Mario Andretti

When you start thinking you may get hurt, it's time to get out of racing.

In NASCAR, you can do a lot of banging around and get pretty serious and even get yourself upside down. All of those things can happen - and then you give an interview two seconds later.

I still have the competitive spirit, which is good.

My wife loves football, but I think she's resigned to the fact that I'll never make it there.

Age doesn't affect driving - how do you like that?

The man upstairs is pushing the buttons, and if your name happens to be on that button, well, thank you.

At Indy, we are the NASA of the production-car world, and that's clearly why manufacturers are involved - it's such a good testbed.

The banked oval tracks are obsolete tracks for Indy cars.

All of the courses that run through real streets are very demanding. There is no room for error, no shoulders to lean on. If you go off the road, you're into somebody's shop-window or front porch.

You do a period of go-karting until you're at the age of qualifying for a ride in a 'school-kart,' then you qualify for driving school. And several of the driving schools have a competition series for their own students.

Tom Carnegie will never be replaced.

I don't have any feeling of accomplishment about anything unless there's a lot of risk to it.

I don't remember as a kid wanting to do or be anything else but drive something, be a race driver.

Foreign players is what makes golf so popular now.

The day of parochialism in sports is over. The world is too small for what people like to call 'the good old days.' Fans want the best, wherever they come from.

It makes great conversation to discuss what's wrong with open-wheel racing today.

If the Indy Racing League didn't have the Indianapolis 500, do you think it would have lasted more than six months? No chance.

From a prestige standpoint, the U.S. needs to host Formula 1. And I think Formula 1, they know they need the U.S. as well. So many companies that are global are based in the United States support Formula 1.

Can the U.S. support two Formula 1 races? I think so.

I think it's counterproductive in many ways to pretend to know things you don't. You surround yourself with people who are the real experts.

A racing car is an animal with a thousand adjustments.

I love all motor sports at the top level.

Every NASCAR driver watches Formula One in the morning; they are well informed.

In the U.S., we really have fallen short of road-racing facilities that have kept up with the times, unfortunately, but it's a fact.

I don't want to go out there and do something 3,000 other people can do.

The United States is the only country where a driver can have a successful career - either in stock cars or IndyCar - and he won't need a passport.

You should never get away from where the real foundation of Formula One has been, which is Europe. Of course, there is nothing wrong with the expansion to countries like Asia, China, Malaysia.

There is so much more demand for Formula One than it can supply. You have governments investing in circuits all over the world, and the private sector sometimes has a tough time competing with that.

You dream what you're supposed to do.

With tennis, you can go pick up a racket, take a lesson, and understand how much talent and skill it takes to be as good as the top pros. Same with golf: pick up a club. But not many can go out and get in a race car and experience a drive at over 200 miles an hour.

At Andretti Winery, I'm not the winemaker.

I've always said, 'I didn't have a Plan B in life.' I was in pursuit of my dream from the very beginning. It's all about desire and passion. At all costs.

I always say that every win has something that is special.

I've driven just about every kind of car there is.

A father-son relationship is strong, like no other teammates. You could be straightforward with one another.

I look at myself as the luckiest man alive.

If a neighbor is killed in a car accident, do you sell your car and stop driving?

If you weren't on Chris Economaki's radar screen, you probably weren't on anybody's.

I wish we could be 100% shielded from danger, but nothing is in life.

I lived the true American dream, because I was able to pursue what I set as my goals at a very young age.

My last race was at Le Mans in 2000, my first race was in 1959, so I dodged a lot of bullets along the way, I can tell you that.

I count my blessings every day, quite honestly, because I take nothing for granted.

What I learned is that in business you must make decisions based on facts, not react with your heart.

Do it no matter what. If you believe in it, it is something very honorable. If somebody around you or your family does not understand it, then that's their problem. But if you do have a passion, an honest passion, just do it.

Everything comes to those who wait... except a cat.

If you wait, all that happens is that you get older.

As far as I'm concerned, Parnelli Jones was the greatest driver of his era. He had aggressiveness and also a finesse that no one else possessed. And he won with everything he put his hands on, including off-road.

Anybody who can drive and doesn't come out of it a rich man is a fool.

I see all these old people who don't have anything to do but eat, drink and sleep. I will never say 'retired' because that's such a finality that I don't want to be part of my life. I'll work until they throw me in a box.

Motor racing is like one big family, ultimately, and when you come back to it, that's really what it feels like.