Vincent Joseph Granatelli, son of charismatic STP promoter Andy Granatelli, started at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1961 as a mechanic on the Novi-powered machines his father brought to the 500 that year. He would go on to work on the legendary – and legendarily unfortunate – STP turbine cars. Both the STP Paxton car of Parnelli Jones in 1967 and the Lotus 56 of Joe Leonard in 1968 would fail almost within sight of the chequered flag on Memorial Day Weekend. So he shared in the family joy and exhilaration when the following year Mario Andretti nailed Indy victory in the STP Hawk.
Vince was also involved in the STP team's brief flirtation in Formula 1 in 1970, which saw Andretti score a podium finish in a March 701, and he would also serve as mechanic on the Eagle-Offy that Graham McRae drove to 16th place and Rookie of the Year honours in the 1973 Indianapolis 500.
