![]() “ had been so successful, but unable to win at the Speedway in previous years,” Boles said. “So, for him to win in 1969 and for Mario to win in ‘69 was special for both of them.” This win had been culminating for Andretti since his rookie year in 1965 when he was both the rookie of the year and the Ind圜ar National Champion.ĭuring the 1969 season, Andretti drove a Lotus. and he’d never won and the years previous to 1969 he’d come so close,” Boles said. ![]() He had campaigned all kinds of historic cars. ![]() “ had been coming around for a long time. Mario Andretti in the driver's seat of his back-up Brawner Hawk racer. They were Mario Andretti and his just-as-storied team owner Andy Granatelli, who might be better known as Mister 500 because of how long he had been involved with the race. If you take a look back at the 53rd running of the Indianapolis 500, it comes down to two substantial figures in the racing world, who took the checkered flag for the first time together that historic Memorial Day weekend in 1969. ![]() I have always had a feeling that it was quite a special race and when I sat down with Doug Boles, the current president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, I discovered he felt the same way. The mystique of the 1969 Indianapolis 500 is something that has stuck out to me since I was a child. It was quite an easy mystery to solve since it ended up being one of the key artifacts going on display in the Museum’s Nation of Speedexhibition. I grew up hearing about the exploits of this unstoppable driver, and my grandfather was even at the famed 1969 Indy 500. My father sent me to my National Air and Space Museum internship with one goal-to find out where the Smithsonian was keeping the car that Andretti drove to victory in 1969. Mario Andretti is the household name in the world of Ind圜ar racing, especially in my home. ![]() It gave Hall of Fame driver Mario Andretti his first and only Indianapolis 500 win. But the summer of 1969 was also one for the history books for Ind圜ar racing. It was the summer we first saw a person step on the surface of the Moon, creating an unforgettable historic moment in space exploration. ![]()
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