The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 15

EJDA PLAYOFFS Detroit knocks off Chicago; Denver rallies by Dallas Page 7 BASEBALL BASEBALL Astros defeat Cubs; Yankees whip Angels Page 6 Jr. Decatur Central takes title in county baseball tournament Page 11 Inside: Section The Indianapolis Star SUNDAY, MAY 15, 1988 Business Mario not satisfied with qualification run i ii id i iumi.il an ni mi. mil ti: ff1f a fillip Vsi JwZS-p 1 i fTM'j By RICK SHAFFER STAR STAFF WRITER Mario Andret.ti has pole position. Unfortunately, it's the pole for Row 2 and the 1969 Indiana-polls 500 winner and last year's polesitter must have been the unhappiest man at the Speedway Saturday. After car owner Carl Haas drew first qualifying position for the AmocoK-Mart LolaChevy, it seemed likely that Andretti would smash Rick Mears' two-year-old one- and four-lap track records and wait for Mears to challenge his time later in the day.

Mears took the challenge as expected, but it came from Penske teammates Al Unser and Danny Sullivan. In spite of practicing at laps of 220 Saturday morning, Andretti recorded qualification laps of 217.014. 215.059, 213.980 and 212.761 good for an average of 214.692. So what happened to the man who spent the better of the week dueling with Mears for top speed honors? "There was oil-dry laid down in the middle of Turn 4. When I hit it, my right front tire was destroyed," a dejected Andretti explained.

"That was all 1 needed. I had to find a different way around the track." But for Mario, the different way proved to be a slower way thai) he'd traveled all week. It was a bitter pill for him to swallow. "I had no warning whatsoever. I'm very disappointed be-t cause USAC should have warned us and given us the opportunity to go or not go.

Mario Andretti (right) seems to be unable come up with an explanation for his slow run for team Row-by-row chart, Page B2 Guerrero hasn't lost his desire, Page B3 Krueger and Fabi take different routes into field, Page B3 Scoring chart, Page B4 Al gamble pays off, Page B5 "This is a situation where they could have blown It away or vacuumed it off the track. I had no warning and was already committed so I went ahead and took the time," said Andretti, who added his team would not attempt to qualify their backup car later in the day. "I noticed it (the oil-dry), but I didn't think that it would be a factor. When I actually got In it, I realized that It was there. "Before I got into it, I felt a hell of a lot better.

I knew the car had a balance that I knew was good. I didn't expect the first lap to be quicker than the rest," he added. Chief Steward Thomas Bin-ford was surprised at Andretti's remarks. "We put down the oil-dry at around 8:55 a.m. and went green at 9:27.

At 10 a.m., Car Number Six (Andretti's car) had a lap of 218 and at 10:10 it had a lap of 220," Binford said. "There were no complaints. We are very sensitive to the drivers. If we make any changes to the track between practice and qualification, we inform the drivers as a courtesy to them. "This car (Andretti's) practiced on It more than forty minutes and nobody complained to us.

Plus, Mario had the right to stop and tell us of the situation See MARIO Page 3 and several rising degrees In temperature away. "You can never have too much confidence at this place because too many things can happen. It (seeing Andretti's speed) did slow my heart rate down a little bit, but now we'll Just have to wait and see what it's like when we get out there." Well, we waited and we saw and what we saw was history, official history, again authored by the amazing Mr. Mears from Bakersfield, Calif. After posting a storm warning in the morning with that run of nearly 223 mph, Mears went ahead and blew the competition away, breaking his own one- and four-lap qualification records with a 220.453 on his first circuit and an average of 219.198 for the entire 10-mile ride.

In doing so, Mears capped an incredible day for car owner Roger Penske and led teammates Danny Sullivan and Al Unser Sr. to an unprecedented 1-2-3 team sweep of the front row. Mears, a two-time Indy winner, also tied another IMS record by joining A.J. Foyt and Rex Mays as the only four-time pole sitters. "This means a lot," Mears said later.

"It means that all the hard work and dedication of See MEARS Page 5 Al Unser Sr. likes ride to front row Mears' early fears evaporate in run A year ago, Al Unser seat for the first day of Indianapolis 500 qualifications was on the pit row. Saturday, his seat was in the cockpit of the No. 1 Penske-Chevrolet and he ended up on the front row of the starting grid for the May 29 500-Mile Race. The 48-year-old.

four-time Indy winner, who came here last year without a ride and ended up in Victory Lane. Saturday started Team Penske's charge to the head of the pack with a qualifying run of 215.270. That eventually landed him on the outside of Row One after teammates Rick Mears and Danny Sullivan claimed the Nos. 1 and 2 starting positions. Big Al predicted what was coming.

After he qualified but before Mears and Sullivan had taken to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Unser referred to the possible Team Penske sweep by saying, "I'd like to see all three Penske cars on the front row because I know I'm going to be the last one and I don't want to get bumped back." But being third out of the first three is a pretty nice consolation prize. That's especially so in comparison with a year ago. when Unser turned down some lesser offers of rides, sat out the SCORES NBA STAR PH0T0MAX TRUBY manager Don Henderson. first weekend of time trials, then eventually signed on with Penske after Danny Ongais, recovering from a crash, was ruled medically unfit to drive.

Of course, Al then went on to qualify the second weekend, start 20th and win the race. All's well that ends well. "A year ago this time I was sitting on the pit wall watching them run," Unser said Saturday. "It was very heartbreaking to come here when you've been here as many years as I have and not have a ride. That was my own choice, it's not that I couldn't have been in something, but I elected not to.

"Then to have a ride like I've got this year is so neat. It makes it very rewarding to have a team and car like I have." Unser, who is driving the three 500-mile races on the Indy-car series this year, said he had only one anxious moment during his qualification attempt Saturday. However, it lasted from the time he left the pits until the time he returned. Time trials, he said, are a trial. "I tell you, it's not easy to qualify," Unser remarked.

"You extend yourself as far as you can and use up everything you ever thought you could do. It's not See UNSER Page 5 Los Angeles 3 Philadelphia Atlanta 7 St. Louis AMERICAN ASSOCIATION Indians 3 Iowa Buffalo 4 Omaha Maine 4 Denver Pawtucket 5 Oklahoma City 3 Louisville 8 Rochester Syracuse 7 Nashville INSIDE Baseball Averages 7 David Benner 16 Bowling 9 Bob Collins 3 Big Fish 17 Dave Garlick 8 H.S. Page 10-11 Golf Scene 14 Scoreboard 18-19 Lines Shots 17 Readers Writes 12 By BILL BENNER STAR STAFF WRITER It was high noon Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The sun was searing, the temperature was soaring, the track was slippery and the speeds were falling like the Dow Jones on Black Monday.

And Rick Mears was worried. Mario Andretti. Mears' week-long rival in the escalating battle to become the fastest man In IMS history and. at the same time, win the pole position for the 500-Mile Race, already had taken his shot. And, It seemed, he had missed by a mile or at least by several miles an hour with a qualifying average of 214.692.

To win the pole, It appeared that Mears who Just a couple of hours before had turned In a stunning unofficial practice lap of 222.8 would need only to buckle in. push the throttle down and keep turning left until he saw the checkered flag. But. to Mears. Andretti's problem was more a reason for concern than for celebration.

He still was confident, but he was hardly cocksure. "Oh no. no." Mears told re-: porters as he stood next to the I pit lane, awaiting a qualifying attempt that was still two hours IU big BOB KNIGHT has been on the job at Indiana University for 17 years. That Just happens to be how long Eric Anderson has been on the planet. Anderson is a prep All-Ameri-can from Chicago St.

Francis de-Sales, the pick of the litter In Knight's 1988 recruiting class. Knowing Knight has been breathing Cream Crimson as long as Anderson has been breathing helps explain Anderson's perception of Knight and hk employer. "To me, Indiana and Bob Knight are pretty much the same thing," said Anderson. Anderson is hardly alone. STAR STAFF PHOTOKERRY KEATING Teammates Rick Mears (left) and Al Unser discuss track conditions during Saturday's qualifying.

enough for Ehrlich, Knight Phil Richards Detroit 101 Chicago 79 Denver 107 Dallas 105 AMERICAN LEAGUE New York 6 California 2 Boston 1 3 Seattle 0 Cleveland 6 Milwaukee 4 Minnesota 7 Detroit 0 Chicago 7 Toronto 5 Oakland 8 Baltimore 0 Texas 6 Kansas City 3 NATIONAL LEAGUE Houston 3 Chicago 1 San Francisco 3 New York 2 Cincinnati 5 Pittsburgh 3 San Diego 3 Montreal 2. Bobby Wilkerson got his degree the other day. That leaves Just two Knight players (Stew Robinson and Tony Brown) who spent four years at IU and haven't graduated. That's a pretty fair 17-year record. Maybe the issue of academics is no issue at all.

Bloomington certainly is big enough for both of them. Knight and Ehrltch's differences have been overplayed. Reconciliation is possible, and Dick Stoner could have a hand in It. Stoner was instrumental in bringing Ehrlich to Indiana and he is Knight's best friend on the IU board of trustees, over which he presides. He is the man in the See RICHARDS Page 6 room.

The man Is new to big-time athletics, and probably a little wary, but that doesn't mean he's anti-athletics. Whether or not Knight moves on to the University of New Mexico. Ehrlich shouldn't be the fall guy. Endorsement of that notion comes from no less than Knight himself. The coach obviously was reaching out when he said Friday that.

"Any decision that I would make to leave Indiana or to get out of coaching would not be made because of people now at Indiana-. It would be because I feel that's just the best thing for me to do." Ehrlich wants Indiana to be known for its academics. Well, How else to explain the fuss of the past week? And maybe that perception is reason enough to make conflict between Knight and IU President Tom Ehrlich inevitable. Please remember that Ehrlich came from the University of Pennsylvania, where a basketball game might attract a crowd that would fit into an Assembly Hall rest-.