Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005 | 9:31 a.m.
Among Mario Andretti's many accomplishments are:
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The list of Mario Andretti's accomplishments in auto racing is as impressive as it is long: Four Champ Car national championships, a Formula One World Championship, one Daytona 500 victory, three Indianapolis 500 poles and one Indy 500 victory, to name a few.
Although he said he considers his 1978 Formula One title as his proudest racing achievement, Andretti clearly is very fond of his lone NASCAR stock-car victory -- at least that was the impression left Tuesday after he traded stories with nine other former Daytona 500 winners during the NASCAR-sponsored Short Track Summit in Daytona Beach.
"It was, by far, the most important event NASCAR had -- even more than today," Andretti, 64, said of the Daytona 500. "It's still the shining star of the series but, in those days, it was even that much more important than it is now.
"It has grown since then but make no mistake about it, to me it was a huge thing to be able to win."
And because racecar drivers are more specialized now than they were four decades ago, Andretti is likely to be forever known as the only man to ever win an Indianapolis 500, a Daytona 500 and a Formula One World Championship.
"It would be much tougher to do now because I was able to come in with one of the top teams," Andretti said, referring to the Ford-backed Fairlane he drove for Holman Moody Racing. "I had a Ford contract, so they would place me with really good teams so I had at least that opportunity (to win).
"Today, it would take somebody to come in and slide in with one of the top teams, which might give you some kind of an opportunity, but it's totally different now."
Although an open-wheel racer coming to Daytona and winning the Super Bowl of stock-car racing was big news in 1967, it didn't create the type of national attention -- or furor in the NASCAR garage -- that it would if it happened today, seven-time Daytona 500 champ Richard Petty said.
"It didn't change anything because at that time, it was factory against factory so they didn't care who was driving," Petty said. "All the Chrysler (people) were mad at the Ford (people) and the Ford factory was happy -- even though one of their (NASCAR) drivers didn't do it, it didn't make no difference because they were with Mario in USAC and all that stuff.
"Now, it would really be a big deal being that you've got all the Cup people running and you had someone like Mario that had never run the Cup but four or five times come in and win; it would really change stuff. But back then, it was more of a manufacturer deal."
It was Andretti's ties with Ford Racing in the 60s that enabled him to win the Daytona 500. After complaining that he was underpowered during practice and qualifying, Andretti placed a call to Detroit and had Ford send him a new engine.
"All the drivers, they always bellyache about power," Andretti said. "I was trying to get some information as far as what revs I should be seeing because of the gear I was pulling and every driver was lying to me -- I don't know why -- I just couldn't get any straight information.
"I think the only honest guys in the world were the Allisons, Bobby and Donnie, and Donnie was the one that said 'you should be pulling so many revs with the gear you've got' and I was like 400 revs short. Then I started really crying and my cry was answered in Detroit. (Ford) sent the motor down and I was scuffing tires two miles an hour faster than Curtis Turner('s pole-winning speed); I was scuffing tires at 183 miles an hour."
But Andretti, who had a loose setup in his car to compensate for the underpowered engine, found he could barely handle the car once the new engine was put in. After tinkering with the setup, Andretti decided to leave the car loose and went on to lead 112 of the 200 laps en route to the victory.
"Mario introduced a new driving style to Daytona: He introduced the slide job to everybody at Daytona," Darrell Waltrip said. "I remember that Jake Elder, who was working on my car ... he said he didn't know if Mario was scared or not, but he knew everybody else was.
"(Mario) was right; it was so loose that he'd just take it in at the bottom and wash it all the way up to the top. I tried that and I wrecked."
Andretti, who was one of only two drivers to finish the 1967 Daytona 500 on the lead lap, had built a 27-second lead over Ford teammate Fred Lorenzen before a late accident led to the race ending under caution. Andretti said he managed to charge from his 12th starting position to the lead without ever mastering the draft at Daytona.
"I was driving differently because I had to lead; I had to be aggressive and not be patient and draft -- because I didn't know the draft anyway," Andretti said. "In my mind, I had to get to the front and I was able to do that in pretty good style."
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