti curse” progressed to cruel mockery in
1981 when Andretti finished second in the 500-mile race to victor
Bobby Unser. The day after the race, Unser was stripped of his victory
and Andretti was awarded the trophy after Unser was penalized one lap
for passing string cars to the front under a caution flag--the same cars
Andretti battled to reach the front once the race was under the green
flag competition.

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