“I Asked [God] for Some Help”- American Motorsports Legend Lets Slip the Only Band-Aid for Racing’s Greatest Fear

Risk is inherent in all forms of motorsports. However, since the 1990s and 2000s, authorities have taken steps to make racetracks safer for drivers. The years 2000 and 2001 shook up NASCAR, as the deaths of several drivers traumatized an entire generation of drivers. Tony Roper, Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin, and later, Dale Earnhardt, all suffered similar fates due to the deficiencies in NASCAR safety regulations. However, another rival stands close. As famous veteran Mario Andretti emphasized, IndyCar is an equally daring sport or perhaps even more. 

Andretti is a four-time IndyCar champion with 52 career victories and is known for his love of speed. This Open-Wheel series is a breakneck sport, and Mario Andretti relied on only one thing to emerge unscathed from every race: divine intervention.

No way out of IndyCar risks, believes Mario Andretti

According to CNN, NASCAR and IndyCar combined have witnessed 15 deaths in the last twenty years. Therefore, it is not wrong to say that danger defines American Motorsports. NASCAR faced tragic losses one after the other in 2000 and 2001- Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin Jr, and of course, Dale Earnhardt Sr. Following that, NASCAR brought safety measures to ensure a driver came back to race the following weekend. However, how safe are these safety measures? The death of IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon in 2011, amidst improved cars and safety equipment, raised this pressing question. 

It is to be expected that those terrifying memories still give Mario Andretti chills. In a recent conversation with Andretti, Dale Earnhardt Jr put IndyCar into focus as he highlighted the inherent dangers associated with the sport. He said, “Talking about mechanical failures, there was always a very serious threat of fire. We’ve both had our own experiences with that. I always felt like in stock cars, it was a very rare fear. But in an Indy car, that was always a possibility.” He then asked Mario Andretti how he managed to deal with that looming danger. 

Andretti shared how he took risks himself, setting the then-world closed-course speed record of 234.275 mph in Michigan in 1993. In 2000, people used to send Andretti Christmas cards in July, as they were not sure whether he would make it till Christmas. The IndyCar legend believes there is no way out of the fire risk but to count your blessings. “You had to be numb in your mind to these potential dangers. You knew that possibilities were there because it was all around you. It was happening to your best friends. If you’re gonna be in the business, you cannot dwell on it. You had to just somehow…put yourself in the hands of you know, someone bigger than you.”

So Andretti relied on the goodwill of the closest spiritual inspiration he could reach out to. “I believed I’m religious at that point. I asked for some help and I think I got it. We had an uncle, a priest in the family. And I think he did some overtime work on my behalf I think.”

However, Mario Andretti provided everyone with a sigh of relief. He recently expressed that things are getting better and that the progress of IndyCar’s safety has been remarkable. 

Now drivers can retire on their own terms

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Only 6 years ago in 2018, Robert Wickens’ narrowly escaped a catastrophic crash. His car launched into the air at 200 mph, smashed into a debris fence, and landed on the track with violent force. An eerie silence befell the drivers until Wickens came out alive but with enormous injuries. His crash closely resembled Justin Wilson’s (2015) and Dan Wheldon’s (2011) incidents, both of which ended in tragedy. These are just a few of a long list of drivers whose careers abruptly ended.

But in 2024, IndyCar has taken measures to reduce these horrific wrecks. In a recent interview with The Athletic, Mario Andretti admitted that now drivers can take a breather. “All the sanctioning bodies on this planet in the majors, they all have been addressing the safety factor vigorously. I don’t think the sport would have survived unless that would have been taken seriously…We are at the point now that the drivers have the best chance ever to retire on their own terms. And that’s a beautiful thing.”

Despite motorsports’ advancement in ensuring driver safety, a margin of risk always exists. And our racers bravely face it without hesitation every weekend.