American racing hero Mario Andretti shares his “pride” on pinning lieutenant rank on niece Amelia Andretti

Motorsports legend Mario Andretti spoke about his niece Amelia Andretti claiming the lieutenant rank in Nursing Majors.

Mario Andretti has his roots deep in the high-octane realm of motorsports racing and his four Champ car titles, the 1978 F1 World Championship, four CART championships, 1967 Daytona 500 win, and several achievements serve as a testament to it.

The Andretti family has maintained their sporting legacy throughout the decades. Aldo Andretti, Mario's late brother and father of late motorsports driver John Andretti had his fair share of success in motorsports while his son competed in NASCAR for nearly two decades.

Unlike her family, Mario Andretti's niece Amelia chose a different path and pursued Nursing at the University of Tampa. She is furthering her knowledge in Marine Biology Minor.

Moving forward, recently, Amelia was honored with the lieutenant rank, at the Nurse Corps branch, under the jurisdiction of the Fort Sam duty station. However, amid the saddening absence of her father John Andretti, Mario took the responsibility of pinning her and shared his "pride" in his niece becoming a lieutenant.

He penned down his message (via X):

"Receiving her new rank today, Lieutenant Amelia Andretti, daughter of my late nephew John Andretti & granddaughter of my late brother Aldo. She received her new rank in a pinning ceremony... and with pride and emotion, I did the pinning in place of John & Aldo @AmeliaAndretti"

A dive into the sheer patriotism of Mario Andretti's niece Amelia

Amelia Andretti's pursuit of helping the needy and underprivileged people in society has taken her to places like Africa and Costa Rica where she has volunteered for the good cause.

Amelia's father passed away due to colon cancer, which was misdiagnosed as Stage III cancer. However, with the help of chemotherapy, the cells disappeared but months after the procedure, the deadly cancer struck back with more fatality and on January 30, 2020, John passed away. Since then, she's been advocating colon cancer awareness and increasing acceptance of making colonoscopies a common health parameter to diagnose.

She is a member of the Alpha Chi Omega Fraternity, which aims to promote academia and philanthropy. Moreover, before donning the rank of lieutenant, Amelia was an Army ROTC cadet and will now serve as a second lieutenant upon graduation.