So the Andrettis were inside a Communist country. When the war ended, the peninsula of Istria, which is where Montona was located, became part of Yugoslavia. World War II broke out around the time he was born, at the beginning of 1940. Mario was born in Montona, Italy (now Croatia), about 35 miles from the northeastern city of Trieste. And the journey he has made is what made him a very rich man. Yet, if you look at his whole life, he has seen the world that most people will never see. He is in the very elite, top-superstar category of his game. The admiration for Andretti has been for his achievements on the race track. And he was competitive all of those years: He was named Driver of the Year in three different decades (the 60s, 70s, 80s), Driver of the Quarter Century (in the 90s) and the Associated Press named him Driver of the Century in January, 2000. Mario Andretti took the checkered flag 111 times during his career - a career that stretched five decades. He drove with a passion and joy that few have equaled - and he won. He is a racing icon, considered by many to be the greatest race car driver in the history of the sport.Īssessing his legacy is easy.he drove the careers of three men. He won at virtually every level of motorsports since he arrived in America from his native Italy at age 15. He won races in sports cars, sprint cars and stock cars - on ovals, road courses, drag strips, on dirt and on pavement. He won the Indy Car National Championship four times and was a three-time winner at Sebring. He won the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500, the Formula One World Championship and the Pikes Peak Hillclimb. He could make a bad car competitive and a competitive car victorious. Not many have driven a race car better than

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