Mario Andretti to be honored in Dallas

Mario Andretti

The Michael Andretti Foundation, in conjunction with Dr Pepper Snapple Group, announced today that racing legend Mario Andretti will be an honored guest at the Racing Round Up Gala, scheduled for June 9 in at Gilley's Dallas in Dallas, Texas.

With Michael and Marco Andretti already scheduled to attend, this will bring three generations of the renowned racing family together for the June event. Also schedule to attend are IZOD IndyCar drivers Ryan Hunter-Reay, Mike Conway and Danica Patrick.

Often referred to as the greatest race car driver of all time, Mario won just about everything in his legendary career, including the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500, the Formula One World Championship and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. He won the Indy car National Championship four times and was a three-time winner at Sebring. He won races in sports cars, sprint cars and stock cars – on ovals, road courses, drag strips, on dirt and on pavement. He won at virtually every level of racing since he arrived in America from his native Italy at age 15.

Mario took the checkered flag 111 times during his career – a career that stretched five decades. And he was competitive for all of those years: He was named Driver of the Year in three different decades (the 60s, 70s, 80s), Driver of the Quarter Century (in the 90s) and Driver of the Century in January, 2000.

Today Mario is a successful businessman off the track and serves as spokesman, associate and friend to top executives around the world. Among his prestigious honors since retiring from racing, he was awarded the title of Commendatore from the Republic of Italy in 2006 and in 2008 the Library of Congress added him to its "Living Legends" List.

The standard charitable donation for this limited event is $250 per person, or $350 per person for VIP access. For more details on the event and ticket sales, please visit www.MichaelAndrettiFoundation.com.

One-time donations to benefit the Museum of Nature & Science can also be mailed to The Michael Andretti Foundation at 7615 Zionsville Road, Indianapolis, IN 46268.