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The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 23

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Indianapolis, Indiana
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Page:
23
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

MAY 11. 1981- THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR PAGE 23 Sunday's tinw trials washed out 0 A rainy day, not a racy one By ROBIN MILLER For the fourth time in the last four years, rare drivers at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway took a back seat to the weatherman. Sunday's second set of time trials was a total washout as nobody even ventured out of Gasoline Alley with a race car because the prediction of 100 percent chance of rain came true. As mentioned, it was the fourth straight May that the heavens have intervened in the script of "The Greatest Spectacle In Racing." In 1978. the entire first weekend was KO'd.

in 79 the first Saturday was washed away and a year ago. the second Saturday was scrubbed. Since Saturday's session was limited by showers and only nine cars managed to qualify with A.J. Foyt owning the conditional pole at 196 078. the pressure has really increased for the 30 cars tat least) waiting for an attempt.

AND IF THE conditions next weekend are anything like the past two days, a guy might be lucky to even get a chance. As it stands now. there are still 32 cars in the line that are guaranteed a qualifying attempt. Of those, 27 are still eligible for the pole position. The remaining cars can only hope for some clear weather or they're out of luck.

The one man whose luck is really soggy is Mario Andretti. For the second time in the last four Mays, Andretti probably won't be qualifying for the Indianapolis 500. Because of his Formula One commitment to run next Sunday's Belgium Grand Prix, the 1978 world That's unrealistic because usually Friday's pole speed winds up 17th on the grid," he reasoned could be in the field Friday and then get knocked out Saturday." Since there's a seven-hour time difference between Indianapolis and Belgium, he could qualify for the F-l show, hop a plane to Paris and catch the Concorde which would have him at New York City in two and a half hours. Then Pat Patrick's Lear would jet him here in 90 minutes, which just might give him enough time to take his place 1 10th i in line. "I'm the only guy stupid enough to do something like that," exclaimed Andretti, who would still have to fly all night back to Belgium.

Each place I Indy and F-1 1 is in their own little world and they don't even realize this place exists in Europe." THERE WAS ANOTHER decision made Sunday by the United States Auto Club. Don and Bill Whittington. scheduled to be first and 16th out when qualifying resumes, were informed they'd lost their places because their cars weren't in line when Tom Sneva opened time trials Saturday afternoon. L'SAC rules stipulate cars must be in their proper positions in the qualifying line when qualifying begins. "There's no doubt we were late with Bill's car.

but we were trapped by all the people in Gasoline Alley trying to get Don's to the line." said chief mechanic Keith Layton. "We didn't practice with Don's car Saturday and there was just a lot of congestion in front of our garage so we couldn't move. As soon as Sneva started, the guards let us get through to the pits." The Whittingtons must fall in at the back of the line, which would put them 51st and 52nd. RELATED STORIES PAGE It champion' will most likely have someone else put his STP Wildcat into the starting lineup. Ironically, the same season he captured the F-l title was also when he had to have Mike Hiss stand in for him.

Hiss qualified Mario's mount for Roger Penske and Andretti then started the race in 33rd position. THE LITTLE LEGEND from Nazareth. Pa who posted the third quickest practice speed of 198719 miles an hour, petitioned chief steward Tom Binford for a special qualifying day but was denied. "I'm not trying to make policy for the Speedway, but when this happened before I suggested some consideration be given to special situations like this that can arise," stated Andretti. "There's no way I can prepare for something like this, it's in the hands of the Gods.

"There should be some kind of provision written into the entry blank and the Speedway said they would look into it. but evidently it's not a very high priority." Alfa Romeo's No. 1 driver said he understood Binford's position but was miffed because, "They can change the car specifications around here daily, but they chose to use the cop-out with me: 'Hey, that's the BESIDES HAVING Steve Krisiloff sit in for him. could try a couple of other options that aren't really sensible. Since qualifying for the Belgian P.

is this Friday and Saturday, he could post a time Friday, fly back here to qualify and then fly all night back to Belgium. On If Mario And ret ti answers questions from the pre ails Giants, i-i), in can to twinhill Expos9 Lea spins first no-hitter of season Sports streak. "It's the longest outing I've had this year." Lea entered the Expos clubhouse to find a trail of white towels leading to his locker, which had a can of beer on each side. "I don't know how I'll celebrate," he said. "I'm just going to sit back and let this sink in." Working under a cool, cloudy day with a threat of rain, Lea nailed down the game with a flawless ninth while the crowd of 25,343 at Olympic Stadium was on its feet clapping for the last two outs.

last couple of relief appearances. And I had only pitched 11 innings this HIS TEAMMATES, contrary to the old baseball axiom, frequently reminded Lea of his possible date with destiny. "We talked about it." said knew it. I knew, and everybody in the ballpark knew, so there was no need to keep quiet." Lea almost lost the shutout in the eighth when he walked three batters, but pitched out of trouble. "I was just tired," Lea said of his wild Montreal (AP) Right-hander Charlie Lea of the Montreal Expos holds one distinction over the 192 major league pitchers who have tossed no-hitters before him he's the only French-born pitcher to achieve that special piece of baseball history.

"And I don't speak a word of French." said the native of Orleans, France, who came to the United States at the age of 'three months. Lea pitched the first no-hitter in the majors this season and only the second in "two years by blanking the San Francisco OTHER N.L. GAMES PAGE 24 Giants 4-0 in in the second game of a Sunday doubleheader. THE GIANTS won the opener 5-1 as Enos Cabell and Darrell Evans cracked homers and Tom Griffin hurled a four-hitter. "I don't think I ever got nervous," said Lea.

who walked four batters and struck out eight. "I wanted to do it from as early as the third inning. Lea. who will mark his first anniversary in the majors June 12, said he relied mainly on his fastball to keep the Giants in check. "Especially with a four-run lead in last two innings," he said.

"For the last two innings I was just laying the ball across the plate." When asked how a pitcher who began the game with a 7.36 earned run average could pitch a no-hitter. Lea replied: "Well, I haven't pitched that badly in my Sour co hints Ulreani' very possible NASCAR circuit coming to IMS? A i y'r )rrJ2 ml, v- aj too 1 A lilt on how things can be put together." If "when" probably is a better a word there is a stock car race at the Speedway, the senior Petty feels like it should be less than 500 miles. "I think a 400-mile race would be about right," he said. "Our cars are running so much slower we run about 40 miles an hour slower than these i championship i cars that it would take about the same amount of time, about three hours. "THAT'S A GOOD time for a race.

You go much longer than that and people start getting restless." Some people have suggested that the Speedway's facilities might not be that adaptable for stock cars. For one thing the garages are small and cluttered even for champ cars, let alone for the bulkier stockers. The pits also are on the narrow side. But the garages are scheduled to be replaced in the very near future (the next year or two is the frequent report i and Petty doesn't feel like the pits will present any problem. "The pits are a little narrow compared to our super speedways," he said.

"But you should see the pits at Martinsville or a couple other places we run. There's one lane to park in and another to drive in. Actually, the pits here are a lot safer than most of the tracks we run. "THE ONLY PROBLEM I would see to running here is seeing far enough around the track. There are more blind spots around here than what we're used to seeing.

At Ontario tin many ways a twin to the Speedway), you can go into the first turn and see out onto the backstretch. You can't do that here." But that's not an insurmountable problem. And it's one that Petty expects to start attacking very shortly. are sponsors to consider. How does NASCAR go to Champion Spark Plug Company and say.

'Sorry, but we're bumping your race at Michigan so we can run at Indianapolis1' Champion has done a lot for NASCAR over the years and they're not about to do anything to jeopardize that ADDITIONALLY, NASCAR isn't going to come to Indianapolis without being 110 percent ready to put its very best foot forward. In auto racing, Indianapolis is Broadway. "They're not going to come to Indianapolis until they're certain that everything is right," says the source. "That means the race, the crowd, the purse, everything. They want it to be first-rate at least as sharp as the Daytona 500." That may mean that there won't be a stock car race here next year.

It doesn't mean there won't ever be one here. It might be 1983 or 1984 or 1985, but there is going to be one here. "You have to remember (Speedway President) John Cooper is a former NASCAR employe and he's a stock car aficionado," said the source. It should be noted that Cooper has not confirmed nor denied that a stock car race will be added to the Speedway's historic one-race-a-year schedule. Most recently he has said, "There's nothing new to be said." BIT THERE IS NO question that virtually everybody involved expects the NASCAR race to be added here in the very near future.

King Richard Petty, here with son Kyle on a scouting trip of the famous 21 unite oval, repeated that to a press conference during Sunday's rainout. "I do expect to run here in stock cars," said Richard. "If things go right, we could be in two or three years. I hope it's next year, but that will depend By DAVE OVERPECK For the 35 years or so that there has been a NASCAR, a rate at Indianapolis has been the dream. Now that dream is thought to be a possibility.

"It's possible I wouldn't say probable but possible that there will be a NASCAR race here in says a source who is intimately familiar with I the thinking and planning of the Bill Frances, junior and senior, who operate the NASCAR shop. "There are still a lot of things to be worked out." said the source, "but the talks are serious. NASCAR isn't basing its plans on running Indianapolis in 1982 but it is part of their contingency planning." No date has been set for a stock car race at the Speedway, but some time in August or September is likely. And you can make that early August or late September. NASCAR won't schedule an Indianapolis race within two weeks either side of its traditional Labor Day date at Darlington, C.

"IN SOME WAYS MORE than Daytona, Darlington is NASCAR's big race," says the source, privy to NASCAR inner circles. "They won't do anything to harm Darlington, and running a race at Indianapolis 'would definitely take away from the Southern 500." From the NASCAR viewpoint, there are other considerations. The stockers currently have a 31-race including a now-defunct date at Ontario, 'Calif and consider that the limit of races they can run in a year. The Ontario date isn't viable for Indianapolis because it falls at Thanksgiving, usually much too cool for a race in these parts: Shuffling dates to open up a spot in August or 'September here sounds easy but it isn't, necessarily. "Most of these dates have been established for 'years," says the NASCAR source.

"Additionally, there IUPI Pnoto) (Jarv Carter congratulate Charlie Lea (left) on no-hitter (mm 5 Qnnaflnffieirs FIRST ROW JOHNNY RUTHERFORD 1 Pennzoil 4 A.J. FOYT 14 Valvoline-Gilmore COVOTICOSWOftTM BILL ALSUP 7 A.B. Dick Pacemaker MNSKI PC COSWOTM CMAFALCOtWOTH TT7H .4537 198369 :4565 197.152 46.01 195 610 46.57 193.257 Totals 3 0360 196.078 :46.08 195 313 :46 05 195 440 :4604 195.482 .46 08 195.313 Totals 3:04 25 195.387 :46.32 194.301 46.33 194 259 :46 81 192.267 46.92 191.816 Totals 3 06.38 193.154 SECOND ROW ALUNSER 88 Longhorn LONOHOItNCOSWOftTM 00 1 1 1 1 1 1 fTV' ji GORDON SMILEY 60 Intermedin WILOCATCOt WOTM PANCHO CARTER Alex Foods PINSKICOSWORTM -J: Speedua.v notes Tom Bigelow's in! What will he do? Tom Bigelow is going to have to figure out what to do with himself this week. For the first time in eight Speedway tries, the veteran sprint car ace from Whitewater, has qualified on the first weekend. The best he has ever ranked on the speed pole is 24th and he has never started higher in the field than 18th.

Three times he has started in the last row. But with Saturday's 188 294 run in the Genesee Beer Wagon Penske PC-7Chevy, he currently stands on the inside of the third row. That position won't hold up through next Saturday's continuation of qualifications, but Bigelow does figure to be safely in the field with a first-half starting spot likely. FOR THE FIRST time in 35 years, Freddie Agabashian won't be around for this year's 500-Mile Race. The Speedway favorite of another era is returning home May 19 after having spent the pre-race period here.

"I've just got too much work to do on my car restoration business," says the 67-year-old Californian. "I've got a couple cars I've got promised that I've got to get back to complete." ON ONE HAND, Mari Hulman George has to be disappointed by the weekend rains. Saturday's showers cut the "pole day" crowd by at least half, and Sunday's continuation held the attendance to nil. Those who did show up with a $5 bill at the gates can use their rain checks from Sunday next weekend. That combination represents a substantial financial loss for the Speedway.

On the other hand, Mrs. George is the primary mover behind next Saturday's Arnold Barbeque following qualifications for the benefit of Indiana Special Olympics. With the pole still to officially locked down, next Saturday's crowd figures to be bigger than normal. Consequently, there are that many more potential customers for the barbeque, which will include competitions among teams of Special Olympics athletes with race drivers for captains. Tickets for the barbeque are available at $10 each at the Speedway ticket office in the museum, the Speedway Motel and at all Indiana National Bank branches in Marion County.

All proceeds go to Indiana Special Olympics which benefit several thousand mentally retarded Hoosiers each year. IP5' 46.53 193.424 46.58 193 216 46.69 192.761 :47.03 191.367 :47.15 190.880 :47.07 191.205 47.21 190.638 ToUls :46.47 193 673 :46.65 192926 46.72 192.637 46.96 191.652 Totals 3:0680 192.719 '-I (t 4674 192.555 t.i. IUU1IB mm mm. I 3:08.46 191.022 THIRD ROW HERM JOHNSON 28 Menard LBR UOMTNINOCMIVVVI TOM BIGELOW 51 Genesee Beer Wagon MNIKI PC ICHIVV TIM RICHMOND 21 UNO-Guarantee Auto-WTTV MNIKI C-rCOSWOftTH 48.39 185 989 185.567 184 805 184 881 47.87 188.009 47.76 188 442 47 69 188 719 47.87 188009 Totals 3 11.19 188.294 :48 50 :48 70 :48 68 47.97 187 617 47.94 187.735 :48 63 185 071 :49.14 183.150 Totals 3:13 68 185 874 7 fTl I I i. ilk Totals 3 14.27 185309.

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