Andretti has had success in many racing fields including IndyCar, NASCAR and Formula 1 and is the most recent American to win the 1978 F1 World Championship.
Ahead of its 10th Grand Prix this weekend in Austin, Texas, COTA announced Monday that its final corner will be renamed in honor of Mario’s success for “Andretti”.
‘Andretti’ is the lap that ends a tight left-hand turn that leads drivers into the main straight and then uphill into Turn 1, which will be the first corner of the track in 2020 A co-founder later changed the name to “Big Red”.
A naming ceremony will take place this Thursday where COTA officially renamed Turn 20 “The Andretti” and Andretti will be present.
Andretti was the first driver to complete a COTA lap ahead of the inaugural Grand Prix in 2012, and the track has since become a central part of American motorsport.
Hosting MotoGP since 2013, the track started hosting NASCAR races last year and has previously hosted IndyCar and IMSA events.
Added stands at the track to meet high demand from the US fan base.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B and Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, ready to lead from the start
Photo: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Last year’s race drew 400,000 fans in three days, marking the start of F1 The record looks set to be broken again this weekend. Although the race was a dead rubber for the champions after Max Verstappen claimed the drivers’ title in Japan two weeks ago.
Andretti will head to COTA after finishing his race for the awards ceremony at an event in Laguna Seca last weekend, the 82-year-old F1 machine’s most recent run.
After Andretti started driving the McLaren MP4-28 at Velocity International in 2013, McLaren CEO Zach Brown arranged for him a number of private events Classic McLaren race car.
Mercedes: Don’t worry about de Vries bringing knowledge to Red Bull
