Mario Andretti receives IMRRC's Argetsinger Award

Mario Andretti receives the International Motor Racing Research Center's Cameron R. Argetsinger Award on Aug. 31, 2017, from Peter Argetsinger and Bobby Rahal, chairman of the IMRRC Governing Council.

A star-studded group of giants in the motorsports industry gathered on Thursday as Mario Andretti was presented with the Cameron R. Argetsinger Award for Outstanding Contributions to Motorsports by the International Motor Racing Research Center at the Corning Museum of Glass.

This was the fourth year the glass trophy has been presented; previous honorees were Chip Ganassi, Richard Petty and Roger Penske.

"This is the most amazing evening that I've ever spent. I've never ever experienced anything like this, ever," Andretti said after being presented the Argetsinger Award by IMRRC Governing Council chairman Bobby Rahal and Peter Argetsinger, one of nine children of the late Cameron and Jean Argetsinger.

Ganassi recalled being an 11-year-old asking Andretti for his autograph when he saw him having lunch at the Glen Motor Inn in Watkins Glen.

"Any success I've ever attained in the sport, you can draw a direct line back to your mentorship," Ganassi said.

"Mario was the man," Bobby Rahal said. "He's not just a great driver. He's a great gentleman. He's the greatest ambassador for the sport we love."

In a question and answer session, Andretti told the crowd about his childhood plan to race motorcycles – a plan he thought was dashed when his family moved to Nazareth, Pennsylvania as refugees from Italy. But one week after moving to the States in 1959, he and his brother, Aldo, discovered a racetrack nearby. His competition career began four years later, racing underage at 19.

"I just wanted to drive and drive and drive," he told the audience.

Andretti's Formula 1 debut happened at Watkins Glen, when he claimed the pole in the 1968 United States Grand Prix. Ten years later he was on the pole again and World Champion.

"I felt so good in the car," Andretti said about that 1968 start. "It was an amazing day for me."

Since then, he said, he has raced in four different series at The Glen.

"There is no other track like it," said Andretti, 77, who's back at The Glen Sunday to drive the Honda two-seater.

When asked how he wants to be remembered, Andretti answered simply: "I'm just a racer."

"I feel so blessed. I've gotten so much out of the sport. You're living the dream, and I'm still living it," Andretti said.

Andretti has supported the work of the Racing Research Center since its opening in 1999. He serves on the Center's Drivers Council and twice has been chairman of the annual membership campaign.

The Racing Research Center, located in Watkins Glen, is an archival library dedicated to the preservation and sharing of the history of motorsports, all series and all venues, through its collections of books, periodicals, films, photographs, fine art and other materials. The IMRRC is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization.