 Fangio was also the flagman for the 1975 Winston 500 (NASCAR race), and was the flagman for the Argentine Grand Prix when it was run from 1972 to 1981.Fangio was the special guest of the 50th anniversary 1978 Australian Grand Prix at the Sandown Raceway in Melbourne (7 years before the Australian Grand Prix became a round of the World Championship in ).After awarding the Lex Davison Trophy to race winner Graham McRae (who stated that meeting Fangio was a bigger thrill than actually winning the race for the 3rd time), the legendary Argentinian drove his 1954 and 1955 World Championship-winning Mercedes-Benz W196 in a spirited 3 lap exhibition against 3 other cars, including the World Championship winning Brabham BT19 driven by Australia's own triple World Champion Jack Brabham.