This right here is some stuff! The first part of the video seems to date from the first half of the 1960s but the last half comes from 1968 and there’s one really specific way that we know that. This is rare footage of Mario Andretti drag racing for the only time in his life at Connecticut Dragway in 1968.
You will see him landing on the strip in a little Cessna, hanging out with the trophy queen and ultimately see him making laps in a Mustang on behalf of Tasca Ford! Andretti ran a match race against track owner Frank Maratta who is driving a Camaro prepared by Norwood Chevrolet. To double down on the awesome, the car that Andretti is likely a Tasca KR8, the car that the production Cobra Jet Mustangs were based off of! Surely they would not have stuck Mario in some 390 powered Mustang, right? He got the good stuff we’re sure.
There’s plenty of other fun stuff to be seen here in the form of wheel standers and loads of awesome cars but the real story if Mario. Recently on television he talked about this particular day and his memories all these years later are 100% spot on, the video proves it! You will see him fly in around the 13:00 minute mark and his runs against Maratta are shown around the 15:00 mark.
Drag racing history in living color!
Always liked Mario, seemed like the kind of guy who’d sit down for a beer with anyone and shoot the breeze like he’d known you his whole life. This vid only proves he was a real driver. And I’d love to know if that Mustang is still around…..
Thanks for taking the shots and putting in the work it took to get them and thanks to the rest of y’all for getting them posted.
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