The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 49

US1(D ewswS Hiiei Steward Din ford een wmm SO EH bL 7 By ROBIN MILLER Bobby Unser, who took the checkered flag first last May 24 but woke up in second place the following morning after being penalized for passing illegally, was declared winner of the 1981 Indianapolis 500 for the second -and hopefully final time Thursday. rt' ocas' 1 (Sr Photo) v. Bobby Unser finally gets the checkered 65 year history of the world's richest auto race that the man who crossed the finish line first had incurred such a costly penalty. Unser protested USAC's decision and special hearings were conducted last June and July in which many drivers testified for both sides. In the ruling, the panel stated Unser had gained a "competitive advantage" by passing under the yellow and car No.

3 violated the yellow flag rule but that the one-lap penalty was improperly imposed. The key phrase of the panel's deci-sioji read, "The Chief Steward must be responsible for the conduct of the observers if the race is to be officiated fairly. Thus, the court rules that knowledge of facts relating to the infraction by the observers is tantamount to knowledge of the infraction by the Chief Steward. "ACCORDINGLY, the one-lap penalty should have been called during the race. If any other conclusion were reached, the officiating of an event such as this would be nothing short of chaotic.

The Court cannot put its stamp of approval on the observers conduct in this case. "Even though the Court believes Mr. Binford did not personally have enough information to call the penalty at the time it occurred, we feel the misconduct of the officials which oc- curred during the race makes it unjust and unreasonable to impose the penal-1 ty after the race was over." Brockman dissented, saying if the penalty was imposed during the race, Binford would have been "acting on incomplete and inconclusive information, an act that would seem irresponsible." Unser, the 47-year-old veteran who won in 1968 and 1975, again officially, joined Wilbur Shaw, Mauri Rose, Louis Meyer, Johnny Rutherford and brother Al as a three-time winner. But he In a reversal almost as surprising 'as the historic one made 138 days ago that put Mario Andretti in a belated victory lane picture, a special, three- Sports the Indianapolis star fridayoctober 9, 1981 PAGE 49 man United States Auto Club appeals panel overruled Chief Steward Tom Binford's decision and reinstated Unser as the winner. They also fined 'him $40,000.

The panel, composed of former USAC Presidents Charles T. and Reynold MacDonald and University of Louisville law professor Edwin R. Render, took more than two months to decide and issued a 23 page ruling. ALTHOUGH THE panel was in agreement that Unser definitely violated the "blend in rule" leaving the pits and' used it to his advantage, two of the three members, MacDonald and Render, felt that Binford was not provided with sufficient facts from key USAC observers and, therefore, the delayed penalty was too severe. It was by that 2-1 vote that Andretti was deposed.

Unser, who finished eight seconds ahead of Andretti on the track, was assessed a $40,000 fine, which represents about half the difference between first ($262,000) and second ($168,000) place prize money from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Binford, following a review of scoring tapes and discussions with observers the night of the race, imposed a one-lap penalty on Unser for passing at least six cars under the yellow flag after exiting the pits on the 150th lap. IT WAS THE FIRST time in the is 500 aav able to swallow this. It's totally unjust, it really is." Andretti, who had his Italian Grand Prix win in 1978 taken away because he jumped the start, was asked if he would take any additional steps. "AT THIS POINT, I really don't know because I'm just sick at the decision and the way it was carried out," he answered.

"A lot of integrity was lost in the officiating and I think USAC left itself open to a lot of criticism." Binford, who announced prior to Mario Andretti ft I wiv 1 saws" 1 the 1981 "500" it would be his last as chief steward after serving eight years, said he was glad the verdict was finally in but wasn't exactly thrilled by the way it was reached. "I'm not upset personally by the verdict, but I do have some problems with the rationale," he stated. "The panel made it clear they thought there was a violation of a rule and from my standpoint, based on that rule, I had no choice but to assess a one-lap penalty it was mandatory. "I almost rather they had said I was wrong than using the reasoning they did. It sounds like equity but it doesn't make sense to me." BINFORD WAS ASKED if he was sorry he had made the original deci sion? "I probably could have ignored the situation and done nothing but I couldn't have accepted that," he replied.

"I felt I had to make a decision and I would rather live with the one I made than the other option. Common wisdom says rules are enforced, not made with dollar penalties because that turns into a license to cheat." USAC President Richard King said maybe this would bring some changes in the rule book. "Maybe the blend-in rule is wrong and maybe there should be more options for the chief steward. I know Tom Binford didn't play favorites in his decision, he just called it as he saw it." The focal point of the panel's find three-time winner, it's but there was no answer," Mrs. Unser said.

"I said, 'Bobby did you hear It was the first time I can ever remember him being speechless. "He said he was thrilled and really excited 'cause we weren't expecting it, we really weren't." Ironically, Unser was hunting with Pat Patrick, owner of Andretti's car, and Mrs. Unser said Patrick, who said he thought all along Bobby deserved the victory "seemed congratulatory" for her husband. Of course, the reaction at Nazareth, was not so cheery. Andretti, the 1969 Indy victor, said he was stunned because, "I never thought they would manipulate the rule book to suit the situation.

In other words, they decided to change the penalty from one lap to a $40,000 fine only because he was the winner of the race. "THIS CLEARLY shows no matter how bad you break the rules, you're not going to lose at Indianapolis. That sets a terrible, unacceptable precedent. The fact is there is no way you can deny, or they can deny, or they can try to deny he committed an infraction that's clearly punishable by one or more laps yet the panel chose to change the penalty. "That's ludicrous and it's the part I couldn't believe.

They could have said anything else and I would have accepted it. But not this. I'll never be miles 138 record was elk hunting in his home state of New Mexico when the word came down and wife, Marcia, had to call him on a two-way radio. "I TOLD HIM, 'Bobbyyou're a new Bob Collins, flag ings are centered on the observers'. posts located inside the first two turns at the Speedway.

WHEN IT WAS BROUGHT to the attention of Binford and Art Graham, chief of timing and scoring, by Andretti's crew immediately after Unser had illegally passed, Steward Art Myers asked the observers if any cars had passed under the yellow. He received a negative response from stations 45-. 678. The next day, in written statements, observers in stations 3 and 3A signed statements they had seen Bobby Unser passing cars during the yellow light in question. The observer at station 4 wrote, "Upon my return from a trip to the restroom during a yellow light period, I was informed my observer Larry Cheatham that if anyone inquired he was under the impression that Bobby Unser had passed four cars under the yellow light." This is the same observers' station which had given a negative response, which is recorded in the log of conversations that was maintained in race control.

Based on this information, two of the three panelists concluded that there was "misconduct at station 4 and the apparent failure of the observers at stations 3 and 3A to report the infraction deprived the Chief Steward of vital information that could have, been used to call the penalty." WEST 3610 W. 30th St 3032 W. 16th St. 8804 Crawfordsville Rd Clermont, IN. 24 OZ.

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We have all your favorites, this week, at low, low prices. This is a TN 1911, RAY HARROUN won the second longest Indianapolis 500-Mile Race. It took Ray, rearview mirror and all, six hours, 42 minutes and eight seconds to tool around the bricks. Records are made to be broken and all that. Sometimes, though, it takes a while.

But, when Bobby. Unser finally moved around Harroun, he zapped him good, he did. Thursday, Roberto was declared winner of the 1981 semi-spectacular classic in the time of 138 days, some minutes and a few seconds. At that speed, the rabbit could have sneaked back into the race mainly because the tortoise would have died of old age. Napoleon would have had time to capture Moscow, go home and get I thawed out.

And to give you the ultimate example of how long it took to name a winner, I am sure that, with proper support and an intensive care unit staying close, I could run a mile in something under 138 days. THE FIRST TIME around Unser had it all wrapped up early in the afternoon. He was nearly two miles an hour faster than anyone who had notions about racing with him on the track. Mario Andretti, the fastest thing you'll ever see I- that doesn't come in a bottle, started 32nd and went through." the field like it was standing still. He 'I actually led for several laps.

But, at no time during the contest did Andretti and Unset really go head to head. And I find it hard to believe anybody could have whipped Bobby and his mighty Penske machine on May 24, 1981. Both pitted somewhere around the 150th lap. Bobby passed Mario going out of the pits and cruised right on past more than a few people who were' following the pace car under the yellow light. Mario got on the radio and told his trusty sidekick, Jim McGee, something like, "Hey, that guy can't do dat.

The complaint was passed on to Chief Steward Tom" Binford. 4 BINFORD HAS THE worst seat in the house. He sees less of the actual race than some of the people who their holiday the night before. But he is an honest man and made an earnest effort to put it alf together that night i First, there was no doubt that Bobby had stepped on the rules. Ignorancef such is no excuse.

Thus, Bobby's plea that he had missed the meeting in which the "blending in" concept was discussed falls into the category of the check is in the mail and I didn't know the gun was loaded. Binford's choices were limited. He could have: 1, done nothing; fined Unser $1,000, or, 3, assessed a one-lap penalty, The first two were copouts. Binford stood up and went for No. 3.

That meant we had one winner on Sunday, another at the Victory Banquet the next night NATURALLY, ALL concerned got bent out of shape about the situation. So, a three-man panel was appointed and 138 days later we have a winner all it took was patience. Legal fees, expenses and time spent away from whatever folks concerned do for a living has to run well into six figures. The only winner was the Speedway. First and second place purses totaling somewhere more than $430,000 were withheld pending the decision of the panel.

And I'll bet the bundle that John Cooper had smarts enough to lay that off in a money market somewhere at 16 18 percent And me, I refused to take sides. I believed still do that Unser won it on the track. That's where it's supposed to be decided. At the same time, I feel that Mario was right in entering his protest. All those people who have been trying to make him the bad guy in this are working overtime at finding a villain.

He did what he believed was right and proper at the time. Switch shoes and Bobby and Roger would have been right there, making the same protest It's over; let's get on with tomorrow. le you just can leaf alone. Miller Lite Wiedemann Jim Beam 750 jfKamchatkm II Vodka 1 U-V 1.75 LITER i Sports Editor Mr. October Reggie Jackson (left) is greeted by Dave Winfield after "Mr.

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