Indy 500: Mario Andretti stops at fan’s home to fulfill request, but nobody answered

INDIANAPOLIS — Talk about bad timing.

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A longtime fan of the Indianapolis 500 asked Mario Andretti to stop by his home near the Brickyard to autograph some memorabilia, but when the 1969 winner of the race showed up, nobody answered the door.

Pat Bremer posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that this year’s race would be his last as a resident in the Speedway area of Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Star reported.

Bremer had lived in the area for 22 years and posted his tweet — which he also sent to Andretti — on Tuesday, according to the newspaper. He wanted Andretti to sign his wing and wheel statue.

The only problem for Bremer? On Thursday when he went to the grocery store, Andretti stopped by. The Hall of Fame driver stepped onto the porch and rang the doorbell, but nobody answered, the Star reported.

“The greatest 36 seconds of our 22 years in Speedway … even though I was at the store! I’m laughing now, but not so much earlier when I missed him!” he tweeted.

The 84-year-old driver left a message on social media for Bremer.

“I stopped by your house this afternoon and signed it on the left tip of the wing,” Andretti wrote on X. “Rang the doorbell and nobody answered, although the garage door was open so I think you were home. I saw the wing on the front so signed it. Have a fun weekend.”

Bremer said that while his wife was at home, the doorbell was not working.

There is a happy ending, though. Bremer did get to meet Andretti at the Speedway on Saturday, WTTV reported.

Andretti told the television station that his publicist alerted him about Bremer’s tweet, so he decided to pay a visit.

“I figure, I am going to stop by,” Andretti told WTTV. “It looked like the front door was open basically and I figured I would go up there and ring the bell. Nobody answered. I saw the wheel and wing (statue) and I signed it. I had no idea I was on camera.”

Bremer was glad to finally meet his auto racing hero. The two exchanged stories and had a laugh about the doorbell incident.

“That’s something I will never forget for the rest of my life,” Bremer told WTTV.

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