The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 46

D10 THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR SUNDAY, MARCH 2, 1997 Qualifying washout doesn't rain on Hendrick's parade 3 other drivers bumped from today's NASCAR starting field. 1 11 1 I (Top qualifiers) I Drfvor Car CNvroM WnvVTOWV Trry Labonta Jeff Gordon Data Jarred Ford II I MMMHWNMM MW SWSSSS. liiKT i 1 IBf HIIIS JaWIMli 1 Ricky Rudd. The fourth row will have Rusty Wallace and Sterling Marlin. and the fifth will have Bobby Hamilton and Ernie Irvan.

Jarrett, who finished second to Gordon In this race a year ago. said racing after only one practice session Isn't the best scenario, but one that favors those who have done well here before. "Not having been on a short track, It takes you a little time to adjust, but we've got the same car we had and everything is pretty much like It was" Jarrett said. "I'm sure other people are more worried." Irvan, Jarrett's teammate, won the last Winston Cup race at Richmond, edging Gordon in a final sprint last September. It was his second victory since a near-fatal crash In 1994, and the second of his career at Richmond.

He'll start today in the same car he drove in both victories last year. While some drivers were burned by missing a chance to qualify, others may have benefited. Chad Little failed to qualify at Daytona and Rockingham, N.C., but made the field at No. 42 based on his entry form postmark. Oil Earnhardt Mat Martin RlokyRudd Rutty Wallaca Starlln Marlln Bobby Hamilton ChavroM Ford Ford Chevrolet Pontlac lEord Assodatsd Pim R1CHM0ND.

Va. The washout of Saturday's lone round of qualifying for the Pontlac Excitement 400 proved to be bad news for three drivers, while the Hen-drlck Motorsports trio caught a break earned last season, Mike Wallace. Greg Sacks and Billy Sandridge all were bumped from the field for today's race when rain forced the cancelation of qualifying. The field of 43 was set using owner's points from 1996 and time-dated postmarks. The system, also used to determine the starting grid for the Hardee's Fried Chicken Challenge 250 at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday, put defending Winston Cup champion Terry La-bonte on the pole with teammate Jeff Gordon, the winner of the first two races this season, beside him.

Ricky Craven, the third Hen-drlck driver, will start 12th. Gordon the youngest Dayto-na 500 winner ever and the first since David Pearson In 1976 to follow that victory by winning the next week can make his start the best In history by winning 10. Emit kvan Tvmedlo: 1 p.m. today, ESPN. WNDE-1260 AM.

today. No driver has ever won the first three races of the season, and no driver has ever won the spring race at Richmond In consecutive seasons. Dale Jarrett and Dale Earnhardt will start In the second row, followed by Mark Martin and Associated Prasa PLENTY OF SEATS AVAILABLE: NASCAR fans have plenty of room in the grandstands at Richmond International Raceway, where qualifying for today's race was rained out. Zamardli grate pole audi piece of Mstory Call them anything you want, as long as you know they're the fastest cars around Robin Miller HOMESTEAD. Fla.

Today is the 1997 opener for Championship Auto Racing Teams PPG World Series. That's the official name of this group, with CARTPPG series serving as the simple slang that fits so nicely In newspaper headlines. But the pressing question for the writers and broadcasters covering I ar I 1 a' Assoclatad Pren UP AGAINST THE WALL: Brazilian Gil de Ferran slams into the wall after qualifying for the front row of today's Marlboro Grand Prix. He was unhurt. Team owner deals with fast talkers Italian captures his fifth consecutive No.

1 CART starting spot with a strong run in Miami. By Robin Miller STAFF WRITER HOMESTEAD, Fla. Mauricio Gugelmin tried mightily to knock Alex Zanardl off the pole, and Gil de Ferran tried to knock the wall down In his exuberant attempt to remove Zanardl from the catbird seat for today's Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami. Neither was successful, but If the 1997 CARTPPG opener Is anything like Saturday's wild round of qualifying, ABC's national television audience and the 60,000 folks here at Homestead Motorsports Complex are In for a good show. Zanardl made some CART history and won his fifth consecutive pole position with a lap of 195.043 mph in the Target '97 ReynardHondaFirestone.

The 29-year-old Italian erased a record held by Bobby Unser and Bobby Rahal by earning his ninth straight front-row starting spot. But Zanardl's seventh pole In his 17-race CART career came by the slimmest of margins. His lap was 28.000 seconds. Gugelmin clocked a 28.025 (194.869 mph) In the Hollywood '97 ReynardMer-cedesFlrestone. And de Ferran's first pass was 28.050 seconds (194.695 mph) before he whacked the outside wall exiting Turn 1 on Lap 2 In the Valvollne '97 Reyn-ardHondaGoodyear.

That top trio was separated by 50 thousandths of a second and the top 19 qualifiers In the 28-car field had a spread of only eight-tenths of a second around the 1 oval. "I was trying to read my stopwatch, remember Alex's time and I knew those guys were right on top of us it was soooo close," said Joe Montana, a former football player of some repute and part-owner of the TargetGanassI entry. "I had a huge problem with the boost on my first lap, but that second lap was perfect," said Zanardl, who led 610 laps and won three times as a rookie In 1996. "I always thought I was a much stronger racer, but It looks like I'm not a bad qualifier, either." After setting the pace In Friday's practice periods, i Gugelmin came within a whisker of claiming his Initial pole. "My car was perfectly balanced and that's as quick as this car would go today," he said.

"I didn't know his (Zanardl) time before I went out, not that it would have changed anything. "I'm happy with what I have." de Ferran, in his first drive with Derrick Walker's team, was easily the most spectacular qualifier. "The car was very balanced on my first lap, 1 glanced down at the dash, saw my speed and thought. 'Hey, this is good, now watch he said. "The engine misfired for a moment going Into Turn 1 and I don't know If that had anything to do with the accident or not.

"But the car started drifting wider and wider, and halfway through the turn I knew 1 wasn't going to make it. It didn't feel like a hard hit and it did a lot of I damage, but I feel fine. Not even a headache." CART's rules say the driver qualifies, so de Ferran will be able to retain his third slot In his backup car. Greg Moore, whose Forsythe team changed chassis a few weeks back, turned In the fourth fastest speed at 194.004 mph (28.150 seconds) in the Player's '97; ReynardMercedesFirestone. "There Is only one good line on this track and, If you get a little off It like I did, it costs you a couple tenths, but this car is Just great," said Moore.

Mark Blundell, In the Motorola '97 ReynardMercedesFirestone, came from way back In practice to snatch the fifth spot at 193.132 mph (28.277 seconds), and defending CART champion Jimmy Vasser starts sixth after a lap of 192.968 mph (28.301 seconds) in the other Target '97 ReynardHondaFlr-estone. Notes Rookie Patrick Carpentier outquallfled former CART champs Al Unser, Bobby Rahal and Michael Andretti and lines up ninth in the Alumax '97 ReynardMercedesGoodyear. Max Papis, in the MCI '97 ReynardToyotaFirestone, qualified an impressive 17th. Another rookie, Gualter Salles, gave the Davis Racing '96 ReynardFordGoodyear a solid ride by posting the 19th quickest speed. Dennis Vitolo 'knocked a couple of corners off the Smlth-Kline-Beecham '97 LolaFordGoodyear during morning practice but returned to qualify slowest.

Roberto Moreno didn't post a speed and will strt last in the PaytonCovne '97 LolaFordFlrestone. km. '1 a I 1 fa (Top qualifiers) Drtver Speed i i 1. AtoxZanardt 105443 i 2. Maurlclo Gugalmln 194.869 "3.

GHdaFarren 194.69S "1 4. Greg Moor 194.004 5. Mark BIutkMI 193.132 6. Jimmy Vaaaar 192.968 7. Parkar Johnatona 192.887 8.

Raul Boaaal 192.744 i 9. Patrick Carpantter 192.404 10. Al Unaar Jr. 192.167 fa thfe circuit Is what to call the cars. After a lawsuit with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was settled a few months ago, CART could no longer bill Itself IndyCar, a title it had leased from IMS the past few years.

So, what are these open-wheel, high-tech, turbo-charged, million-dollar missiles? CART cars? PPG cars? Really fast cars? The cars formerly known as Indy cars? The older guard likes the '60s moniker. 'Champ cars; It fits, it rolls off your tongue and it's a link with history." said Dan Gurney. whose Eagles have competed (and won) at Indianapolis since 1965. TThey're champ cars," replied Michael Andretti, CART'S winningest driver (35 victories). "That's what they were when I was a kid and that always sounded good to me." His second generation counterpart, Al Unser agreed.

usually call them champ cars, I always have," said.the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner. "That's whaj dad called them when I was growing up." Wally Dallenbach, who began his career in USAC and finished in CART before becoming CART'S chief steward for 17 years, said It was a no brainer. 'They've always been champ cars. I don't have a better name, but give me a few days and I'll try to think of one," he said. Xhe IMS party line is that because CART no lorfgjer runs at Indianapolis, it cannot rightfully refer to Jtself as Indy cars.

And there is some merit to that theory. But. for most, it's a hard habit to break. understand it can't be in a headline and we can only use a small 'c' but I still think it makes sense to call them Indy cars," said three-time CART champion Bobby Rahal, who also won the '86 Indy 500. Iridy car Is a generic name.

you know, you order a Coke and get a Pepsi." Scott Pruett says to call his workplace anything but an Indy car would be sacrilegious. Let's see: What is the description of an Indy mused Pruett. "Open wheel, high tech, high speed I'd say we fulfill that category. TYou cannot, not call these cars Indy cars." Carl Haas, who has co-owned a CART team with Paul Newman since 1983, answered the question carefully. They'll always be Indy cars to me," he said.

"I stijl refer to them as Indy cars and I think we're allowed to say that if we use a lower case 'c'." Tony Bettenhausen, whose family heritage lived and died at Indianapolis the past five decades, concurred with Haas. They're still Indy cars and 1 think we can generi-catiy refer to them as Indy cars. We just can't advertise them as that." he said. fat Patrick has owned "Indy cars" longer than anybody except Gurney and refuses to consider anything else. TI came along Just after the roadsters so I never called them champ cars but I guess, legally, In small print we can still call ourselves Indy cars," said Patrick, who first came to Indy in 1968.

Gordon Kfrby. veteran motorsports writer for Au-tosport, Raceweek and Racer, calls them CART Indy cars in his English publications and PPG Cup cars in his Marlboro News service stories. Rahal Jokingly said. "Maybe we should call them (PPG) Cup cars, you know, like them NASCAR boys do." Unser shook his head, laughed and said there was aa" easy answer. "Jjjst call them the best cars In the world, because they are." TV: 1:30 p.m.

today, WRTV-6. i By Robin Miller STAFF WRITER HOMESTEAD, Fla. Gerald Davis has devoted most of his adult life to auto racing, so he's all too familiar with con men, liars and, naturally, fast talkers. Those shady types seemed to be more prevalent in the 1970s and '80s but, as Davis found out, that species Is not yet extinct. After Jim Hall announced he was closing the door on his CART team last year, team manager Da- CART NOTEBOOK vis decided to try to keep his gang together.

A supposed ex-racer named Murray Craig was Introduced to Davis and a partnership materialized. Craig supposedly had more money than could be counted. Supposedly is the operative word, "The guy was a fraud," Davis said during a lull in Saturday's qualifying for today's Miami Grand Prix at Homestead Motorsports Complex. "In December, when It came time to take delivery of our first car, he couldn't come up with $400,000. He kept saying he was waiting on this and that but Jan.

31 I told him we weren't waiting any longer." With driver Gualter Salles already under contract, Davis pressed on with more pluck than bucks and his loyal crewj of 15 hoped a sugar daddy would come along. "It would have been easy to walk away, but they all stood by me and had faith I could get it done." recalled Davis. "Luckily, I'd met a man who expressed some Interest, so I called him up. I told him we were in a bind, but wanted to keep things going. "He stepped right up." trhe promoter of CART's race at Indianapolis, Johansson grinned and replied.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Then, the transplanted Swede who made Indianapolis his permanent residence three years ago, gave his best serious answer. "No, not yet, but some of my sponsors would like to step up and, right now, It's too big a Jump from Indy Lights to CART." said Johansson. A three-time starter at Indy, Johansson is campaigning countryman Fredrik Larsson in Indy Lights and has former Indy driver Vern Schuppan as team manager. He's also got Kenny Anderson, Associated Press FRIENDLY RIVALSi Alex Zan-ardi (right) hugs teammate Jimmy Vasser after qualifying for the pole position for today's race in Homestead, Fla. Rio de Janerio, Jorge Sentra, fronted some money for Salles, and Marlboro of Brazil also kicked In financial support.

Davis Racing was saved. "It was frustrating because, in effect, we had to start all over and we missed spring training, but we finally got to test here and Sebr-ing," said Davis, who built the engine Teo Fabl used in earning the pole at Indianapolis In 1983. "We've got a '96 Reynard, but we'll take delivery of our first new one Just before we go to Australia. Ford has been very helpful, along with Goodyear, and Gualter is adapting nicely." Salles beat several veterans and qualified 19th for his CART debut. Johansson may drive again Stefan Johansson, who left Formula One and spent five years with Team Bettenhausen, is en-Joying his new role as an Indy Lights owner but may be back behind the wheel in May.

Asked if he had purchased an Indy Racing League car to drive at aesigner oi me ikl U-Korce chas Lola sis, engineering Larssons this weekend. Indy Lights report Brazils Hector Castro-Neves won the Indy Lights pole at 174.809 mph, Just edging Callfor-nlan Mark Hotchkis' best lap of 174.552 mph. Indy's Chris Simmons was third best at 174.257 mph..