When you are losing it can seem like there is a black cloud following you around, but like they say there is a silver lining in every cloud. - Mario Andretti

The visas came through in 1955, when I was 15. That June, we sailed for New York aboard the Conte Biancamano. When we passed the Statue of Liberty, Anna Maria [my sister] tried to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner".

The first time I fired up a car, felt the engine shudder and the wheel come to life in my hands, I was hooked. It was a feeling I can't describe. I still get it every time I get into a race car.

Of course now that I am retired I see it from a totally different perspective, the bad days just don't look so bad to me, and I try to share that with Michael.