Racing legend Mario Andretti and Tom Lee, a founder of the Morale Entertainment Foundation, were guests on an INDYCAR teleconference earlier today to discuss his joining the Indy 500 Centennial Tour in January with Morale Entertainment leading the coordination of that tour.
During the tour, Indianapolis 500 veteran drivers and those with ties to the greatest spectacle in racing and the IZOD IndyCar Series will visit American military personnel stationed in Europe and southwest Asia. Other confirmed participants include Al Unser, Jr., Johnny Rutherford, Graham Rahal, Davey Hamilton, Larry Foyt, Martin Plowman, Jack Arute, IZOD Trophy Girl Cameron Haven, and IndyCar executive Terry Angstadt. Selected quotes from their interview are listed below.
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Q. Tom, I'm going to start with you. Tell us more about the Indy 500 Centennial Tour and the Morale Entertainment Foundation and the vital role both will play to honor the troops defending our freedom across the world.
TOM LEE: The Morale Entertainment Foundation is a non-profit organization made up of volunteers. We take great Americans to visit U.S. bases overseas. We help inspire our troops. We bring a piece of America to the troops and boost their morale. The Indy 500 Centennial Tour, of course, coincides with the hundredth running of the Indy 500 in 2011. It's also important to note it's the centennial of naval aviation. A nice tie-in there. We're bringing this incredible team of drivers representing past, present and future Indy 500 drivers to the troops. You've already heard this incredible list of people that are going.It's a great way to kick off this centennial year, the hundredth running year, of course to honor and celebrate our troops overseas. Let's not forget that the Indy 500 is run on Memorial Day, which also honors the troops each year that way.
The Indy 500 is viewed by the military around the world on military bases. It's a very popular event. So this plays in beautifully to that. We'll travel about 15,000 flight miles. The drivers will meet nearly one-on-one with over 10,000 troops in Europe and southwest Asia. We're also planning to bring with us a special two-seater IndyCar to some of the bases that we'll be visiting. We'll give an incredible opportunity for the troops to have an experience to ride in that car. Imagine how fantastic it would be for Mario Andretti to be in the front seat driving around some of the troops on one of the bases overseas.
Just real quickly, we'll start the tour at Landstuhl Medical Center, which is in Rahmstein, Germany, which is where the wounded warriors from Iraq and Afghanistan are taken mostly within 24 hours of being injured. From there we'll travel to southwest Asia. We'll also be visiting an aircraft carrier as part of this centennial year of naval aviation, we'll visit an aircraft carrier on active duty out in the Arabian Sea. That's a quick summary of what our intentions are.
Q. Mario, talk about your involvement and anticipation of the Indy 500 Centennial Tour, joining the tour to go over and salute our warriors in Europe and southwest Asia.
MARIO ANDRETTI: Well, I'm quite happy that I was invited to this tour. The invitation came while I was visiting the last race at Homestead. I happened to be taking a general from the National Guard for a ride in the two-seater car. He mentioned something about it. Of course, Tom Lee mentioned it to me. One thing led to another. The fact they said, Well, maybe we'll have the two-seater car shipped over there, and you can give some rides there. I said, You know what, this sounds good, sounds like an incredibly good idea. I've had the opportunity to visit bases around the world before, and I always welcome that opportunity. I think it always gives you just a great feeling to visit with the military around the world, these young individuals that obviously are out there and serving our country and sacrificing in many different ways. If we can bring a smile to their face for whatever reason, I think it's a great feeling.So I'm definitely looking forward to this. It's going to be a great experience, I'm sure. Like I said, I hope that it's well-received. I think it should be. I'm sure we have a lot of race fans in the military and we'll see what kind of response we get.
Q. Mario mentioned the great impact that IZOD has had on the IZOD IndyCar Series in its first year at title sponsor. IZOD also has a significant involvement in the Indy 500 Centennial Tour. Tom, if you could talk about that, what IZOD is doing to help the tour.
TOM LEE: We're extremely pleased that IZOD has chosen to become a significant sponsor, as has Kangaroo Express. We hope some others will join. They I believe see sort of the obvious connection between being the series sponsor and how important this is in the centennial year, basically the first event of the year kicking us off for the troops. They're also going to be providing some swag. We love to give away items to the troops. So I'm sure we'll be giving away a lot of great clothing and other IZOD racing materials which the troops will absolutely love and treasure. Of course, they're going to want to get autographs from people like Mario to treasure for the rest of their lives.
Q. Mario, I think it's fair to say one of NASCAR's troubles in the last year or so has been they're not developing younger fans. How do you feel the IndyCar folks are doing with that? We all know who you and A.J. and all those guys are. I'm wondering if there are people in their 20s and 30s who are really into the IndyCar Series now.
MARIO ANDRETTI: That is a good question. I think the sanctioning bodies in general recognize this. It's cyclical. It's life. There is a cycle of life for drivers. You've got drivers that obviously have been around a long time. Sooner or later they're going to retire. They almost start all over. The same thing with fans. But I think the job of the organizing bodies, such as IndyCar, NASCAR, so forth, is to always try to find ways to connect the fans, such as making maybe the drivers more available to the fans, opening up sometimes the pit area to allow the fans to come closer to the racecars and visit. Anything to become fan-friendly, if you will. All these things have a way of really working in a positive way. I remember myself as a kid just one instant when I was able to get next to a driver, like Eddie Sachs in Trenton. I was shaking in my boots. He actually talked to me. I asked him a question about how he enjoyed the race in Monza, in Italy, when they went there to run on the high banks. He actually answered it to me. I know how those things work. Us as drivers, when we're out there, I think we have to think in those terms. There could be a day that would impress somebody, and that person could become a fan for life. Those are all the things that are important to remember also to create the fan base.
TOM LEE: If I could add something to what Mario said. It ties into what happens on these tours. Let's not forget that the average or the bulk of the troops out in the field are 18- to 24-year-old young men and women. I can share with you, we had a concern about connecting with them on one of our recent tours. We took several of the great Apollo astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell and Gene Cernan, this was called Legends of Aerospace. We were concerned if these 20-year-old kids would connect with these historic figures that we read about in school. I have to tell you, it was absolutely amazing. They were rock stars out there. I guarantee you, when Mario, some of these other great drivers, some of the current drivers are out there as well, they're going to connect. The opportunity that these young people would never have to meet these people, just like Mario said, the Eddie Sachs story, which is a terrific story, that will happen over and over again on this tour and we're going to create fans for life in the military.
Q. Your vision of the American dream, that's what these guys and women overseas are doing, protecting the American dream. Throughout the recent election campaigns, you heard a lot of negativity about the American dream is dying. I'm wondering what your sense is of this as someone who came over from Italy and built a great career and a great life.
MARIO ANDRETTI: Well, I can tell you, I'm a perfect example of living the American dream because I'm an immigrant. I was able to realize, again, what I was still dreaming about when I left Italy. I arrived in the States, and motor racing was the only thing in my mind - besides school, of course, at the age of 15. I started driving here at 19. I would have never had the opportunity if I would have stayed in Italy, for instance. So I did fully realize it because of what this country can provide for you. If you work hard enough, if you really believe in yourself, those opportunities are out there. I don't think in any way the American dream is dying. Of course, it all depends which side of the aisle you sit on. At the same time, I don't think we can give up on that in any way. I think that's something that we need to keep fighting for because that's made America the greatest country in the world. We can't give that up. If we do, it's shame on us.
Q. Mario, you talked about the American dream. The fact that you were born in Italy during the war, came over here to America, does that make you appreciate the freedom provided by America and also the service personnel who protect that freedom even more because you weren't born in this country and you came here for the freedom?
MARIO ANDRETTI: I think so. I think I have a different appreciation for that aspect of it. If I would have been born here, obviously there are a lot of things that I would have taken for granted, which is natural. So having been displaced from my native land, even though at a young age, but old enough to certainly be aware of what's going on, seeing my parents, my dad, giving up everything he worked for all his life through no fault of his own, but looking and being concerned about the future of us, my twin brother Aldo, my sister Anna Maria. That's why at this stage of his life he made the decision to come to America, all of that. Then again, coming over, realizing what America could provide as far as opportunities for us gives us a clear appreciation of what's here. I think maybe I have different values, and all of it is what you're saying. It gives me just a different viewpoint, for sure.
