The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 19

'TTT Vf "rr1? rnr rrryrr rr rrrrrr rrrry lyrrrrrryrymy rr tt rr frrrrrrr'" THUKSIUY. MAY 31, 173 THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR PAGE Unofficial Finish Princesses Upset By Accident Ios. Driver 7 lr' A fe: 1 4V L. 1 J. 2.

3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

13. 14. 15. 16. 17.

18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

23. 24. 25. 26. 27.

28. 29. 30. 31. 32.

33. "dTX an unidentified woman. Sherry Crawford, a Ball State coed, receives assistance after Neither required treatment. Gordon Johncock 133 Billy Vukovich 133 Roger McCluskey 131 Mel Kenyon ....131 Gary IMtenhausen 130 Steve Krisiloff 128 Lee Kunzman 127 John Martin 125 Johnny Rutherford 124 Mike Mosley 120 David Hobbs 102 George Foyt 101 Bobby Unser 100 Dick Simon ...100 Mark Donohuc 92 Mike Hiss 91 Joe Leonard 91 Graham McRae 90 Jerry Grant 77 Al Unser 75 Jimmy Carulhers 71 Swede Savage 58 Jim McElreath 54 Wally Dallcnbach 48 A.J. Foyt 37 Jerry Karl 23 Lloyd Ruby 21 Sammy Sessions 17 Bob Harkey 13 Mario Andretti r.

3 Peter Revson 3 Bobby Allison 1 Salt Walther 0 A ji AmmmL. rJ fcV 1 Two "500" Festival princesses needed assistance yesterday after witnessing the accident that killed mechanic Armando Teran in the pit area of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. At left, Deborah Freeland of Plainfield is es Time of Race: 2:05:27.36. Average Speed: 159.020. Lap Leaders: Gordon Johncock, 63 (73-133); Bobby Unser, 39 (1-39); Al Unser.

IS (55-72); Swede Savage, 13 (42-54). Johncock Wins Troubled Race; Savage Hurt COMMENT Swede into the outside wall. The other half of the '73 Eagle hugged the inside concrete. As Swede was struggling to unfasten his safety belts, there was a second explosion. It should be pointed out here that firemen really may have saved Swede's life.

Don, Hudson, Dick Dieter, Herald Rafalco, John Williams, Mike Colgate and Jerry Decius were the six who put out the blaze. ONE OF THEM was just reaching Savage when the No. 2 explosion erupted. The fireman backed away just a second and then plunged in with his extinguisher flowing and put the chemicals on Swede. All six did a remarkable job.

Running down to the scene, you became confronted with terribly small pieces of fiberglass, radiators, wheels and chassis. The grass was charred. There were thousands of flakes of Dayglo red STP paint. There was a hole in the middle of the track where the engine dug in. The steering wheel was severed and wrapped around the engine.

THE AREA looked as if a tornado had ripped through it. Theories about the cause of the accident included: (1) a collapsed rear wing, (2) oil on the fourth turn, and (3) an ill-handling car that just got away from Swede. Bobby and Al Unser were inclined to go along with Theory No. 3. "When I passed Swede in the first turn, he was cross-armed, pushing so hard I could see the insides of his wheels," said Al.

BOBBY SAID Swede had, come in earlier with a flat tire. "I know he saw CREW HEARD POST-CRASH 'What A By ROBIN MILLER He didn't have time to hit his inboard fire extinguisher or activate his foam-filled driving suit. He didn't have time to do much of anything except shout, "Holy Christ, what a mess!" Believe it or not, that's what Swede Savage blurted to his crew via his two-way radio seconds after his car's flaming disintegration in yesterday's Indianapolis '500'. But if you find that hard to swallow, then you'll never believe Swede is alive today. HE IS SURVIVING.

And even though his condition is critical, Savage is convincing his doctors that he'll pull through. He has two severely broken legs, a fractured arm, some internal injuries, a badly burned right hand and a lot of second-degree burns. But he didn't inhale any flames, his vital signs are stable and he's never lost consciousness. Swede's biggest plus is his attitude which the medical men say is great. AS IN ANY serious accident at the Speedway, there are many theories concerning what happened.

The films show Savage drifting out of Turn 4 and the back end of his car beginning to break away. Sideways, with the nose pointed directly at the inside retaining wall, Swede's No. 40 STP Special plowed into the concrete not quite head on, but with the right front foremost. On impact, the car exploded, sending flames straight up and shearing the machine in half. THE BURNING tub that held Swede veered diagonally across the track and Laps Kcason Out running running running running running running running running running broken connecting rod running gear box failure broken connecting rod broken piston burned piston broken drive train broken hub broken exhaust header broken connecting ro.t broken piston front end suspension accident broken connecting rod broken connecting rod broken connecting rod running broken piston oil leak engine seizure burned piston accident broken connecting rod accident Shouted me behind him when he came back out and he was trying to really go," ex- plained the 1968 winner.

"He began to wobble halfway through the fourth turn and I knew something was going to 7 happen. "It seemed like he almost caught it but then down he went and I went by." Unser's teammate, Jerry Grant, was also right behind Swede. "I'm just speculating," said Grant, "but the track was unbelievably slip- -pery. We had to take an entirely dif- ferent line and oil was dripping off my airfoil. "SWEDE SLIPPED sideways into the wall.

I saw the car burst into flames and I drove through the fire and debris." George Huring, one of the mechanics on Swede's crew, quelled the wing-collapse theory by showing the wing in the garage late yesterday afternoon. "Every bolt is intact and the wing. struts are bent from the impact," he explained. "It's still fastened together on the bumper, and I don't see any way it collapsed before he hit." REGARDLESS of wh a happened, the concern is for the 26-year-old Santa Ana (Calif.) native. In 1971, Swede was nearly killed In a head-on crash during the Questor Grand Prix at the Ontario Motor Speedway.

He was in a coma for a long time, lost most of his memory and was out of racing for a year. But he came back from that one, and there's all the reason in the world to believe he'll come out of this one. George Walther indicated. he might withdraw from rac1 ing if his son doesn't make' a complete recovery. 'R I II NOW, my first consideration is Salt" said the senior Walther, "If he wants to continue we will continue, and Salt' will have the best possible equipment.

We have not considered, nor will we consider, another driver. fr "If Salt cannot continue or does not choose to continue, I will consider selling the equipment and retiring. "But Salt, as of today, plans to continue, wants to continue and, until that changes that will remain our plan." Try the effective selling power of want ads. Dial 633-1212. 1 Mir Phoi'X ic for Pat Patrick's STP operation, also won his sixth Indianapolis race, gaining the sixth in his first venture after leaving the Vel's Parnelli Jones team less than a year ago.

And for the record, the next lowest number of miles completed in a rain-stortcned race was 345 by Johnny Parsons in 1950. The only other time a race was red-flagged twice was in 1926. Yesterday's race finally goes into the record books after an aborted start Monday resulted in a 12-car chain reaction crash that sent driver Salt Walther to the hospital with serious burns. But Walther is listed as 33d on the finishing list, since he had started the race three days earlier. USAC Point Leaders Includes Yesterday's 500-Mile-Race Points 1 Billy Vukovich 1,250 2 Gordon Johncock 1,240 3 Roger McCluskey 1,015 4 Gary Bettenhausen 940 5 Mel Kenyon 860 6 Al Unser 700 7 Mike Mosley 565 8 Lee Kunzman 490 9 Mario Andretti 480 10 Johnny Rutherford 410 Stampeding fa Continued From Page 1 ing the track at the time of the Swede Savage accident at 3:05 p.m.

CHIEF CHURCHILL revealed he "was caught in the horrendous traffic jam Tuesday morning" at the second attempt to start the race and said the problem was created because Gale 3 on 16th Street was not opened. The gate was not opened, he said, because only 72 Speedway guards were on duty, compared to 180 on Monday. The number yesterday was down to 57, he said. These are private guards employed by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. BECAUSE OF adverse weather reports, only 100 city police were assigned to the race yesterday morning, compared with 600 Tuesday; but an additional 100 were placed on duty as soon as it developed that the race would start.

Churchill said he would meet early next week with Strattan, Maj. Frank A. Spallina and Capt. William Clark, both also of the traffic division, to "compare notes" and make recommendations for handling next year's race. Police Cars Unsafe Campbell, Ohio (AP) Policemen in this community of 13,000 have refused to cruise the streets because they claim their cars are unsafe.

Police Chief William Halase sent each shift of police home without pay Tuesday after they arrived at work and refused to ride in the vehicles. Mayor Kocco Mlco said two new cruisers had been ordered and should arrive within two weeks. Miffed At 'Squiffed'? Madison, Wis. (U I'D Wisconsin's tavern owners hate the word "saloon" because it lacks dignity, a spokesman for the state's Tavern League said. John llohrer spoke al a hearing called by State Senator Ernest Kep-pler, who said he is the son of a former "saloonkeeper" and wants the word returned to legal use.

lioluer also said the Tavern League niciuhcrs find the word "booze" distasteful and also favor "Intoxicated" rather than "drunk." corted by Above, University fainting. (Star Photos) Walther Shows Improvement Continued From Page 1 ytllow when I got all four wheels in the gray stuff coming out of the fourth turn." But he got the machine straightened out and went on to win his duel with Vukovich and earn an expected pay check that won't be delivered in public since the traditional victory dinner was canceled because of two "false starts" on the two preceding days of the race. Getting his bright fed Eagle straightened out on that fourth turn was a ma- jor achievement since it was the same corner that knocked Peter Revson out of the race after only four laps and resulted in the total disintegration of Swede Savage's team Eagle. SAVAGE, THE 26-year-old from Santa Ana, apparently lost control as he was negotiating the northwest turn and went plunging down across the track as he came out of the corner. His machine struck the inside retaining wall almost head-on and the impact sent a huge gush of flaming fuel high in the air.

The crash tore the car into pieces and the section of the tub Swede as strapped in bounced along and hit the wall again. of the car were strewn along more than 300 yards of track and infield grass. John Mahler, the only relief driver certified for this year's race, was one of the first, people to reach the scene and helped extinguish the blaze. RESCUE ORKERS forced the sides of the tub out and removed Savage, who was flown by helicopter to Methodist Hospital with both legs broken, a broken arm, internal injuries and burns. He was conscious and talking to his father at the hospital as doctors pronounced his systems stable.

"I've never seen a car so badly torn up," said Mahler. "It is almost unbelievable that Swede could have lived through a thing like this." The race was promptly stopped on the 59th lap as rescue and fire equipment hurried to the scene. IT WAS A FIRE TRUCK traveling the "wrong way" through the pits that struck and killed Armando Teran, a 23-year-old STP crew member from Culver City, Calif. Teran, assigned to Graham Mc-Rae's car, had just started down the pits to help push the machine back when he was struck by the truck. He was taken to Methodist and pronounced dead.

It was the first non-driver fatality at the Speedway since 1961. After a lengthy delay in which the cars were permitted to return to the pits, the cars were restarted and the race resumed. THE UNSER BROTHERS, Bobby and Al, assumed complete domination of the field at that point, running at least 5 miles an hour faster than anyone else. Hobby was a lap behind after a iS-second pit stop earlier when a fuel coupling refused to function. Al seemed comfortably in control with Johncock far behind.

Then Al's I'arnelli suddenly belched flame as he went into the first turn and he was through with a broken piston after 75 laps. Bobby, running close to 185 miles an hour, began working his way through the pack but lost the engine in his Olsonite Eagle after 100 laps and had lo join his brother on the sidelines. JOHNCOCK was steadily tooling along at about 174 mpb, holding the lead over Vukovich and Mike Mosley as Gary Ilettcnhausen tried to work his way back into contention. After Bobby's exit on the 1111st lap, it was strictly' a Gordie-and-Vuky show as Mosley broke a connecting rod on the 121st circuit and Bettcnhausen, driving faster than anyone left in the race, couldn't cut down the margin and finally finished three laps behind the winner. Although Johncnik's margin was listed as an official 1 minute and 25 seconds, Vuky was ony 29 seconds behind when the rain brought out the yellow flag after 129 laps.

Ittmniiig at 80 miles an hour the final four laps provided the difference in total time. VUKOVICH wasn't so sure about the difference. "We may protest," said the 'son of the former two-time Indy winner. "My crew thinks we beat him on faster pit stops. But there was no way I could have caught him (Johncock) on the track- After we changed our original tires, I kept having trouble with my right rear.

The car just wouldn't handle right." Many other machines had trouble with handling and running. Only 11 cars were running at the finish and one of those belonged to Jerry Karl in Smokey Yunick's turbo-charged Chevrolet, who completed but 23 circuits. He'd rejoined the field after the final yellow caused by the rain. THE THREE CARS of the Super Team owned by Val's Parnelli Jones were all out of the "show by the 92d lap as Mario Andretti lasted only three laps before breaking a piston, Al only 75 for the same ailment and Joe Leonard departed after 91 laps with a broken hub. Ozzia Olson's team didn't fare much better, with the cars driven by Bobby Unser, Jerry Grant and Wally Dallen-bach all being forced out with engine failures by the 250-mile mark.

Teamwise, Lindsey Hopkins four-car entry fared the best. McCluskey finished third, Mel Kenyon fourth, Lee Kunz-man seventh and Bob Harkey 29th. THE THREE ROOKIES in the race all had their problems. Karl, of course, was around at the finish, but never in contention. McRae, one of two foreign drivers in the field, finished 18th, but retired after 90 laps when an exhaust manifold cracked and became the prime candidate for the Stark Wetzel rookie-of-lhe year award.

Bobby Allison, fastest rookie qualifier in Speedway history, could manage less than two full laps when he broke a connecting rod in his Sunoco McLaren. "You wait and wait and wait for the race and then last less than two laps," said the disgusted NASCAR driver from Hueytown, Ala. REVSON couldn't believe his luck, either. "I simply lost it in the fourth turn," he said. "It wasn't handling right at all and I was trying to stay just on the edge of control which you have to do.

"As I was coming out of the fourth turn, the rear end started to go around on mc. I almost had it straightened out, then it spun and started down across the track. I spun again and thought I had saved it, but hit the inside wall with my nose and left front wheel." THE CAR was damaged again when the wrecker, lifting it over the inside wall to a "safe" parking place, dropped it atop the wall. Johnny Rutherford, the pole sitter, had more than his share of troubles. He was black-flagged twice because of fuel spilling out of the breather and made four pit slops before the first red flag caused by Savage's crash.

Adjustments were made but a crack in a manifold weld never allowed him back in contention as he finished ninth, nine laps behind Johncock. A. J. FOYT had double trouble. Ho retired his own Gilmorc Coyote after 37 laps but then took over George Snider's team machine after the first restart of the race and finished 12th in that car, although being forced out of the field after 101 laps with a broken gear box.

Johncock, who led thv race for 63 of his 133 laps, filed for bankruptcy here In February, listing debts of $369, 551.13 and assets of $66,500. Bobby Unser, who led Mark llono-hue into Hie first turn of the first lap, was in front 39 laps. Al Unser paced the field for 18 and Savage was In front for laps 42-54 before making a pit stop just rour circuit before his tragic crash. GEOUGE ISIGNOTTI, chief mechan David (Salt) Walther, seriously burned in Monday's first attempt to start the 500-Mile Race, continued yesterday to show improvement in Methodist Hospital. His condition remained serious but stable.

A statement by the Dayton-Walther team said that the swelling in Walther's face, a result of the burns, had decreased. The statement said the burns on Walther's left hand are severe, but that there is no immediate danger to the hand. There were plans to X-ray his left leg again. He has complained of some discomfort in the leg. His mother, Mrs.

Patricia Johannides, said his "frame of mind is nothing short of remarkable." Meanwhile, his father, iwirtnimmiPtr' MERCY FLIGHT Swede Savage, injured yesterday when his car careened into the wall in the northwest turn at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, arrives by helicopter at Methodist Hospital. (Star Photo by Hayes Howard) rCT- I' An Unhappy Mario Amlrctti ViYms Mot Of Ran From SiiN'lim' A HI jHT Itfl ittt- i-t f-i-1 im' tr flf i 1 'r-V r.i trr mf.