Curses and the Kiss

The idea of being cursed appears to go back to man’s very first appearance on earth. You only have to go three chapters into the Bible before we find God placing a curse on the deceiver in the Garden of Eden, ensuring that he will crawl on his belly, eat dirt, and eventually have his head crushed by the Son of Man, (Jesus). Man was also cursed. Because of the sin that was initiated in the Garden and would manifest itself in each of us over the generations, mankind would be separated from God until someone came along to take the curse onto themselves in our place.

Today, curses still influence many people in different cultures, although in the US curses are usually related to bad luck in sports. An example is the famous Babe Ruth/Boston Red Sox curse. But auto racing has its own version, the Andy Granatelli/Mario Andretti curse, which was transferred with a kiss in the 1969 Indy 500 Winner’s Circle.

Andy Granatelli may not be a household name anymore, but in the 1960’s, he was called Mr. 500 due to his relentless pursuit of having one of his race cars win the Indy 500.

Andy and his two brothers, Joe & Vince, grew up very poor in the Chicago area. Working on cars became a way to make a living and sparked a life-long passion for speed. The brothers developed a name for themselves in local racing, but they set their sight on the big prize, the Indy 500.

In 1946, the Granatelli brothers entered their first Indy 500 with an 11 year old car, equipped with a home-built flathead Ford V8. Total out of pocket was a bank-busting $5,000.

Twenty-three years, and several million dollars later, Andy had yet to win the illusive 500. He had developed all kinds of cutting edge race cars and engines, but the best his equipment could muster over all of those years was a 2nd place finish. In 1967, Parelli Jones led almost the entire 500 driving Granatelli famous turbine powered car. With a big lead, a $6 ball bearing failed six laps from the end of the race. In 1968, again one of Andy’s turbine powered broke a few laps from victory.

In 1969, with the turbines banned, Andy built a 4 wheel drive Indy car. Driver Mario Andretti crashed it in qualifying, so they used Mario’s 1968 car. The Granatelli\Andretti combination ended up winning the race.

After all of the years of frustration and sorrow, the Granatelli curse was finally lifted. He ran to Victory Lane and planted a big kiss on poor Mario’s cheek before he was even out of the car. And as the legend goes, with that kiss, passed the curse on to Mario, and his blood line.

To date, Mario Andretti, his son, grandson, and nephew have nearly 70 attempts at the Indy 500, with only one win to show for it, 1969. It certainly makes a good story line. Of course, the Andretti’s do not believe they are cursed. The vast majority of drivers who have competed at Indy never won it. Thirty-three people start the race every year, but only one can be the winner. Pretty tough odds in a very competitive sport. Such curses are usually more from the imagination of sports writers.

But the curses that the Bible tell us about are very real. Curses, or being cursed is mentioned over 180 times in the Bible. Of special importance to us is Paul’s explanation in his letter to the Galatians and of the curse Jesus lifted off mankind.

Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.”[f] 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.”[g] 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”[h] 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. Galatians 3:11-14

Paul wrote the letter because there was turmoil at the church of new followers in Galatia. Some leaders were reverting back to putting the priority on following the old Jewish laws for their salvation, and not Jesus. And since the law was only for the Jews, some church members claimed gentiles had no opportunity for God’s grace. Paul had to nip this right in the bud. And in his strongly worded rebuke to the Galatians, Paul points out that due to man’s sin, he is separated from God, because God cannot be in sin’s presence. But by dying on the cross, Jesus accepted the burden of all of mankind’s sin, thus lifting the curse of separation from God the Father. Jesus became our filter, allowing us to once again have a personal relationship with God through Him. Once a person accepts Jesus as His savior, they no longer need to worry about any curses in their life, because now a loving God will oversee their fate.

As for the Andretti’s, it is true that they have not one another Indy, as drivers. However, Andretti Motorsports has won five Indy 500s in the last 14 years.

And after winning Indy in 1969, (and a lot more races), Mario went on to fulfill his lifelong goal by become the World Formula One Champion in1978.

I have a feeling if you asked Mario about a curse on the Andretti’s, he would tell you he hasn’t seen any evidence of it.