INDIANAPOLIS 500 DAILY REPORT : This Year, There Will Be an Unser in Field--37-Year-Old Rookie Johnny

Johnny Unser, a rookie at 37, made the starting field for the Indianapolis 500 by doing something his famous cousin, Al Unser Jr., couldn’t do last year. Johnny qualified 18th at 226.115 mph. Al Jr. missed the race last year when he could run no better than 225.

“Me being the only Unser here [is something] I thought would never happen,” said Johnny, whose father, Jerry, was killed while practicing for the 1959 Indy 500. “My Uncle Al and Junior have been with me since Day 1. They told me what to expect, where to be and when to be there.”

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Billy Boat, the U.S. Auto Club midget driver from Phoenix who won 18 of 27 Western Regional races last year--including a USAC record 11 in a row--made his first appearance at the Speedway. He took 42 laps in a ’92 Lola-Buick as part of his rookie orientation.

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Arie Luyendyk ran the second-fastest practice lap in history, 238.493 mph, while sorting out the team’s No. 35 backup Reynard-Ford Cosworth.

The fastest Indy lap, 239.260, was also by Luyendyk last Friday. That was in the No. 5 car, the one he qualified for the race.

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The race isn’t for another 10 days but already monetary awards are being made. Jack Pegues, chief mechanic for the Scandia team’s Alessandro Zampedri, collected $5,000 from the Delco Battery/CAM Great Start Award for having the driver who made the most practice laps (309) before qualifying on the first day.

Zampedri, a second-year driver from Italy, logged 309 laps in his Lola-Ford Cosworth before qualifying for the third row.

Lyn St. James also picked up $5,000 from Kruse International for being the first driver to qualify for the 500. She was the first one out last Saturday and her 224.594 mph put her in the seventh row for her fifth Indy 500.

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Fred Treadway, owner of the Reynard-Ford Cosworth that Luyendyk drove to a record 236.986 last Sunday, announced that he will contest the Indy Racing League season next year in a G-Force chassis powered by an Oldsmobile Aurora V8 engine.

IRL rules for 1997 will prevent any car in this year’s Indy 500, or CART’s U.S. 500 at Michigan International Speedway, from competing next season in the Indy 500.

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A minimum speed for qualifying for this weekend’s final time trials has been set at 220 mph. Five drivers made the U.S. 500 field at less speed.