RETRO: Mario Andretti's Daytona Day

The headline in The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin said it all: "All of Dixie Mourns Andretti Victory."

Fifty years ago the hottest thing in open wheel racing left the stock car fraternity in his wake with a stunning, if not demoralizing, victory in NASCAR's Holy Grail.

"It was very satisfying, no question, because obviously stock cars weren't my specialty," said Mario Andretti reflecting on his 1967 Daytona 500 triumph. "It would have been like Richard Petty coming to Indy and winning on our turf.

"It was a sense of pride for me and, quite honestly, it gets bigger every year because drivers just don't jump around to different disciplines like we did back then."

Andretti's rookie run at Daytona the year before for Smokey Yunick was hardly memorable as he started 39th and crashed out on lap 31. But in '67 he returned with a first-cabin ride on the Holmon-Moody team with Ford backing and NASCAR star Fred Lorenzen as his teammate.

"I didn't have much of an engine in qualifying, so I ran a really low spoiler and you had to race with the setup you qualified with," he continued. "I had a good relationship with Ford so I complained to some folks in Detroit and got a good engine for the race."

Starting 12th, he stormed into the lead by lap 23 and locked horns with David Pearson and Lorenzen (pictured chasing Andretti, top) for the rest of the afternoon. But his very low-downforce setup caused him to run loose on the high-banked track and all the experts waited on the crash.

"I don't think I turned left all day," he said with a laugh. "I had to run high and I had to try and lead because the thing was really loose if I followed anybody. I was pinching it and smoking the right-rear tire going into Turn 1 and let the car run up the hill.

"I knew what I was doing but I think if confused my competition because I was always going for the lead. I had a great time racing with Pearson before he dropped out."

Parnelli Jones knew a thing or two about stock cars and all about USAC's multi-talented Andretti.

"Some of the drivers and officials said Mario was dangerous and was going to crash driving a car so loose," said Jones, who scored four NASCAR wins during his illustrious career. "What they didn't know was that loose was the fast way around Daytona and that Mario had great car control."

The 27-year-old wunderkind led 120 of the 200 laps – including the final 33 – but it wasn't without a little political drama. He came in leading on his final pit stop on lap 163 but went out second behind Lorenzen after a very "slow" stop.

"It was intentional, for sure – they left me up on the jack until Freddie was almost in Turn 1 and I was furious," he continued. "I mean, I get it – he was the golden boy of NASCAR at that time and they had a lot more interest in him winning than me.

"But I got back up to speed and caught him in a couple laps and that was that."

Jones still shakes his head at what transpired that day. "I don't think I've ever seen a team not wanting its driver to win and they tried to keep the win from Mario. But he just out-drove them and won it on his own – with no help needed.

"Open-wheel racing knew he was a keeper and after that NASCAR knew it too."

The 76-year-old legend from Nazareth, Pa. will be in Daytona as the honorary race official next weekend and still cherishes the accomplishment that made him the only driver to ever win the Indy 500, F1 championship and Daytona 500.

"I hadn't won Indy yet so at that time it was arguably the biggest win of my career," said the 1969 Indy victor. "It was special then and it still is today."