Cadillac F1 Names Its Debut Season Chassis After Refugee Immigrant American Legend Mario Andretti

Mario Andretti is one of America's greatest racers of all time. Nobody else has ever accomplished the incredibly varied wins that Andretti has amassed, including the Daytona 500, 12 Hours of Sebring (three times), 24 Hours of Daytona, Indianapolis 500, the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, and hundreds more. He is one of just two men in history to have won the Formula One World Championship racing under the stars and stripes American national flag, the other being Phil Hill. Because of Andretti's legacy and everything he accomplished, the Cadillac Formula One Team has dedicated its debut chassis design to his honor, naming it the Mario Andretti Cadillac 2026, or MAC-26. 

When the new Cadillac finds its way to the grid in Australia in just a week, it will bear Mario Andretti's name. Look, I'm not a motorsport legend, but this seems like an incredible dedication from the team. MAC-26 likely won't be quite as successful as Super Mario was — it would be practically impossible for a brand new team to be fighting for victories in its first year — but just getting this car to the grid with his name on it is so great. 

Across 128 starts in F1, Andretti managed to win 12 of them, sat on pole 18 times, and set 10 fastest laps. He raced for Lotus, March, Ferrari, Parnelli, Alfa Romeo, and Williams, finding his greatest success in 1978 when he beat Ronnie Peterson and Carlos Reutemann to the title. It'll take Cadillac quite a while to catch up to these kinds of statistics, and it's not a certainty that it ever will. This is a new car in a new era of F1, and while I hope the American team does well on debut, it would be an incredible longshot to even see a win this year. 

Born in a part of Italy that is now Motovun, Croatia, the Andretti family was kicked out of their native land, a massive 2,100 acre farm, following World War II during the Istrian-Dalmatian exodus. If you don't know your history, that's when the ethnic Italians, Slovenes and Croats were forced from Yugoslavia. The family spent seven years in a refugee camp in Lucca, Italy, with no running water. It took the family three years after applying to receive their U.S. visas, and they moved to Pennsylvania in 1955 with just $125 in their collective pockets. 

If you want to hear the story straight from the mouth of the man himself, watch this video from NBC Sports. It's quite touching. Don't worry, Mario is not a cannibal. 

America is such a beautiful country with an incredible history. We are a nation of immigrants, and welcoming in the Andretti family gave birth to one of the most incredible dynasties in motorsport. It may have taken a world war, an ethnic migration, a refugee camp, the Italian diaspora, and decades of hardship, but Mario became the legend he was always destined to be once he reached America. Italy provided him the inspiration, it's where he caught the motorsport bug, but America nurtured him into a world champ.

We, as a nation, are better when we come together. The millions of immigrants who come to this country to forge a better life are just following in the footsteps of great men like Mario. We have always been the shining beacon on the hill, and we should endeavor to be that once again. The MAC-26 Cadillac Formula One chassis stands as an example of that erstwhile greatness. This land is my land, this land is your land, this land is Mario's land.