SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Vince Granatelli, who was a leading mechanic for two notable cars in the history of the Indianapolis 500 and later owned a successful IndyCar team, died Saturday, Jan. 22. He was 78.
Granatelli was the son of Andy Granatelli, who owned the car that Mario Andretti drove to his only Indianapolis victory in the 1969 Indy 500, and worked for the better part of the 1960s as a mechanic on some famous machines at Indy.
After coming to Indianapolis in 1961 on his father's team that featured Novi-powered cars, Vince Granatelli then worked as a mechanic on one of the most unique cars in Indianapolis 500 history that was powered by Pratt & Whitney gas turbine engines.
Parnelli Jones qualified sixth in 1967 in the first turbine car and led 171 of the first 196 laps. But a transmission bearing failed on Lap 197, allowing A.J. Foyt to win his third 500.
In 1968, Joe Leonard’s rear-engine turbine-powered Lotus was leading with nine laps left when fuel pump driveshaft failed.
Granatelli worked on Graham McRae's team in 1973 when the rookie finished 16th and won Rookie of the Year honors.
After working in Formula One during the early 1970s, Granatelli left racing after the 1974 season and focused on building high-speed cars in California until returning to Indy in 1987 as a team owner.
Vince Granatelli Racing fielded cars in CART painted in a similar day-glo red as his father’s STP turbine-powered cars at Indianapolis.
Roberto Guerrero won two races driving for the team in its first season at Phoenix and Mid-Ohio. Guerrero also led the Indianapolis 500 with 19 laps to go, but fell off the lead due to a damaged clutch and finished second behind the late Al Unser, who won his fourth and last 500.
in 1991, Arie Luyendyk gave Granatelli his last two IndyCar wins as an owner at Phoenix and Nazareth.
