Tonight on SpeedTV, Dave Despain was joined by Mario, Michael & Marco Andretti. Three generations of America’s premier racing family. It was an interesting interview, in that what wasn’t said was almost as important as what was. Mario showed himself to be the elder statesman, not only of the sport, but of the family as one would expect. When some insensitive viewer e-mailed the inevitable rookie question (in relation to the death of Paul Dana) both Mario & Michael were quick to say that Marco is more than ready. They actually looked like they were going to continue the topic, when Despain carefully changed the direction of the conversation like the experienced host that he is. It was also cool to watch Dad & Grandpa try to convince the youngster that Formula One is the way he needs to go, while a surprisingly mature Marco pointed out that it is most important for him to be 110 percent focused on the job at hand.

When asked about the ongoing (and perhaps impending) unification talks between the bosses of Champ car & IRL Mario coyly said he wasn’t in on the talks, but that he knew they were going in the direction that is the best for open wheel racing in North America. The wry grin said it all. Mario knows exactly what is going on, he’s just not telling.

Several times, they showed the Andretti Family lapping session that opened the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the month of May, leading up to the 2006 Indy 500. The shots of Mario in a sixties era Indy car and “the boys” in their modern cars were wonderful. Perhaps 2006 will be the year the Andretti curse at Indy is broken.