THE INDIANAPOLIS 500 : Mears Tops a Penske Sweep of Front Row

INDIANAPOLIS —  Rick Mears helped car owner Roger Penske celebrate his 20th anniversary at the Indianapolis 500 Saturday by smashing Indianapolis Motor Speedway qualifying records and leading an all-Penske front row for the May 29 race.

Mears, a two-time 500 winner from Bakersfield, drove his yellow Pennzoil Penske-Chevrolet to a single-lap record of 220.453 m.p.h. and a four-lap record of 219.198 m.p.h. for the 10-mile time trial.

Two other former Penske winners, Danny Sullivan and defending champion Al Unser, joined Mears in the front three positions. Sullivan briefly held the one-lap record at 217.749 until Mears broke it 20 minutes later.

Speedway officials said it was the first time in the track’s 72-year history that a single owner had the front row to himself. All drove new Penske PC-17s developed by Nigel Bennett at the team factory in Poole, England.

“It’s something you dream about if you have three cars,” Penske said of his team’s accomplishment, “but the execution is almost impossible.”

Sullivan averaged 216.214 m.p.h. for his four laps, and Unser, the four-time winner who will turn 49 on race day, came in at 215.270.

“It figures that Roger (Penske) would sandwich me between two yellow cars,” Sullivan said. “You know how color-coordinated Roger is about everything. Now his front row pictures will be artistically perfect.”

Sullivan’s car looks like a gold and green beer can, while Mears’ and Unser’s cars are canary yellow.

This wasn’t the first time that Penske cars totally dominated an event. In the 1979 California 500, Penske drivers Bobby Unser, Mears and Mario Andretti finished 1-2-3 at Ontario Motor Speedway.

The remarkable achievement of the Penske team was aided by the collapse of Andretti, who had battled Mears all week long to see which was the dominant car here--Mears’ Penske or Andretti’s Lola. After running 221.565 earlier in the week and 220.371 in practice Saturday morning, Andretti could average only 214.692 in his official run.

Andretti ran a 217.014 first lap, but fell off badly. He could manage only 212.761 for his fourth lap.

Andretti, still smarting from his bitter experience last year, when he led 170 laps here before his engine quit, was indignant about the track conditions. The 1969 winner was the first driver to make a qualifying effort.

“There was oil dry laid down in the fourth turn, and when I hit it on the first lap, my right front tire was destroyed,” Andretti said. “I had no warning whatsoever. USAC (United States Auto Club) should have warned us and given us the opportunity to go or not go.

“Once it happened, the car had a dramatic balance change, and I couldn’t develop any kind of rhythm. This was a situation where they could have blown it (oil dry) away or vacuumed it off the track.”

The powder-like substance used to absorb oil had been spread on the track after an earlier accident during practice involving veteran Tom Bigelow.

Andretti, too, might have been pressured by the 222.827-m.p.h. practice lap turned in by Mears during the morning practice session. It was the fastest unofficial lap in Speedway history.

Mears, who also won the pole here in 1979, ’82 and ‘86, joined A. J. Foyt and the late Rex Mays as the only four-time pole-sitters for the 500.

“I didn’t know what to think when I saw what happened to Mario,” Mears said. “Actually, it didn’t make me feel good at all. It made me apprehensive about what was going on with the track.

“I was lucky to get feedback from Al (Unser) and Sully after their runs. We thought about making changes to compensate for the different conditions, but in the end we decided to stick with what we’d run in the morning. It’s a good thing that we did. Right now, I’d rate that 220 lap as one of the best I’ve ever driven.

“The pole is always special to me here. The first pole I ever got in an Indy car came here in 1979, so I have a special feeling about it.

“On the first lap (220.453), the tires were fresh, but I could tell that the track was slippery compared to the morning. By the time I was halfway around the second lap (219.877), the good feeling started to go away. The third lap (218.781) was very slippery and I had to modulate the throttle and change my patterns in the turns. On the fourth lap (217.702), I was just trying to hang on. In the turns, I let the car get into a progressive drift and caught it with the throttle coming out.”

Mears said he considered his 220 lap much more difficult that his all-time Indy-car record of 233.934 m.p.h. at the high-banked Michigan International Raceway.

For Unser, it was quite a contrast from this time a year ago when he was without a ride and was only a spectator.

“It was heartbreaking for me last year to sit on the wall and watch my boy run and me without a ride,” the elder Unser said. “But it was my choice. It’s not like I didn’t have offers. I was waiting for the right opportunity. And look what I’ve got this year. It’s very rewarding.”

Unser got his break last year after the first weekend of qualifying when he replaced the injured Danny Ongais in Penske’s third car, qualified 20th and drove a careful race that ended up in the winner’s circle when first Andretti dropped out and then leader Roberto Guerrero lost nearly two laps in the pits when his engine died.

Guerrero, making his first start at the Speedway after spending 17 days in a coma following a crash while testing tires here last September, qualified in the 12th position at 209.633 m.p.h.

“I was disappointed that we didn’t go faster, but as far as being here again, I’m over the moon,” the Colombian driver said. “I can’t explain just how much it means to me to be driving here again.”

Nineteen cars qualified for the 33-car field that will start in the 500 two weeks from today, but among those still on the outside are Bobby Rahal, the 1986 winner and two-time defending Championship Auto Racing Teams PPG Indy car champion; A. J. Foyt, a four-time winner looking to make his 31st consecutive Indy 500; and Johnny Rutherford, a three-time winner.

Rahal appeared on his way toward making the field after a lap of 213.741, but he rolled to a stop after a fuel line cable snapped in his Judd-powered Lola on the front straightaway of his third lap.

“It’s the first time something like this has happened to us here,” Rahal said. “I really can’t say much, but it ruined my day and I’m disappointed. The fuel cable has broken twice, so I’d say we have a big problem with the fuel pump.”

Foyt failed in two attempts in his Lola-Cosworth and now has only one more chance, either today or next weekend, to continue his amazing longevity streak. In his first effort, Foyt never finished a lap, but in the second one late in the afternoon, he called his attempt off after dropping from 210 to 206 in three laps. “The left rear tire grew too much and we ended up with reverse stagger which made it push real hard,” Foyt said. “I had all I could do to steer it.”

Only one rookie, Scott Atchison of Bakersfield, made the field, but he is in a precarious position after standing on a speed of 205.142 m.p.h. With 40 cars expected to make qualifying attempts in the three days remaining, veteran observers expect it will take a minimum of 206 m.p.h. to get in the race.

A rookie car, the Porsche-powered March, apparently made it safely into the field when Teo Fabi coaxed four laps at 207.244 m.p.h. from the green car in the German manufacturers first attempt at the Indy 500.

“This has been a long project and we’ve been going through difficult times, but next year at this time any driver will want to drive my car,” Fabi. As he spoke, Mears finished his final lap and the crowd let out a roar when announcer Tom Carnegie announced his record speed.

“Next year they cheer for Teo Fabi,” said the little Italian who left Formula One to drive the new Porsche.

PENSKE’S FRONT-ROW SEAT AT INDY

No Driver Hometown Car-Engine Speed 5 Rick Mears Bakersfield Penske-Chevy 219.198 9 Danny Sullivan Louisville Penske-Chevy 216.214 1 Al Unser Albuquerque, N.M. Penske-Chevy 215.270

PARTIAL INDIANAPOLIS 500 LINEUP

No. Driver (Hometown), Car-Eng. Speed FIRST ROW 5. Rick Mears (Bakersfield), Penske-Chevy 219.198 9. Danny Sullivan (Louisville), Penske-Chevy 216.214 1. Al Unser (Albuquerque, N.M.), Penske-Chevy 215.270 SECOND ROW 6. Mario Andretti (Nazareth, Pa.), Lola-Chevy 214.692 3. Al Unser Jr. (Albuquerque), March-Chevy 214.186 7. Arie Luyendyk (Netherlands), Lola-Cosworth 213.611 THIRD ROW 91. Scott Brayton (Coldwater, Mich.), Lola-Buick 212.624 20. Emerson Fittipaldi (Brazil), March-Chevy 212.512 10. Derek Daly (Ireland), Lola-Cosworth 212.295 FOURTH ROW 18. Michael Andretti (Nazareth, Pa.), March-Cosw. 210.183 24. Randy Lewis (Hillsborough, Calif.), Lola-Cosw. 209.774 2. Roberto Guerrero (Colombia), Lola-Cosw. 209.633 FIFTH ROW 11. Kevin Cogan (Palos Verdes), March-Cosworth 209.552 81. Tom Sneva (Paradise Valley, Ariz.), Lola-Judd 208.659 97. Phil Krueger (Indianapolis), March-Cosworth 208.212 SIXTH ROW 22. Dick Simon (Capistrano Beach), Lola-Cosworth 207.555 8. Teo Fabi (Italy), March-Porsche 207.244 29. Rich Vogler (Indianapolis), March-Cosworth 206.463 SEVENTH ROW 55. *Scott Atchison (Bakersfield), March-Cosw. 205.142

NOTE--Rest of lineup to be determined today, next weekend.

*--Rookie.

Average speed of qualifiers--211.150