Mario Andretti was born to be a race car driver.
The celebrated motorsports superstar won’t even entertain a question about what other position on a racing team he’d have liked to try out if he could go back and do it all over.
“I would not want to do anything but drive a racecar,” Andretti said.
That was that.
Andretti, if he were so inclined, could talk about his career for hours, maybe even days. There are so many successes in his storied career: He’s won Formula 1 races and IndyCar races. And endurance races. And stock car races.
And he’s the only American Formula 1 driver to win a grand prix in the United States.
But Andretti doesn’t want to talk about all that.
Instead, he wants to talk about the Grand Prix of Long Beach.
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Longtime Grand Prix of Long Beach leader among this year’s Motorsports Walk of Fame honorees Mario Andretti, Al Unser Jr. will be grand marshals for 50th Grand Prix of Long Beach Roger Penske adds Grand Prix of Long Beach to his Southern California motorsports legacy Grand Prix of Long Beach has been making history for 50 years Superstar Mario Andretti loves Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, the city and its peopleThat’s right, the man who boasts four IndyCar national championships and a Formula 1 world championship, the legend who has taken the checkered flag at some of the most prestigious races in the United States, including the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500 and 12 Hours of Sebring — is focused on none of that at the moment.
His attention, rather, is on Long Beach’s iconic and intricate street course. On its milestone 50th anniversary. And on the epic amount of work that has gone into making the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach both a powerhouse race on the IndyCar Series circuit and a full-on event for spectators.
“Long Beach coming on the scene as an event is something I really loved, something else that I liked to try to conquer for myself,” the venerable racer said. “And I derived tremendous satisfaction out of that, as you can imagine.”
Andretti, 85,will soon return once more to Long Beach, where he and fellow racing legend Al Unser Jr. will serve as co-grand marshals for the Grand Prix, which will take place from Friday to Sunday, April 11-13.
It’s a recognition that makes what has become a bit of an annual homecoming all the more special.
For Andretti, who was born in Italy but grew up in Pennsylvania — where he still lives — Long Beach isn’t just another race on the calendar.
It’s an exhaustive event that draws in even those who don’t count themselves as members of the racing fan club, he said. They flock to the Grand Prix for the food, for the concerts, for an up-close look to satiate their curiosity about the vrooms that ricochet around Long Beach every April. It also happens to be the second-most beloved race among IndyCar drivers, behind only the Indianapolis 500.
And sometimes, the Grand Prix converts even the most motorsports-adverse to the world of racing.
“There’s a lot of excitement,” Andretti said. “Everybody smiles there. It’s the place to be.”
That’s particularly true for Andretti.
FILE – Formula One drivers Mario Andretti, left, and Clay Regazzoni of Switzerland lead the field through the streets of Long Beach, Calif., during the early laps of the Long Beach Grand Prix, in this April, 3, 1977, file photo.The city closed its downtown streets for the first time in 1975 to host a street race that became one of the most prestigious events in (AP Photo/File) Formula 1 ran from 1976 to 1983 in Long Beach. Mario Andretti, pictured above, won the 1977 race. (Photo courtesy Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach). Mario Andretti behind the wheel of his red number three car enroute to the 1984 Long Beach Grand Prix win. (Courtesy of GPA:B) Mario Andretti, the most legendary Open Wheel racer in American history, drove in the first Long Beach Grand Prix. In 1977, he became the first American to win a F1 race on American soil, and in 1984 he won the first-ever Championship Auto Race Teams (CART) race at the Grand Prix. (Courtesy of GPALB) Racing legend Mario Andretti prepares to take race enthusiasts on a lap around the track at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Friday, April 8, 2022. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG) Mario Andretti, winner of the 1987 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach waves to the crowds and gets a congratulatory hug from friend and team co-owner Paul Newman in the victory circle following the race at Long Beach, Calif., April 5, 1987. (AP Photo/Bob Galbraith) Indycar legend Mario Andretti walks the pit lane Friday morning April 11, 2014 at the 40th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. (Will Lester/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin) Mario Andretti in the winner’s circle with a huge trophy and an even bigger bottle of champagne after winning the 1977 Long Beach Grand Prix. (Courtesy of GPALB) Winner of the 1987 Grand Prix of Long Beach, the #5 Hanna Auto Wash Chevrolet driven by Mario Andretti. (Photo courtesy of Grand Prix Association of Long Beach) Show Caption1 of 9FILE – Formula One drivers Mario Andretti, left, and Clay Regazzoni of Switzerland lead the field through the streets of Long Beach, Calif., during the early laps of the Long Beach Grand Prix, in this April, 3, 1977, file photo.The city closed its downtown streets for the first time in 1975 to host a street race that became one of the most prestigious events in (AP Photo/File) ExpandIt’s the place where Andretti has been since the very beginning — 50 years back. He competed in the inaugural Grand Prix of Long Beach, starting on the pole in what was then a Formula 5000 open-wheel race.
It’s the place where Andretti secured his spot in motorsports history in 1977 as the first — and so far, the only — American Formula 1 driver to hear his national anthem played while standing atop the podium at a U.S. grand prix. It’s where he won the first IndyCar race, when Long Beach switched to that series in 1984.
It’s the place he once ruled as “King the Beach,” until Unser Jr. surpassed his four wins on the way to an eventual six.
It’s also the place he keeps coming back to.
Andretti said he’s not sure if he’s ever missed a Long Beach Grand Prix — as a driver, a spectator or a proud father of a driver — and other than Indianapolis, it may be the circuit he has visited the most.
He’s watched the city grow and evolve over the past five decades, in tandem with the world of motorsports.
“I’m one of the few still around, as a driver, of course, who was there from the very beginning,” Andretti said.
“You have to realize, in our sport, street racing at the time was actually becoming extinct in Europe, and all of a sudden, here, it’s becoming a thing in the States,” he added. “None of the inside experts thought it was going to survive, and it did survive in the best possible way. It blossomed.”
The growth of Long Beach and its iconic street race, Andretti said, go hand-in-hand.
“The city of Long Beach had fame through the international port,” he said, “but from the standpoint of gaining international awareness and becoming a destination, if you will, the racing brought that.”
And then there’s his son, Michael Andretti, who won both his very first Indy race in Long Beach and his very last. The elder Andretti bookended the younger’s first Grand Prix of Long Beach — comprising a four-year winning streak for father-son duo.
“So you have to agree,” the elder Andretti said with a laugh, “Long Beach rates very high on our list.”
And Andretti rates pretty high on Long Beach’s list as well.
Mario Nasab, owner of La Traviata, an Italian restaurant in downtown Long Beach, recalled when Andretti dined there with his family some years ago and introduced his own wine, Andretti Wines from Napa. La Traviata became one of the first restaurants in the area to serve the Hall of Famer’s wine.
“Mario is as big as anybody in that industry (racing) — if not the biggest,” Nasab said. “He’s a legend for many years.”
A lot has changed since Andretti first helped usher in the Grand Prix in Long Beach 50 years ago.
The sport has become much safer, for one. There are dangers still, he noted, but they’ve been minimized.
Racing has also grown more commercial — more popular. And there have been massive advancements on the technological side of it.
Andretti, for example, recalled being one of the first teams a few decades back to test telemetry — the ability to collect and transmit data from sensors on a car to, say, a pit wall — in Michigan. Suddenly, everything about the car, like the deflection of the chassis, was no longer estimated. The details — the data — was in plain view for everyone back in the pits.
“There’s so much to look forward to in our sport, as far as not just the action that it provides, but through the speed and competition but also through the technology that you see,” Andretti said. “Many features of the technology is something that’s first tried and tested in motor racing, even today.
“And because of that,” he added, “I think the sport is enjoying its best moments right now ever.”
Andretti credited a lot of that to two people familiar to longtime Grand Prix of Long Beach fans: the race’s founder, Chris Pook, and Jim Michaelian, the longtime president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, the latter of whom will be inducted into the Long Beach Motorsports Hall of Fame on Thursday, April 10.
“It takes passion for what you’re doing,” Andretti said when asked about what it took for both Pook and Michaelian to lead the Grand Prix of Long Beach.
“There’s always going to be bumps on the road somewhere,” he added. “You’ve got to be able to overcome and always to be able to come out on top. You need to believe in what you’re doing and believe in what’s in front of you, and that’s what I’ve seen as the quality here.”
But as much as the sport continues to evolve, one thing remains constant: Andretti’s passion for racing.
“I love the sport. It’s been my life,” Andretti said. “I don’t know anyone who could love the sport more than me. Maybe as much, but not more so.
“I’m dedicated to motor racing,” he added. “That’s what keeps me going, that’s what keeps me alive.”
And that’s what keeps him returning to the Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Mario Andretti’s Grand Prix of Long Beach wins
1977: Andretti claims his first Long Beach win, when it was a Formula One race, with a time of 1:51:35.
1984: Andretti gets his second win — this time during the CART/Champ Car World Series era — with a time of 1:42:50. It was the first of four straight wins for drivers named Andretti.
1985: Andretti goes back-to-back, claiming the Long Beach title with a time of 1:57:34. His son, Michael Andretti, would take the crown the following year.
1987: Andretti returns to the top of the Long Beach podium, claiming his then-record fourth — and final — title with a time of 1:51:33.
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