The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 1

pptte, Soothed kal. 500 The Indianapolis Star SUNDAY, JUNE 1, 1986 "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty" II Cor. 3:17 -fr ir Home OEjfc Delivered OOC $1.00 Mahal's fast restart wins 500 Flies past Cogan, Mears in record-setting effort If it wasn't Rahal's best race, it was certainly his finest finish. After sweeping, past Rick Mears to take the lead on Lap 187, Rahal was immediately gobbled up by Cogan the next time around. From there, Cogan took control in his 7-Eleven March 86C: and, even though he wasn't pulling away, he was keeping Rahal and Mears a safe distance behind him.

But when Arie Luyendyk punctured a tire and spun into the inside wall coming off Turn 4 on Lap 194, the yellow came on and the pack bunched up. The IMS cleanup crew removed Luyendyk's MCI Lola quickly and the race was ready to go green with two laps remaining. At that point, going down the backstretch behind the pace car, Cogan still had the race in the See RAHAL Page 4S By ROBIN MILLER STAR ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR nobby Rahal snatched an almost sure victory away from Kevin Cogan on Saturday and gave his seriously ill car owner the best medicine available. Parlaying a smart restart with a fast getaway, Rahal overhauled Cogan with two laps left to win the longest and shortest Indianapolis 500 ever before an estimated 325.000 paying customers. In a race twice postponed by rain last weekend and finally run under sunny skies, Rahal flashed under the checkered flag 1 .44 1 seconds ahead of Cogan In the second-closest finish in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 70 years.

Rahal. one of the toughest customers on the CART circuit who has been plagued by bad luck at Indy, got a break in the form of a late caution period and took advantage of it in a dramatic windup to an excellent afternoon of racing. The 33-year-old native of Dublin. Ohio, averaged a record 170.772 miles per hour in his BudweiserTruesports March 86CCosworth and gave Jim Trueman a deserving day in the sun. Trueman, who brought road racer Rahal to Indy five years ago.

Is fighting for his life with cancer but was in the pits Saturday to watch his protege score their biggest triumph together. "This one is for Jim True-man. This is one thing I can give him." Rahal said immediately after stepping out of his car. "My goals in life have not changed, just my schedule," stated Trueman, who gave Rahal his first ride back in 1973. "I asked Bobby to do the best he could this morning, and I think he drove the best race of his life." A k.

tiareiser i 1 fciSs fWhlWi Rahal may have been the victor, but the winner was Trueman iV-rfVAAJl Michaela from his wife, Debi, Cogan's nightmare: He colors it yellow racer in his own right, took young Bobby Rahal under his wing and led him down a path that eventually led to the ultimate in motor sports Saturday's victory in the "500." When that triumph came. Rahal was thinking of Jim True-man. "1 felt a great sense of well-being and a particular satisfaction for all the things Jim has done for me over the years," said Rahal. "If anything can repay him. maybe, this can.

"I think everybody knows I love the guy. I'm thrilled for him. Jim and I have been through a lot of things." Nothing more, however, than See WINNER Page 13S falls with only two laps left. connected with the red No. 3 Budweiser Truesports March, his thoughts were with one man car owner Jim Trueman.

Moments later, he expressed those thoughts. Climbing out of the cockpit on Victory Lane's new revolving platform. Rahal's first words after his helmet came off were: "This one was for Jim True-man." Indeed, this one was. Certainly, it is not unusual for a winning driver to pay tribute to his car owner. But in Rahal's case, his relationship with Trueman goes far beyond the superficial elements of elation.

It dates to the early '70s. when Trueman. a successful Kevin Cogan (7) as the green flag aaV1' By BILL BENNER STAR STAFF WRITER Bobby Rahal took the checkered flag Saturday. But he didn't see it." Instead, the winner of the 70th Indianapolis 500 was violating one of the rules most everyone learns in driver's training never take your eyes off the road, especially at 200 miles an hour. So, as Rahal flashed across that fabled yard of bricks, he was looking not at where he was going which, among other places, was into auto racing history but at his wildly celebrating pit crew.

And while Rahal's eyes focused on the jubilation of all Bobby Rahal (3) charges past INSIDE Bobby Rahal receives daughter UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL By BOB WALTERS STAR STAFF WRITER Kevin Cogan nearly had a dream come true at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Saturday. Instead, his 1986 experience at the 70th Indianapolis 500 turned into a nightmare. Cogan had the championship of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing within his grasp: Fans cheering, wave to the crowd, victory lane, kiss the queen, drink the milk, wear a Goodyear hat and don a garland of flowers. It was all there. In the bag.

tied with black-and-white checkered ribbon. But color his nightmare yellow. It all went away on lap 198, two laps short of the legend-making Yard of Bricks. Nightmares have a spirit-robbing way of starting out with heroics. Cogan drove his ever-lovln' tail off to jump from third to first place coming out of lap 187 going into lap 188.

He guessed right when eventual winner Bobby Rahal and two-time champ Rick Mears guessed wrong. There was only one way Cogan wasn't going to UWTED PRESS INTERNATIONAL and hoists the child victoriously. put his name on the 13org Warner trophy. "The last thing in the world I wanted to see when I was leading the race with five laps to go was the yellow flag." Cogan said. "If not for the yellow.

I think I would have won this race." Oh, sad twist of fate. Cogan finished second in a race he could have, should have. won. He pulled off the most thrilling combination move of the race to take the lead on lap 188. His Patrick 7-EIeven March Cos-worth was up to the task of holding off the determined charge of Rahal and Mears.

"All three of our cars were working right," Cogan said. "When they're working great, they all go about the same speed. It's very difficult to pass." Unless something happens. Backing up to where the dream sequence started. Mears took the lead for the fourth time on lap 167 thanks to a yellow light and a Rahal pit stop.

The particulars there aren't important as far as Cogan was concerned, because when the course See COGAN Page 14S Guide to race news For your convenience, all race-related news is in this special section of today's Star. Other sports coverage follows the Speedway news in this section. All other news and features are in their regular sections. Bob Collins Page 3S Bad breaks slow Michael 3S I 1 1 I 1 Danny Sullivan wrestles to ninth-place finish 5S III'IlclIKillllff Bobby Rahal's boost lifts him to victory SS Rookie Randy Lanier satisfied with finish 5S IltllllOCrS Race was the pits for Al Unser Jr 5S 1 Tom Sneva takes early exit 10S it Leader Card team makes solid comeback 10S Mears eiiort Pit Pass 11S Broadcast teams did good job 12S P3QB 3S Johnny Rutherford unhappy with eighth place 13S Rain-delay blues don't faze many Page 8S.