The Indianapolis Star du lieu suivant : Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 2

-THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR- -MONDAY, MAY 25, 1987 CZ3 500 PAGE 2S- ObstacL 1 1 1 11 ii whim 11 nMmmm wwwm 111 1 they finished StartFinish Driver (No.) LapsReason out (Unofficial finish) How 1-A1 Unser Sr. Mob: 20 1 Al Unser (25) 200 Running 5 2 Roberto Guerrero (4) 200 Running 17 3 Fabrizio Barbazza (12) 198 Running 22 4 Al Unser Jr. (30) 196 Running 15 5 Gary Bettenhausen (56) 194 Running 6 6 Dick Simon (22) 192 Running 26 7 Stan Fox (41) 192 Running 128 Jeff MacPherson (11) 182 Running 1 9 Mario Andretti (5) 180 Ignition 2710 Tony Bettenhausen (16) 171 Running 811 Johnny Rutherford (21) 171 Running 1312 Scott Brayton (91) 169 Engine 1613 Danny Sullivan (3) 160 Engine 2114 Tom Sneva (33) 143 Crash 1915 Derek Daly (77) 132 Engine 3316 Emerson Fittipaldi (20) 131 Engine 2517 Josele Garza (55) 129 Running 718 Arie Luyendyk (71) 125 Suspension 419 A.J. Foyt (14) 116 Oil seal 1120 Rich Vogler (81) 109 Rocker arm 3021 Ed Pimm (98) 109 Lost boost 1822 Gordon Johncock (2) 76 Valve 323 Rick Mears (8) 75 Coil wire 1424 Geoff Brabham (15) 71 Oil pressure 3225 Steve Chassey (87) 68 Engine 226 Bobby Rahal (1) 57 Ignition 2927 Pancho Carter (29) 45 Valve 2828 Davy Jones (44) 34 Engine hole 929 Michael Andretti (18). 28 Pit fire ,1030 Ludwig Heimrath Jr.

(23) 25 Spun out 2431 Kevin Cogan (7) 21 Oil pump 2332 Randy Lewis (24) 8 Gear box 3133 George Snider (84) 0 Engine fire rf ft" 2-Roberto Guerrero ASSOCIATED PRESS Al Unser Jr. (left) congratulates his father, Al Unser after the elder Unser won his fourth "500." Al Jr. finished fourth in Sunday's race. Continued From Page 1 to drive after a practice crash, who almost saw his Race Day come to an end before reaching the second turn on the first lap and, finally, who was IV2 laps out of the lead with less than 25 circuits to go. But perseverance can pay a handsome reward, and it certainly did for Unser Sunday.

And thus, Unser said, in the cooling-down moments that fcj-lowed his long, hot ride into history, this fourth victory meant more than the first three which arrived in 1970. '71 and '78. "This one is a lot nicer, and not because it's Number 4," Unser explained. "It's because I'm older and because I know now how hard it is to win these things. And because of the circumstances that occurred during the month, this one was both harder and nicer." The circumstances begin with Unser, despite his impressive credentials, being without wheels when he arrived at the speedway.

"Let me tell you, it was the first time in my racing career I came to Indianapolis without a ride," he remarked. "It was a very empty, lonely feeling. But I had certain guidelines I set for myself to abide by and I tried to keep them. That's hard when you want to race." Basically, his guidelines consisted of not Jumping into the first car that came along. He decided if he wasn't going to be competitive, he wasn't going to compete.

He set a deadline. If he had no quality ride by Wednesday of the second week, he was going home to Albuquerque, N.M., then return to watch the race. He even had made flight reservations. Two things conspired to keep him around. One, his son, Al didn't qualify on the first weekend.

Dad wanted to be around to help Junior in any way he could. And, two, the Ongais crash which eventually led to a vacant seat in the third Team Penske car. Unser knew it was a quality ride on a quality team. Penske, after all. had been his employer since 1983.

only to part company after last year. The parting was amicable. Ongais had brought a big-money sponsor to the Penske stable and, said Unser, "I knew that 3-Fabnzio Barbazza The leaders and respected that. There were no hard feelings whatsoever." But when Ongais was ruled medically unfit to drive here, Penske also knew who he wanted in his place Big Al. Unser responded by qualifying the No.

25 Cummins Holset MarchCosworth in 20th position on the starting grid a position, it turned out. that nearly ruined his Race Day moments after it began. As the field dived into the first turn at the start Sunday. Unser found himself next to a spinning Josele Garza with very little room in which to maneuver. "Josele got down on the paint and he spun." said Unser.

"I had to make a quick decision whether to lock my car up or try to outrun him to the straightaway (short chute). I elected to outrun him and I barely made it by him. I kind of tensed up because I thought he was going to get my left rear. It scared me." Once past that trouble. Unser spent the early portion of the race just trying to stay out of harm's way.

It cost him. howev- within several hundred yards of Unser on the restart on Lap 195. But. In those remaining 20 turns, he wouldn't catch Unser. "It was a great, great feeling stitting in the car," Unser said.

"I kept telling myself, 'I can't believe this has It got to the point where I didn't want to talk to Roger anymore because my voice was trembling so much." No. 4 was in the books. "Being in the class with Foyt makes me feel very honored," said Unser. "And yes, I'm coming back. I still enjoy racing.

I still love racing, and in no way have I decided to back off and retire. I love it but also I want to win and that's what this is all about, as you can see what happened today." Which begs the question: What will happen tomorrow for Unser? Is it back in the cockpit, or back on the unemployment line? "The question is open," said I-Penske. "But he's pulled our ba-" con out again for us." So have a sandwich, Roger. It's on Al. er.

as he quickly fell more than a lap behind Mario Andretti's rapid pace. His aggressiveness took over after his second fuel stop. "From then on, I ran it pretty hard, as hard as I could. I knew if I behaved all day and stayed, we could be very strong at the end." But it looked as if it wouldn't matter. Mario was dominating the race.

Roberto Guerrero was giving chase and running a strong second. But then, as is often the case at Indy. the sure thing didn't turn out to be such a cinch. Dramatically. Andretti was sidelined with ignition failure, leaving Guerrero In the lead with Unser second, a lap down.

But Unser already had made his last fuel stop. Guerrero still had pne more to go. The Colombian's STP machine stalled and before it could be restarted, Unser had not only made up his lap, but had gone one lap ahead. Guerrero managed to un-lap himself and, with the help of a yellow light, managed to pull 50 Miles (20 Laps) 300 Miles (120 Laps) 1 Mario Andretti 2 3 4 5 Guerrero Sullivan Unser Sr. Luyendyk Mario Andretti Rick Mears Roberto Guerrero Bobby Rahal Dick Simon Johnny Rutherford Michael Andretti A.J.

Foyt Arie Luyendyk Ludwig Heimrath Jr. 6 Sneva 7 Barbazza 8 Brayton 9 Al Unser Jr. 10 Fittipaldi 4-AI Unser Jr. I ViiK'rfW 350 Miles (140 Laps) 100 Miles (40 Laps) Mario Andretti Guerrero Unser Sr. Sullivan Barbazza 5-Gary Bettenhausen Mario Andretti Guerrero Luyendyk Danny Sullivan Mears Tom Sneva Rutherford Gordon Johncock Fabrizio Barbazza Simon 6 Brayton 7 Unser Jr.

8 Sneva 9 Gary Bettenhausen 10 Stan Fox '-r-- 3 400 Miles (160 Laps) 150 Miles (60 Laps) 6-Dick Simon 1 Mario Andretti 2 Unser Sr. 3 Guerrero 4 Sullivan 5 Barbazza 1 Mario Andretti 2 Guerrero 3 Sullivan 4 Luyendyk 5 Al Unser Sr. 6 Sneva 7 Geoff Brabham 8 Barbazza 9 Johncock 10 Foyt qy la 6 Brayton 7 Unser Jr. 8 G. Bettenhausen 9 Fox 10 Tony Bettenhausen 1 1 i Zr' it e't IL 450 Miles (180 Laps) 200 Miles (80 Laps) UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL A wheel from Tony Bettenhausen's car sails through the air above Roberto Guerrero's car near the fourth turn.

Tire 1 Guerrero 2 Unser Sr. 3 Barbazza 4 Mario Andretti 5 Unser Jr. 6 G. Bettenhausen 7 Simon 8 T. Bettenhausen 9 Fox 10 Brayton 1 Mario Andretti 2 Guerrero 3 Sullivan 4 Sneva 5 Unser Sr.

6 Luyendyk 7 Rutherford 8 Scott Brayton 9 Barbazza 10 Simon 500 Miles (200 Laps) 250 Miles (100 Laps) 8-Jeff MacPherson UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL A wheel from Tony Bettenhausen's car flies into the stands near the fourth turn, killing a spectator. Mario Andretti Guerrero Sullivan Luyendyk Unser Sr. 1 Unser Sr. 2 Guerrero 3 Barbazza 4 Unser Jr. 5 G.

Bettenhausen 6 Simon 7 Fox 8 Jeff MacPherson 9 Mario Andretti 10 T. Bettenhausen 6 Sneva 7 Barbazza 8 Ed Pimm 9 Brayton 10 Emerson Fittipaldi Continued From Page 1 preliminary reports, a wheel came off the No. 16 MarchCos-worth car driven by Tony Bettenhausen. Then, Guerrero's No. 4 MarchCosworth close behind Bettenhausen scooped up the rolling tire and flipped it high into the air.

The tire shot over Stand in the short straight between the third and fourth turns and hit Kurtenbach in the head. He was surrounded by friends and relatives, including his wife, Karen, and a stepdaughter. Dawn, 18. who told speedway officials that they had seen the flying tire coming their way and ducked to avoid it. None of them actually saw the 18-pound tire strike Kurtenbach, but he apparently was still standing and did not see it, they said.

A witness watching from the infield said the tire was rolling smoothly on the track in the short chute when Guerrero's car hit it. making it "look like a punt" as the tire flew toward the stands. The witness, who didn't want to be identified, said: "I could see people fanning out In a all the way up the stands," in an attempt to avoid being hit. The shock of what had happened spread quickly in Stand K. And hundreds, perhaps thousands, of spectators began to wave frantically to medical crews on the track to get aid to the stricken man.

Minutes later, other specta tors cleared a path as emergency crews carried Kurtenbach from the top of the stands to a waiting ambulance. Dr. Brent Furbee at the speedway hospital said Kurtenbach was already in grave condition. Rescuers could be seen administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He was pronounced dead of severe head injuries, Furbee said.

For at least nine years. Kurtenbach and his family had celebrated Memorial Day weekend by attending the 500-Mile Race, according to Methodist Hospital officials. He was sitting with a group of 10 relatives from Wisconsin, North Dakota, Kansas and Minnesota, hospital officials said. Bettenhausen and Guerrero did not learn of the incident's tragic result until minutes after the end of the race. "Somebody just told me Guerrero said.

"It makes me -very sad. That is terrible. I don't know what happened. It was bad enough as 'it was (hitting the tire), but this is terrible. 1 feel very bad." Bettenhausen, clearly shaken, stayed In a dark and quiet walled-ln corner of his Bettenhausen and Associates garage.

Car co-owner Russ Roberts of Indianapolis said that Bettenhausen "feels terrible, really sad. "This puts a real damper on what had otherwise been a pretty good month for us." he said. Time: 3:04.59.147 seconds. Average speed: 162.175 mph. Margin of victory: 4.4 seconds.

9-Mario Andretti Lap leaders: 1-27, Mario Andretti; 28, Roberto Guerrero; 29-60, Mario Andretti; 61-64, Danny Sullivan; 64-80, Mario Andretti; 81, Guerrero; 82-96, Mario Andretti; 97, Guerrero; 98-177, Mario Andretti; tor being hurt until a radio report after the race. The last spectator deaths at the 500-Mile Race were in 1960. Fred Linder. 33. of Indianapolis, and William Craig.

37, of Zions-ville. were killed in the collapse of a seating area on the northeast turn. Sixty-four others were injured. Kurtenbach was not the first to be killed by a' flying tire. In 1931.

an 1 1 -year-old boy died of head injuries after he was hit by a tire. Wilbur Brink III was not a spectator at the race, but was sitting in the front yard of his home on Georgetown Road, about 200 feet away from the Speedway's northwest turn. Young Brink died of a fractured skull about two hours later. Star staff writers George McLaren, John O'Neill and Kevin Morgan contributed to this report. Roberts and crew members said the right front tire came loose.

It was later found in a nearby tunnel under the speedway track. He said the tire had been on the car for at least 56 laps at the time of the accident in the 130th lap of the leader, though Bettenhausen was about three laps off the pace. It's not known what caused the tire and wheel to come off, Roberts said, except that the lock nut holding it on the car apparently began come loose and may have fallen off in the second turn. Roberts said his driver reported that the car began to handle strangely before the wheel came off. "We don't know why it came off.

It had been on the car for 56 laps, so it wasn't that the pft crew failed to get it on properly," he said. He said everyone on the race team was unaware of the specta iu-ioA uuerrero; ibj-zuu, ai unser Sr. Yellow lights: 1-5, Crash in first turn involving joseie uarza ana rancno carter; 27-33, Spin in fourth turn by Ludwig Heimrath Jr; 39-42, Debris on track; 62-67, Debris on. track; 81-84, Spin in third turn by Danny Sullivan; 96-101, Dick Simon out of fuel; 131-134, Tony Bettenhausen lost wheel; 150-158, Crash in third turn involving Tom Sneva; 162-166, Spin in fourth turn by Fabrizio Barbazza; 192- iyo, Mario Anaretti stalled in fourth turn. Lap prize money: Mario Andretti, 170, Al Unser 18, Roberto Guerrero.

8. $3,600: 10-Tony Bettenhausen Danny Sullivan, 4, $1,800..