NASCAR Hall of Famer Ray Evernham honors Mario Andretti as the “world’s greatest race driver” on his birthday 

Former IndyCar and F1 driver Mario Andretti turned 85 years old on February 28, 2025. NASCAR Hall of Famer Ray Evernham took to the social media platform X and posted a tweet as he wished Andretti on his birthday. While doing so, Evernham highlighted the Former IndyCar champion as the “World’s greatest race driver”.

Ray Evernham, who’s a former crew chief of NASCAR Legend Jeff Gordon, posted a birthday wish on X for Mario Andretti. The 67-year-old uploaded a picture of Andretti and wrote,

“Wishing a very Happy Birthday to the world’s greatest race driver. @MarioAndretti”

Ray Evernham currently works as a consultant for Hendrick Companies. The New Jersey native has previously worked as a Crew Chief for Bill Davis Racing and Hendrick Motorsports before starting his stock racing team, Evernham Motorsports, which was eventually merged with Petty Enterprises (now Legacy Motor Club).

Mario Andretti is one of the greatest names in the world of motorsports, participating in a variety of top disciplines and winning in almost all of them. The 85-year-old won the IndyCar series (then Champ Car) four times in 1965, 1966, 1969, and 1984.

Andretti participated in 131 F1 races over a period of 12 seasons and managed 12 race wins. He won the F1 World Championship in 1978 with Lotus and returned to the US after the F1 stint to continue racing in the IndyCar series.

Mario Andretti participated in 407 IndyCar races over a span of 31 years and managed 52 wins, 141 podiums, and 65 pole positions. He was the first generation of motorsport royalty from his family, with his son Michael and grandson Marco also following in his footsteps.

The former F1 and IndyCar champion also participated in the Daytona 500, the most fabled race of the NASCAR season, and won it in 1967 with a car that wasn't set up to his liking.

“Hopefully it will work out”: Mario Andretti details the constrained timeline for Cadillac's F1 project

The Cadillac F1 project was approved by Formula One Management in the second half of the 2024 season. Cadillac's parent company General Motors and Andretti, who had been preparing an F1 team and setup before their application was rejected, will be supporting the Cadillac project.

The 85-year-old was appointed as the Director of the board for Cadillac's F1 project. However, the American team will have to do the R&D, secure the engine deal, and manufacture its first F1 car with a little over a year left until its debut. Speaking about the time constraints and how Cadillac plans on executing the project, Mario said (via Motorsport)

“Well, you try to take advantage of every opportunity in that sense. When we were not officially involved, we could delve into areas that otherwise you could not, you know. The bottom line is that if you're going to enter something as challenging as this will be, to do it when it's a clean sheet of paper from the regulations’ standpoint is probably the best time.”

“You have a better chance of being up to par with all the experienced teams. You put all this into the equation, and hopefully it will work out,” added Mario Andretti.

Colton Herta has been rumored to be in contention for the Cadillac F1 seat, with Andretti also speaking positively about the 24-year-old.