Andy Granatelli

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Andy Granatelli 2011 in Indianapolis
The gas turbine in the STP Oil Treatment Special by Parnelli Jones from 1967

Andy Granatelli (born March 18, 1923 in Dallas , Texas , † December 29, 2013 in Santa Barbara , California ) was an American racing car driver and racing team owner. In the 1960s he became CEO of the mineral oil company STP .

Career

Andy Granatelli and his two brothers Vince and Joe worked as mechanics in their hometown of Dallas before World War II . They supplied engines and converted road vehicles into racing cars . During the war, Andy Granatelli organized racing events and promoted crash races.

In 1946 the three brothers came to Indianapolis for the first time for the 500 mile race . Your Grancor Racing Team built very innovative monoposto racing cars for the time that already had independent wheel suspensions . But they could not achieve a victory with their vehicles.

Granatelli's racing career was short. In 1948 he tried to qualify as a driver for the 500-mile race. However, a serious accident during qualification training put an end to his ambitions as a driver for good.

In the 1960s he became a big name in US motorsport. STP became its main sponsor and he became its Chief Executive Officer, who himself advertised STP products in TV spots. His gas turbine racing cars became famous , with which he only narrowly missed victory in Indianapolis in 1967 and 1968 . In 1968 Joe Leonard was in the lead with 56 to ten laps in the Lotus when he retired due to a defect in the gas turbine. The team was hit even worse a year earlier when Parnelli Jones was about to win. Here, a damage to the clutch was the reason that Parnelli and Granatelli were eliminated three laps before the end of the race. 1969 he signed Mario Andretti , the the wheel - Lotus 64 should go. However, Andretti destroyed the Lotus in training and had to contest the race on a previous year's Hawk , with which he finally won the race. It was Granatelli's only Indy 500 win. The photo of the winning kiss, which an overjoyed Granatelli Andretti had on the right cheek, went around the world in 1969.

The Granatelli team was at the start in Indianapolis until 1991 . In 1992 he was inducted into the International Hall of Fame of Motorsports, and in 2001 to the US.

Film and television appearances

  • 1968–1969: The Joey Bishop Show (6 episodes)
  • 1968: A great beetle (The Love Bug)

literature

  • Peter Higham: The Guinness Guide to international Motor Racing. A Complete Reference from Formula One to Touring Cars. Guinness Publishing Ltd., London 1995, ISBN 0-85112-642-1 .
  • Rick Popely, L. Spencer Riggs: Indianapolis 500 Chronicle. Publications International Ltd., Lincolnwood IL 1998, ISBN 0-7853-2798-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Granatelli, Indy 500-winning car owner, dies at 90
  2. ↑ Granatelli kisses Andretti
  3. ^ Andy Granatelli in the IMDb
personal data
SURNAME Granatelli, Andy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American racing car driver and racing team owner
DATE OF BIRTH March 18, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Dallas , Texas
DATE OF DEATH December 29, 2013
Place of death Santa Barbara , California