By DAVID CUCCHIARA

Washington Daily News

 

Former IndyCar and Formula One champion Mario Andretti be at Pugh’s Tire & Service Center in Williamston Thursday, May 29 on behalf of Firestone Tires.

To celebrate the grand opening of Pugh’s sixth store in eastern North Carolina, Andretti will be on site to meet fans and sign autographs.

Andretti, along with local community leaders, will be on scene for a ribbon cutting and celebration that will continue throughout the day with prizes and giveaways.

Andretti won the Formula One World Championship in 1978 and is a four-time Indy Car National Champion (1965, 1966, 1969, 1984). The Italian-American’s reach also extends to NASCAR, where he won the sport’s biggest race in 1967, the Daytona 500.

Andretti was also named Driver of the Year in three separate decades (‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s), the only driver ever to do so, and holds the record for laps led, pole positions won, wire-to-wire victories and race starts.

The grand opening celebration will begin at 10 a.m. with the ribbon cutting ceremony kicking off at noon.