red regal, judd larson, dick atkins, don branson, billy foster, ronnie peterson. >> yeah.. these are some of my closest friends that i lost in the sport. >> reporter: this 1978 crash took the life of teammate ronnie peterson. >> when most of these men die, you already had kids. did your wife say, you've got to stop doing this? >> no. i know what she was going through obviously, because we were going through it together. but t but she was such a rock for me and in so many ways she suffered in silence. >> i guess that's really what i did, yes. >> reporter: was there ever a moment where you thought i've got to tell him to stop this? >> no, because i knew what i was getting in for. you don't stop somebody if they have a real goal in life. >> reporter: did you ever think, i might have to end up raising these kids alone? >> oh, i often thought of that, yeah. but it's just the risk you take. >> reporter: andretti competed in almost 900 races, missing only two because of injury. he walked away from this triple somersault in indianapolis in 2003. you knew how competitive he was? >>