My interview with Mario Andretti

Mario Andretti's 1969 Champ Car win at Hanford Motor Speedway represented extreme highs and lows: a secret tire setup that left competitors in his dust and a freak pitlane accident that contributed to the death of a mechanic.

In a telephone interview with me from his Pennsylvania offices, Andretti recalled his five appearances at the Hanford tri-oval: a 1965 USAC stock car drive and four Champ Car races from 1967-1969 that resulted in one win, two third-place finishes and two DNFs from the third and fourth starting spots. He obviously found the speedway -- the rough 1.4-mile 1965 version and the renovated 1.5-mile late 1960s version -- a good match. 

Andretti heads down the front stretch in the 1967 Champ Car race at Hanford"I liked the layout," Andretti said. "I liked that it had different radius corners. It required a compromise in the setup. I liked that extra challenge." 

But Andretti's only vivid memories of his time at Hanford were of the April 1969 200-miler, the second race of the Champ Car season and the one immediately preceding his only Indianapolis 500 victory. A key to his Hanford win was to add stagger -- using tires on the outside wheels that were larger than the inside pair -- and therefore pick up speed through corners. 

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April 1969 Champ Car race program

The third annual "California 200" on April 13, 1969, was the last of four IndyCar races held at Hanford Motor Speedway -- as far as I can tell -- the last major race held at the track.

The 36-page program was the first of four Champ Car races that didn't  feature cartoon-like artwork, instead featuring 1968 USAC national champ Bobby Unser sitting in his checkerboard No. 1.

The chassis-engine mix had a new twist for 1969, as turbines were nowhere to be seen, although Art Pollard was driving one of the wedge-shaped chassis retrofitted with a turbo Offy.

Here's an index of the various chassis-engine combinations listed in the program:

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