The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 20

"'V S1 'Jf' 0 'jff' 0' -'y'-'-s 'y--- PAGE T1IE INDIAWrOUS STAR -TIESDAY, MAY 5. 19S1 B. Unser Honrs. Alsu all quick peed way becomes a Penske place Sports 1 By DAM OVERPECK Team Penske got down to serious racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Monday and just about everybody else suddenly found themselves about five days off the pace. Leading the way in the flying fleet of new PC-9BS was Bobby Unser at 197.715 miles an hour the highest speed recorded at IMS since boost restrictions drastically reduced the horsepower output in 1979.

Right behind came teammate Rick Mears at 195 993 and the third Penske pilot, third-year rookie Bill Alsup, checked in at fifth-quick with a lap at 191163. And the 200 mph lap seems possible if not probable in next Saturday's dash for the pole for the first time since Tom Sneva set the 203.620 track record in 1978. "I THTXK it's possible." said 1979 500-Mile Race winner Mears after his mid-afternoon effort in the Gould Charge No. 6. "The cars are capable.

It just depends on whether we can find the right setup and if the weather is right "Two hundred is going to be a banzai effort and everything is going to have to be perfect. Whether we can get the car that right, I don't know." Unser was making no predictions about speed "I don't like to predict those things" and he really went faster than he had intended. "I wasn't going to do this the first EST m'-h Koer IVnske and A.J. Fovt watch Al Un came the first driver to make serious contact with the wall hen his Hubler ChevroletKISS99Colonial Bread Pens-ke-Cosworth kissed the inside cement out of Turn 4 just as Unser pulled to a halt after his 197 circuit. "We had been trying different things and it looked like we were getting better." said Halsmer, who earlier had reached 182.709.

"I just went a little quicker than I should have too soon. "I thought I was going to get off lucky, but just at the last minute I banged the inside wall. I couldn't have done more damage than I did at that speed. I probably was only doing about 40 when I hit" HALSMER PLNGED up most of the right side when he nailed the cement after a 720-foot slide that included one complete spin. It'll be touch and go to have the car back in running order by the weekend.

Earlier in the day just after 2 o'clock Gordon Smiley did a 360 in Turn 4 when a tire shredded out from under him. Smiley thought he ran over debris on the track. "I was leaning out of the car and pointing to it in 2 and 4 on the previous lap," he said. "I really expected to see the yellow on when I came around again." But USAC officials said they found no debris on the track after Smiley slid 410 feet without making contact. The spin came while he still was in third gear.

Later he was back out and got up to 188 on his crew's stop watches, though his fastest electric eye time was 184.729. Third-quickest on Monday's speed list was Al Unser in the Longhorn-Cosworth. He made it to 192.967 on the electric eye. Right behind was defending champion Johnny Rutherford at 192.431 in his first day of work with the latest Pennzoil Chaparral-Cosworth. Then came Alsup at 191.163.

OFFICIALLY, that completed the 190 bracket. But Don Whittington's crew caught him at 190 on two consecutive laps just before the 6 p.m. closing in his team's new March-Cosworth. The fastest electric eye timing was 185.758. Brother Bill, working in the same car, also was in the 185 bracket.

Pancho Carter was clocked at 187.897 and rookie Bob Lazier was credited with a 187.110, though stop watches caught him as fast as 189.7. Among the first-time practicers in addition to B. Unser and Rutherford were four-time winner A.J. Foyt, Danny On-gais, 1980 rookie of the year Tim Richmond and 1973 winner Gordon Johncock. Johncock worked with both his STP Wildcat and the one assigned to 1969 winner Mario Andretti who is due in town today.

Four more rookies completed their drivers tests Kevin Cogan. Harry Mac Donald, Chip Mead and Jim Buick. tot OMlwrt) (Star Tnscr check epred vith radar gui (Star tv III Bobby fast on Ferris wheels dav." he said. "I just did it because Rick did." But it was actually the 47-year-old two-time 500 winner who started the move into the ultra-high speeds, moving over the 195 mark just past the noon hour. Mears didn't record his lap until about 4 p.m.

Then Unser came back out with his 197.715 circuit at 5 15. SO HOW DID Mears goad Unser into more speed than he planned to show? "There are some things going on you don't know about and I'm not gonna tell you." said Bobby with a laugh. That this sort of speed was available from the Norton Spirit No. 3 came as no surprise to Unser who has been testing the car extensively through the winter months. "I knew a long time ago this car was going to be fast," he said, "but that doesn't mean we're through.

There's more speed to be found yet." While the car bears the designation of PC-9B. it is in no way an updated version of last year's PC-9 with which Unser led 26 laps of the 64th 500. It is a PC-9B instead of a PC-10 because it started out as an update and then changed radically along the way. "When they banned the skirts, it necessitated a drastic change from the '9'," said Unser. "I mean a big redesign job.

This car is someplace between a PC-10 and a PC-11 there's that much difference." BUT THE 9B has been a much more cooperative critter than the PC-9 last year or the PC-7 of 1979. With both those machines, Unser came to the Speedway with major sorting out left to do. By race day, he'd made the big breakthrough and was a big factor in both races. This year, though, the PC-9B is race ready right now, Unser feels. "This car probably has never had a bad thing happen to it," he said.

"Every change we've made has worked. "This has been a happy car. There hasn't been any screaming at all in testing. I think we're further along than a lot of people think and not just on air (aerodynamics). We've made a lot of progress with our engines, too.

"You don't even have to look you can hear it. I've never seen (engine specialist) Karl Kainhofer work so hard or be so enthusiastic." MONDAY WAS the busiest third day of practice in Speedway history with 43 cars on the track. Some people besides the Penske team were making progress on the speed front and a couple of folks found themselves headed the wrong direction. Second-year rookie Pete Halsmer be- "I can't tell you what we're doing," Ferris said, "but we're making some progress in getting some of it back. "We're fairly close to what we had before, but it's never the same." The Penske PC-9Bs evolve from last year's PC-9 and were fabricated at Penske Cars Poole, Dorset, England.

Ferris, a 44-year-old Briton who was a designer with the British Aircraft Corporation before plunging into motor racing, came up with a complete ground effects concept in 1980 with the 9 and now has refined it with the 9B. "The gams are in the aerodynamics," Ferris said. "The side pods have been redesigned both inside and out, and modifications have been made to the underside to improve the flow of air. The 9B now is a long way from the PC-9." SOME CHANGES to the new cars are obvious. It has a lower profile and the nose is narrower.

Inside the pods, the radiators have been repositioned and the air intake louvers reshaped to reduce drag. Other changes are more subtle, many of them concealed beneath the blue fiberglass top cover, which this year is a single unit without seams. It extends from just behind the nose to the rear of the car and replaces the five-section piece used last year on the PC-9. The prototype of the new model represented about four months of work from the drawing board to being in product form. As a car ready to race, the time period represented about seven months.

"You never stop development," Ferris said. "You're always making small changes. "It's really never anything major. Those small changes have resulted in a big gain from when Bobby was testing here at 190. It's just things which let you stay on the throttle all the way around.

"WITH THE LOW boost you're running, if you get off the throttle just a bit then the speed drops tremendously." It would appear that Penske could add measurably to his Penske Corporation's annualized sales of over $200 million by going full bore into the manufacture of Penske PC-9B race cars. But that isn't the method of operation of the team. By GEORGE MOORE You might say it all is a matter of perspective. While everybody has heard of Bobby Unser, it's a fair to middling bet you haven't heard of Geoffrey Ferris unless you're in the racing business. But Mr.

Ferris is one one of the reasons why Bobby U. was going so fast at the Speedway Monday. This rather retiring English gentleman is the designer of the Penske PC-9Bs. which Unser and teammates Rick Mears and Bill Alsup herd around the track this year. It gives every indication of being a pretty good piece of rolling stock as Bobby turned a lap at 195.101 miles an hour right off the trailer, then later turned a lap at 197.715.

Such activity is bound to make the Norton people, whose name is on the side of the car, happy and at last reports owner Roger Penske wasn't too unhappy with the way things were going, either. BOBBY'S CLOCKING on only the third day of practice already is considerably faster than Johnny Rutherford's 192 256 mph pole-winning circuit of last year and Ferris was estimating at the Speedway Monday that Saturday's pole speed might be "196-197 if Conditions are right." That's moving things right along, especially in view of the fact that this year the pace might be a bit slower due to the skirts, which helped the ground effects, being banned. "The loss of the skirts has resulted in about a 50 percent loss in downforce on the car," Ferris said. "You try to get it back by doing other things, but that's difficult to do." Last year, the cars were permitted to run a form of sliding body panel, which was carried on the sides of the pods of the tub (chassis). The skirts actually touched the ground and formed a sort of air seal for the air going under the outrigger pods to create the ground effects, which sucks the car down towards the pavement.

WHEN THE SKIRTS are removed, it permits an open space at the outer edge of the pods from which some air can escape, particularly in the turns when there is the element of body roll, and this is lessening the ground effects action. Speedway's Top IQ (Star I $0004 it; nj IOS 11,431 4I)4J in ii7 no us tit US Pm -Ctf No OHvtr 1 No. I Booby Untor I -No Rick Moors )-No Al Urnor 4 No. I Jotwinr Ruitwrfor 5- No 1 BHIAItlW 0- NoK Goraon Johncock 1 No. 1 Poncho Cortor 1- NoU Bobloiior 0 No.

Tom Snovo 10 No tl Don rVhimntton Hobby Unser had Monday's fasl time "We never sell our new cars," Ferris said, "until after the season is over. We've sold a number of PC-7s because the PC-9 was more expensive to build. There's been more demand for the 7." A PC-9B represents about $100,000 a copy, and that's without the engine. Add another $40,000 to that for a complete turbocharged Cosworth V-8 ready to run and you get a fairly clear picture of why Indianapolis is a high-buck proposition. And those prices represent just one race car.

Then you got spare parts, and a crew, and with any luck the driver doesn't hit anything. SRI Clan toasts Damo legend 4 DELUXE SHOCKS INSTALLED Hrf? Irish double up on Roast Moose DISC BRAKE REUNE Original equipment capacity Most American cars. DRUM BRAKE REUNE Inotal dac broM podo Ooti Irani ohm. ohoco b'tko fluid, odiutl b'okoo. impocf who cyiindo't ond hoooo.

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caKNt ond tnooo Rood Tost, Moot Amoricon coro. Addition) pen nootnoodod. 39.00 CHOOSE IT ALIGN IT LU3E AND OIL FILTER IT them envious, took shots at his program, but when it came time to put up or shut up they backed away. He was as clean as they come. Throughout the weekend, Krause was showered with gifts.

They ranged from an expensive automobile to a lifetime membership in a country club to a monthly shipment of his favorite cigars with numerous others sandwiched between. The best present, however, was the one which Moose gave to all who ever came in contact with him that of how to live a life of simplistic dignity. out batting an eye, Krause replied, "Morning, son." Meyer, the DePaul coach who represented the oft-times wacky world of basketball at the dinner, fondly recalled a line from one of Red Smith's columns which said Krause is "the missing link between basketball and athletics." Although there is humor in the statement, it was both written and delivered as a compliment of the highest nature. There was never a minor scandal let alone a major one at Notre Dame during Krause's reign. Many people, most of COUTH BEND The clan arrived early and remained late.

Its members were in the mood for a memorable weekend and they were not to be denied. The festivities opened with a session honoring Joe Doyle, the longtime sports editor of the South Bend Tribune. They concluded more than 30 hours later with a gourmet feast where more than 1,000 patrons of the athletic arts dined on Roast Moose. It was a Notre Dame gathering at its best. There was laughter, football, storytelling and just enough seriousness to make it one of those moments which Epoft cof tubneskon ond oi cftongo uung ue promuit 04 and 04 MMr Press box John Bansrh bor and oot loo NO EXTRA CHARGE FOR CARS WITH AIR CONDITIONING OR TORSION BARS.

11.88 Moot Amancan can 9.88 POLYESTER CORD GOLDEN FALCON A7813 SIZE PRICE G7B14 32.00 I.U. reported No. 1 with 7-2 Uwe Blab E7814 28.00 G7815 33.00 F7814 30.00 H7815 35.00 1.55 to 2 43. Whitewalls add 3.00. 23.00 START IT retain the interest of so many people in the world of college sports.

The man to whom the loyal legions came to pay homage was Ed-ward Walter Krauciunas, the second son of Lithuanian immigrants who found their spot in the new world on the south side of Illinois. Keller is said to be insisting that Blab attend the University of Illinois, which last Saturday was given a three- COOL IT AIR CONDITIONING SERVICE We check system including pressure and leak test, add up to 1-ib. ot Ireon it necessary and pertorm courtesy car check. 12.00 Moat Amancan cart. QUIET IT HZAVY DUTY UUFFLER INSTALLED ANY SIZE STOCK 19.80s: Krause MAINTENANCE FREE FALCON 60 BATTERY ANY SIZE STOCK 62.00 WSTAUED EXCHANGE sisted would represent the institutioa Krause was graduated magna cum laude from Notre Dame in 1934 with a degree in journalism.

He rejected an offer from George Halas to play for the Chicago Bears, accepting instead a position as head basketball and football coach at St. Mary's (Minn.) College. Along with those duties, he also headed the journalism and physical education departments, served as athletic director, coached baseball, track, golf and tennis and drove the school bus. In his spare time, Moose authored a sports column, hosted a radio show and played semipro basketball. Until he retired, Krause never shied away from work.

To this day he cannot comprehend why so many athletic departments have so many people to do the necessary work Moose's reputation as a frugal man is such that one of the speakers at the roasting observed, 'If he were a guest at the Last Supper he would have requested separate chekcs." THERE WERE many light moments at the session as some of Notre Dame's most illustrious athletic sons such as Johnny Lujack, Ray Meyer and Joe Theismann stepped to the podium along with Ara Parseghian One of the best stories centered around a Butler-Notre Dame basketball game in Indianapolis in which Krause allegedly sank a crucial basket while being flat on his back near the free throw stripe. When Moose emerged from the Claypool Hotel the next day a young newsboy shouted, "Morning Star" at Moos while displaying the paper With By BILL BENNER Indiana's basketball team is in the final four again. But the Hoosiers aren't vying for the national championship they won in March. This time the prize Is Uwe Blab, a 7-2, 240-pound exchange student from West Germany who has starred at center the last two years for Effingham (III.) High School. Blab is expected to announce his college selection this week and the Hoosiers of Coach Bob Knight are reported to be Blab's top choice among a foursome that includes Illinois, Duke and Maryland.

KNIGHT, WHO, as a matter of policy, does not discuss potential recruits before they officially sign, said Monday, "We're working on it (landing Blab) and waiting to see what he decides "He's a really nice looking kid and very intelligent Blab, whose first name is pronounced is the son of an international lawyer from Munich, West Germany. The 18-year-old plans to study law in college. During his two years in Effingham, Blab has been living with 35-year-old Chuck Keller, an oil jobber who is said to be one of the wealthiest men in southern CUSTOMIZE IT Keystone custom, American racing. Rocket custom wheels and car stereos available at Lafayette Square store. year probation by the Big Ten.

At Effingham High, Blab averaged 24 points and 16 rebounds. In his junior season, Effingham advanced to the state tournament finals before losing to the Chicago Manley team led by Russell Cross, who is now at Purdue. This past winter, Blab's team made the quarterfinals before losing. BEFITTING HIS size, Blab is said to score most of his points near the basket and has not yet developed a consistent shooting touch from beyond 10 feet His free throw percentage was about 50 percent Jerry Schnay, prep, writer for the ChicMgo Tribune, described Blab as a youngster with "a great attitude, especially toward his teammates. He's like a piece of clay, just waiting for someone to mold him." Should Blab attend Indiana, he will join four prized recruits from the Hoosier state: 6-9 John Flowers of Fort Wayne South, 0-5 Dan Dakkh of Gary Andrean, 6-4 Winston Morgan of Anderson Madison Heights and 6-6 Rick Rowray of Muncie Central Chicago.

Today, we know that man as Moose Krause. No person has ever done more for Notre Dame athletics than the humble, astute, cigar-smoking Moose. Since 1930, the 68-year-old Krause has served the Lady on the Lake well first as an athlete, then as a coach and from March 22. 1949 until this past winter when he retired, as athletic director. Krause is the last link at Notre Dame between Knute Rockne and the present.

He was recruited by "The Rock" in the spring of 1930 and enrolled at Notre Dame the following autumn the last season which Rockne would coach before his fateful plane crash. FAR MORE important than that distinction is the honor and integrity which Krause has brought to his institution. He had few equals as an athletic director, not because of the winning programs or inventive ideas, but rather because of the honest, first-class program which he in 1:1: 'Jji -5JH: A.