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We changed the front springs only by 50 pounds. It’s the only time ever that just before, maybe 10 minutes before the start, we were on the grid and on pole, and we changed the front springs because we had the car so dialed in, track temperatures and all that. It’s a very rare feel that you could have before the race. It’s one of the times when I really felt at the beginning of the race a ‘today, they’ve got to beat me’ kind of thing. We even won the pit stop competition, which doesn’t have anything to do with the car, but we were on a roll. The bottom line is if you look back, I think I was quickest pretty much every day I was on track. When I look back, it didn’t hurt that I had probably one of the best or the best engineer that ever lived so far, Adrian Newey, with me on that car. Mario Andretti: Looking at the whole picture, it was my ’87 Lola, no question. Q: What was your favorite car you drove in the Indianapolis 500? Read other installments of 'My Favorite Car' here. “My Favorite Car” interviews will appear on IMS.com on Mondays through the spring.

Note: This is the first of a series of interviews with Indianapolis 500 legends about the favorite car they drove in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” and why, in their words. Febru| By Paul Kelly, Indianapolis Motor Speedway

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