Met Mario Andretti and talked racing, On my flight the other night Options

[Thorshammer]

So, I am going to Indianapolis on Monday night and while walking through first class to steerage I see Mario Andretti sitting inthe second row on the isle.

I could see him from my seat in the second row of steerage. I thought I would get an autograph when we got into the air. Foiled by the "first class curtain" I asked the Flight Attendant if she would ask him to sign something for me, explaining to her it was my first race win on Sunday ever. She oblidged me and took my final results sheet up to him and then she walked away. A couple minutes later she came back with it signed. "Erik, Great Job!" signed Mario Andretti. It was pretty cool. Although I have been around racers during my travels (Bob Wollek,Hans Stuck,Al Holbert....) I had never met Andretti.

After the flight I saw him walking in the terminal and introduced myself and thanked him for the kind words. I am the type that feels celebs deserve some privacy, so I tried to end our conversation and walk, But he asked if I wanted to talk racing for a few minutes. Which we did. He asked about my race and the car and what I was doing in Indy. It was nice of him to take the time, and you can see the fire still burns bright with him.
He asked about the Runoffs and we discussed qualifying for the race. See the Picture !


Erik Madsen