SPEED to air Mario Andretti special

SPEED will air a 30-minute special Feb. 8 at 10 p.m. ET entitled “Mario Andretti – Conversation with a Legend." The special will air immediately following the inaugural SPEED Performance Awards (9 p.m. ET), where the SPEED Performer of the Year will be presented with the Mario Andretti Trophy, a bronze sculpture by noted artist Elie Hazak.

“What I would like to see as a characteristic of the (SPEED) Performer of the Year is a driver that showed courage … passion … you know, total dedication to what he or she is doing … and performance," Andretti said. “We’re not talking about luck, because luck is something that you cannot control. But a driver that has shown his or her winning ways … and whether a championship was part of that doesn’t matter … it’s just ultimate performance."