Just Like Dad

Mario Andretti turned 60 years of age this week. He no longer wrestles a Champ car around the circuits, but I hear he's still talking about finding a ride at Le Mans. That's one jewel missing from his racing crown.

The teenager who hopped ashore on the Land of Opportunity has had a storied career. Born in 1940 in Montona, Italy, Mario is a two-time USAC Champ car champion, and he's the only driver with a Daytona 500 (1967), Indianapolis 500 (1969) and the F-1 Grand Prix world driving championship (1978) trophies in his game room.

Auto racing roared into my world with the victories of the legendary Bill Vukovich at Indy, and I was intrigued as the storied Offy roadsters took a back seat to the Colin Chapman's quick little mid-engine cars piloted by Jimmy Clark and Graham Hill. Mario snagged his lone Indy win shortly after that revolution.

Even if we avoid mirrors, we can never escape reminders that the world may be putting a lap on us. Yesterday the Associated Press circulated a story on Mario's son Michael Andretti, who now -- believe it or not -- is CART's second oldest active driver.

The AP story says, "With Scott Pruett, 39, leaving CART for NASCAR's Winston Cup series, and Al Unser Jr., 37, moving to the rival Indy Racing League, only Roberto Moreno at 41 is older than Andretti among CART regulars." Little Mikey is 37.

When it comes to the Princes of the Circuit, I've always favored Little Al over Mikey. Little Al's generous thumbs-up to Emmo after being punted off track during the last laps at Indy is one of the classiest moves I've ever witnessed in four decades as a race fan.

Nevertheless, Michael Andretti deserves the respect of every true race fan. Series champion in 1991, he's first among active drivers in victories with 38. The only real blemish on his career is the disastrous foray into the Kingdom of Ecclestone.

Andretti drives for Newman-Haas, and this year the team bolts its Ford motors to a Lola chassis after racing the Swift from 1997 to 1999. The AP quotes Andretti, "'Now we've had a year with Firestone, the Lola is really a good car and the Ford XF engine right off the bat is very reliable and has a ton of horsepower."

Don't count out the old man. Ganassi's championship team is asking prime pilot Juan Montoya to defend his trophy using a different engine/chassis combination.

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