By Will Martin
It has been said that in life in order to be successful one should surround themselves with good people who will help to implement a plan, a hope, a vision. Those who cannot do that then do the very next thing. Let someone a little more accomplished show you how something is done and try to learn from that.
I met David Campisi years ago at Christmas amongst mutual friends in giving out toys and the like to needy underprivileged kids in Dallas. David, a proud third Generation Campisi is living the American Dream. David made sure to invite fellow third generation Paisano Marco Andretti to his restaurant on Mockingbird Road. In hindsight that was a genius decision. Two guys with Italian roots and a passion for what they love.
With less than a week from the return of the Indy 500 and the rehashed stories about “The Andretti Curse” – one win at the Brickyard despite numerous tries as family. On June 8th the Firestone 550 makes a return to Texas Motor Speedway for some “No Limits” IRL racing action.
In between doing a press conference and helping David massage the dough before baking and serving the pizza, Marco Andretti addressed the media in attendance to discuss a multitude of things including how he feels about cars despite all the technological gizmo trends.
“Technology notwithstanding, it’s still all about the vehicle. It matters not how much computer information you have, nothing will ever top the dynamic of knowing your car and knowing how it runs. Everything else is essentially gravy.” said Andretti.
Having grown up as a kid on the East Coast many fond memories of the Indy 500 on Memorial Day Weekend, my first recollection of that race was in 1972-the year we lost Pete Revson. I seem to recall that bad weather delayed the 1973 Indy for about a week and there were a few bad injuries. Salt Walther comes to mind, don’t ask me why.
Last year on June 9th it was my pleasure to hang out with Randy Hill all day before the races commenced for the Firestone 550 IRL races at TMS. That was also a lot of fun being in the pits and seeing how each crew prepped their vehicles before the races commenced. Looking forward to doing that again in 2013 on June 8th…and then some!
Andretti spoke for a solid 25 minutes after his first attempt at making pizza, and did smashingly well. I’m told he went to play a little tennis after leaving Campisi’s over at Highland Park High School. Work kept me from enjoying that spectacle.
Marco Andretti is hopeful for some good mojo June 8th compared to what happened to him and his crew in 2012 with a crash and an early exit. Here’s hoping that this young man with the great lineage of pedigree catches a break and contends in two weeks.
When at Campisi’s also be sure to check out all the signed memorabilia along the wall. Along the wall right above another cantankerous Italian-Frank Lucchesi-you will find an autographed picture of Marco on the wall.
We’re about two weeks away from IRL “No Limits” racing under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth. Special thanks to Louis Mora, Marco, David Campisi, and staff for a wonderful afternoon. Despite being a thick crust kind of guy, I liked David’s brand of pizza and dough. Like Andretti, a third generation of hard worker with a passion to cook and make people happy.
