Indy 500 Team Owner, Mechanic Vince Granatelli Dies at 78

Vince Granatelli (left, above photo), who was a leading mechanic for two notable machines in Indianapolis 500 history and later became a race-winning team owner, died Jan. 22. Granatelli was a member of the famous racing family that made its name through “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” including his father, Andy, the flamboyant owner of the car that Mario Andretti drove to victory in the 1969 Indianapolis 500. Vince Granatelli first turned wrenches at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1961 as a mechanic on the Novi-powered machines his father brought to the “500” that year. Granatelli then worked as a mechanic on another one of the most unique cars in Indianapolis 500 history, the turbine-powered machines nicknamed the “Whooshmobile” due to the unique hissing sound of the Pratt & Whitney gas turbine engine. Granatelli also worked as a mechanic at various times in STP-sponsored efforts in Formula One during the early 1970s. Granatelli returned to racing in 1987 as the owner of Vince Granatelli Racing, which fielded cars in CART painted in a similar day-glo red as his father’s turbine-powered cars at Indianapolis. Roberto Guerrero won two races driving for the team in its first season of 1987, at Phoenix International Raceway and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

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