FONTANA, Calif. – Mario Andretti had just the mode of transportation that Jay Leno was looking for June 27.

The comedian and former late-night talk show host received a ride the Honda “Fastest Seat in Sports” two-seat Indy car on the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway oval with “my racing hero” at the wheel.

The segment – along with Andretti visiting Leno’s Big Dog Garage and taking a few automobiles out for a spin -- will be included in an episode of “Jay Leno’s Garage” this autumn.

“Sometimes you don’t want to meet your hero, but in this case it was exciting,” said Leno, who drove a Chevrolet Monte Carlo as the honorary pace car driver for the 1999 Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. “He’s one of the greatest guys and obviously one of the greatest race car drivers.

Leno, whose Big Dog Garage houses one of America's top private collections of cars and motorcycles, said the only thing to rival the G forces and sense of speed was a ride years ago with the Blue Angels.

“This was the opportunity of a lifetime. Mario is one of the legends of the sport and my hero,” Leno said. “It’s not so much the straight speed, but there’s no passenger car that can take those G forces. Being a ‘car guy,’ I’ve gone fast, but not around turns (at 14 degrees banking). That’s really the exciting part.

“I was just in the back seat screaming.”

Also receiving a two-seater ride were actor Oscar Nunez (“The Office”), chef and Food Network show host Rahm Fama, actor Trevor Donovan (“90210”) and Ricky Woolstenhulme Jr., drummer for rock band Lifehouse.

“Mario is nonchalant while driving that I think he was texting and driving with his knees,” Nunez joked. “It was incredible. I can’t even imagine driving at that speed for a 500-mile race with all the other cars around you. It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing to go around with Mario.”