CONCORD, N.C. – Any time Mario Andretti walks in a room, his mere presence commands attention.
Undeniably one of the greatest race car drivers to ever put on a helmet, Andretti was on hand Sunday afternoon at Charlotte Motor Speedway to serve as the ceremonial pace car driver during the Bank of America ROVAL 400.
The 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner and 1967 Daytona 500 champion previously got to check out the ROVAL in 2017, when he took a Porsche 918 for a spin around the 2.28-mile circuit as speedway officials were working to develop the course ahead of the inaugural ROVAL race in 2018.
“I was reminded that by the dealer that the car is over $1 million, which I knew. He said to take it easy and I said yeah, right,” Andretti said, which was followed by laughter from most of the media in attendance. “I don’t think the dealer was all that pleased because at the end, the brakes were smoking pretty good.”
The course that Andretti drove on that day is different than what was eventually utilized for the inaugural event, but he admits he can’t take credit for most of the course.
One thing he did suggest was the addition of chicanes to the track to help slow the cars down and create passing zones.
“I can’t take too much credit for the course itself,” Andretti said. “The only thing I suggested at the time … they didn’t have any of the chicanes. I thought that they created more action and they needed to slow the cars down before turn three (on the oval).
“As you can see they put a chicane there last year, but it was too fast. Obviously they need more of a hard braking (zone). I like the way that they reacted for this year, which they put in a proper corner. That’s going to be interesting.”
By his own admission, Andretti has never been a fan of road courses inside of ovals, like Charlotte’s ROVAL or the course utilized by Daytona Int’l Speedway for the Rolex 24.
However, Andretti said the ROVAL is different.
“It’s always a challenge to create a road course that has good technical and flow when you’re somewhat limited with the geography,” Andretti said. “I’ve never been too much of a fan of road courses inside an oval. I’m a fan of this one. They did the best job that you could have expected.
“I think they definitely needed something to slow the cars down before turn four, because they have that symmetrical road racing setup. So for all the reasons they obviously did the right thing.”
On the heels of Josef Newgarden’s successful exhibition run with his Indy car around the ROVAL on Friday, the 1978 Formula One champion was asked about the potential of the NTT IndyCar Series partnering with NASCAR for a doubleheader event at the ROVAL or another circuit.
Andretti was quick to respond with a resounding yes.
“Our sport has loyal fans for different disciplines, but there is also a lot of crossover,” Andretti said. “If a doubleheader with IndyCar puts six more butts in the seats, then that is six more seats that you’ve gained. The crossover would be healthy for everyone.
“I would encourage it, of course. Probably IndyCar would benefit more than stock cars because the audience is much greater for NASCAR. But at the same time, you’ve got to look at the big picture – motorsports. Create the interest and the fans are the most important part.”