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"We have found a li'l straight line speed, but I'm not tellin' ya how"
Mario Andretti
Monza, Italy (September, 1977) - It was a typical hot and dusty Sunday in Monza, Italy for the start of the 48th Italian Grand Prix. Crowds of overzealous Italians, waving "Forza Ferrari" flags, were lining the track and arguing with the gate workers to gain access to the paddock. The workers and their K-9's were able to keep the spirited fans in check. The race in Monza typically starts late in the day, a little after three o'clock. Although a late day qualifying charge by James Hunt on Saturday meant a McLaren was starting on the pole instead of a Ferrari, but Carlos Reutemann driving a Ferrari managed to nail down the number two spot, meaning the Italian fans were smelling blood.
 After a few warm-up laps, Carlos Reutemann led the pack for the green light and the start of the race at 3:28 PM. The green light didn't come quickly enough for Jacque Laffite's Ligier. The start was delayed until the cars were positioned properly and Laffite's Matra powered Ligier started to overheat and spew its coolant in a cloud of steam. Laffite steered to the side of the track and the final starting procedures got under way. When the green light finally came, the two lead cars driven by Hunt and Reutemann were slow to start and Jody Scheckter's Wolf grabbed the lead from the 2nd row as the cars swept into the first set of chicanes before the Curva Grande. From the fourth row Clay Regazzoni, driving the Ensign, maneuvered into the second spot behind Scheckter. By the second lap 4th place starter Mario Andretti had moved his Lotus into the number two spot and it quickly became evident there would be a duel between the Wolf and Lotus.
The pre-race rumor of Ferrari having a huge horsepower advantage was not evident at the start of the race. By lap five Andretti had closed the gap and was knocking on Scheckter's back door. Now, Scheckter, who had dominated the early laps of the previous years race, was slowly losing ground to the Lotus of Andretti. By lap eight the black Lotus was inches from the Wolf's tail with Andretti turning up the heat. Two laps later Andretti swept past Scheckter on the outside of the Parabolica turn (the last turn leading onto the pit straight, a maneuver considered taboo in Formula 1 racing. Putting his oval track experience to good use by passing on the outside caused some European wags to be angered at Mario's driving, but there was little they could do about it except to watch and learn. Racing past the pit lane exit, Scheckter made a concerted effort to box Andretti in behind a slower car that was exiting, but Andretti was not relinquishing the lead that easily and kept the South African in check into the first turn.
A few laps later as Andretti continued to hold the lead, points leader Hunt tried to box in another car and found himself spinning into the grass exiting the chicane. As Hunt recovered and regained control, the two Ferrari's of Reutemann and Niki Lauda moved into the third and fourth positions. This brought boisterous applause and flag waving from the crowds around the track. Many spectators had hoped the bright red Ferrari's, with their rumored horsepower advantage, would be able to run-down Andretti and Scheckter, but it wasn't happening. Lapped cars were holding back Reutemann and Lauda causing Reutemann to shake his fist in the air and tensions to build. It was nine full laps before Jean-Pierre Jarrier, a lap down, would allow the Ferrari's to go by. By lap 24 Scheckter was walking back to the pits, his Wolf sitting on the side of the track with a blown engine. This left Andretti 9 seconds ahead of Reutemann Ferrari and the partisan crowd was hoping he had the speed to run down the Ford powered Lotus of Andretti.
With 20 laps to go all ears were on Andretti's Lotus, since the Ford engine had proven unreliable in the previous four races, many thought it would be Ferrari's day to win. The newly designed Ford DFV was not to fail this time as Mario increased his lead over the Ferrari's to around 12 seconds. It was becoming evident the Ferrari's didn't have the horsepower advantage that many people thought they did. Reutemann was not so lucky as part of the Ferrari's exhaust system separated, slowing him enough to allow the number 3 Ferrari of Lauda to move into the second position.
As the race neared it conclusion Lauda and Reutemann were caught behind the slower McLaren driven by Bruno Giacomelli. When the engine on Giacomelli's McLaren blew, Lauda, using lightning fast reflexes, was able to steer under the oil and remain on the track. Reutemann was not so lucky and went off the track when he ran through the oil deposited by the McLaren.
Lauda's hesitation getting around the McLaren allowed Andretti to extend his lead to over 20 seconds over Lauda and provided the opportunity for the Ford powered Shadow driven by Alan Jones to move into the number three spot. The day ended with Andretti capturing the win and Lauda and Jones in 2nd and 3rd respectively. But as is customary at Monza. not all was calm as the race came to an end.
 The more than enthusiastic spectators swarmed the safety fences and sprinted to nowhere in particular, many of them running across the track laps before the slower cars had completed the race. By luck none of these Kamikazes were killed in the melee, unlike earlier in the day when a sign structure, not made to hold people, gave out and dumped a dozen or so spectators onto the ground below, killing two and injuring twenty others. The crowd was not to be deterred as the Italian born Andretti captured the win and the Ferrari of Lauda finished in the number two spot.
Alan Jones had a spectacular run, bringing the Ford powered Shadow from the number seventeen spot to finish third behind Lauda. Jochen Mass had a good run finishing fourth driving the Ford powered McLaren. While it appeared that Ford powered cars finished well, one must consider they also dominated the starting grid. Eighteen of the twenty-four cars starting the Gran Premio d'Italia were powered by Ford that day, while only two were powered by Ferrari. There were also two Alfa Romeo's, one Renault and one Matra. My how times have changed.
After the race Andretti was asked how he was able to beat the more powerful Ferrari's with his
Ford powered Lotus, to which he said, "We have found a li'l straight line speed, but I'm not tellin' ya how"
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