The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 81

SUNDAY, MAY 17, 1970 PAGE 2 SEC. 4 THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR CHAMP TAKES RIDE A A HALF srom OVER WW it lis A CI Into No. 8 Mario Spot Wiggles By JOE II AM ELI XT WAS SO CLOSE they fantastic transmission temperatures all month last year. This one be reliable, I think i but we need a lot of running to sort it out. Probably three, four hundred miles next week if we get a break with the weather.

"There was never any question about getting back in the Hawk again, and if I didn't think this was a superior car I'd get back in the old box real quick. Andretti had qualified 4-1-1-4-2 in his previous pole day sojourns and he was very much aware his eighth post was the worse he's ever done at the Speedway. "But I've started farther back at other tracks, and this is a race like any other race. I've been in traffic before, so I'm not particularly worried about it." No, he said, the STP team had set no minimums, no targets. They have accepted 167s if that was all they could get.

"We. just decided to get the job done today regardless." An ad-lib (backfire) by his turbocharg-er on the fourth qualifying lap and the "wiggle-waggle" proved no great problem. Contrary to all odds, all reason and all press releases, Mario had never given up the idea of getting the pole yes-, terday. "I knew it'd be practically impossible but I've been surprised before both ways, good and bad. You stop hoping and you stop being a competitor." "I think too that most of the guys would agree the re i ii MARIO MAKES IT Defending 500-Mile Race champion Mario Andretti (right) ended a frustrating week at the Speedway yesterday by qualifying for this year's grind.

Joining the celebration are car owner Andy Granatelli (left) and car builder Francis (Star Photo) figured the difference Al Unser's time or 170.221 against Johnny Rutherford's 170.213 was two and one-half feet, as the bull flies. And Johnny who always has time to slop and listen to anybody's happy or sad story and purse his lips and nod his head just like it is the most profound thing he ever heard in his life, managed to look properly impressed when that little statistic was tossed at him. So he finished his qualifying run two and one-half feet and one, one-hundredth or thousandth or whatever it is short of, the pole. John has been closer than that to a little personal chat with his maker. ''And he knows the difference beween the Johnny-who of yesterday morning who became yesterday's Johnny Rutherford, instant celebrity, could not be measured in feet or seconds.

You'd come closer if you were working with years. Like four years. The folks who managed yesterday to work themselves Into a line state of shock over Rutherford's performance all had one thing a short memory. Just a little over four years ago the handsome Texan was standing just an intersection away from "Broadway." Insiders (an insider in racing is anybody with a relative who can get him a pit pass) were pointing to him and saying, "there's a tiger. He's going to win the race some day.

(Glossary-term: To insiders, there enly is one race. It sometimes is called this race: sometimes the race and, once in a while, the 500-Mile race). He had been beating the best-often spectacularly-in the only form of organized mayhem that has been legalized by the Federal government. It is a little practice for World War III called sprint racing. Then, one dav (Aoril 3, 1966) at Eldora, 0.

John got a bit out of shape. He also got airborne, upside down and assorted other places that a race driver shouldn't be. The tally was a couple of broken arms, including one that wouldn buy what medical science was trying to do for it. It only took two years-without pay-for him to get knitted together again. And he got everything working just in time Uo crash at Phoenix on April 7, 1968 This one was a different sort of crash.

It featured a fire. John's hands were badly burned. And there is a belief In I racing that once a driver has been burned he has had it as a "competitor. So scratch Rutherford? Well, as late as last fall it looked like a chalk bet. His machine was running with the stability a pack of drunken squirrels.

For Rutherford, racing life was either a drop out or a spin. The chief mechanic had the unemployed. And the owner was considering jetti- soning the whole operation. hi Rutherford was close to becoming an ex-race driver. But The never lost faith in himself, never faltered in the belief that the talent was there-even if the equipment was weak.

So yesterday it all worked out. John put It all together again. Al Unser, the prohibitive favorite, won the pole. And John went the Avis route though by the closest margin in history. But, if you think second was a consolation prize for Johnny Rutherford, then, friend, you do not know how far it is to the top of the mountain or how hard the climb.

i THE GREAT CLICHE of auto racing has to do wi'h this being a test of men and machines. So which is more Important the man or th machine? Pacers Expect Stars To Fight Harder Today yesterday was 160.209 mph. THE RAIN "really washed out the groove," Mario said, and the winds "became gustier as the day went on. In the morning they were pretty light, actually. Mario wiped out his Mo-Namara machine seven days into May when, for the second straight year, a broken piece in the wheel assembly sent him whipping into the wall in Turn "I didn't believe it when it happened," Mario said, now able to look back a little less painfully.

place, practically the same part, same circumstances something like that shatters you in every direction." Andretti's Mc-Namara arrived that night. "The only thing the same between this car and the one I crashed is the driver," he Last year Andretti crawled out of the smashed and broken Lotus and climbed back into his Hawk, which he qualified second two days later at 169.851 and then drive to victory in the race. "But this was different," he a 1 yesterday in his "I knew the Hawk. I had driven it in several races. It certainly wasn't an unknown.

"This was an unknown. "BUT I'VE DRIVEN enough race cars to know a little bit about the feel of a car and this is gonna be a good one. The Lohus was never a reliable car. We were running Women's Golf St. Louis (AP) Second round leaders In tht St.

Louis Women's Professional Golf tournament: Kithy Whltworth 73-73 T46 Jo Ann Prentice 71-75146 Shlrliy Englehorn 74-74141 Carol Mann 76-7314 Marole Master 75-74 14 Judy Rankin 74-75 149 Sandra Palmer 72-7714 Sandri Hiynll 77-73140 Jove Kaimierskl 75-75150 Marllynn Smith 77.74151 Vivien Saunders 77-74151 Snln Saw.cn 74-75 11 Beth Stone 75-76151 Pew Wllwn 74-77151 Janel Caoonl 77-75151 Shirley Soork 75-77152 Judy Kimball 75-77 15! Mirbd Sasaki 75-77157 Linda Craft 74-71152 Bitty Bemftlndt 73-7 152 Mary Mills 76-77153 Gordi Whalen 76-77153 Sharron Moran 75-7115; Donni Ciponi 71-76154 Mirlene Hasgi 75-7 154 joyce nn jactson 74-to 154 WDndD anil HAVE YOU surfacing has hurt speeds here. I don't know whether it's the porosity of the asphalt or what but you get SuO miles of racing on it and a lot of tire testing and It'll be a different story next year. Milwaukee was like that. Milwaukee got faster as they went along." So now Mario and his Ford-powered racer will take a 13-day honevmoon, getting acquainted for race day. "The suspension is hung on the engine and transmission to try to balance out, the fuel problem," Andretti "We carry 75 gallons and as you use it up there's quite a difference in weight.

"But we tested It at Phpenix (the car he wrecked) and we lapned in 23.5 (seconds) with a light load and 28.6 just a tenth of a second more with a full load. So we're hoping it'll work that way in the race." At least he is In Jlhe field, comfortably, and he can sleep tonight. "Actually, i' slept pretty good last night," he said. I'But the crew those poor guys they haven't slept for days." GURE 8 RACING tfvij nm ai "in aj Pawler Pff Rtll TONIGHT SPEEOROME I S. Kltley md U.S.

38 E. CYCLE SALE NEW USED 50'ind up All Modils, Colon, Sins in Stock 300 CYCLES Get ehoict, Not chonc "WE LOVE PEOPLE" Dally i.m. p.m. Sun. parts only 1-3 p.m.

CHAHLIE? 3 PRICED AS LOW AS 179 AAA 7950 PENDLETON PIKE KS-4761 Mario Andretti's journey into the unknown lasted 3:34.02 yesterday and landed him farther back in the 500-Mile Race field than he's ever been before. In a classic case where the mating of man and machine was more blind date than marriage, marvelous Mario gave it a ride and half. He i 1 e-waggled" at one point and unless you wiggle at least once you don't feel you've tried hard," he pointed out yesterday. It was all he could do, and all anyone could do, to put the machine in the middle of the third row on the opening day of qualifications -a machine in which Mario had driven just 35 laps. "And that includes warmup laps," he said.

"IT'S A RELIEF just to be in the field. But we went 169.8 (miles an hour) this morning (Saturday) practicing and, frankly, I'm a little disappointed." Andretti's four-lap speed Probable Starters PACERS Brown (4-5) Nltolicky (4-9) Daniels (4-9) Lewis (4-0) Keller (5-101 STARS. Warren (6-i) Stoni (4-7) Raymond (4-11) 6 Jackson (4-3) 5 Calvin (HI) TIDOtf P.M. Broadcast: Wirt (and thi Pacer network). held sway by a 73-62 count with Netolicky getting 14, Daniels and Thacker 13 apiece and Becker and Brown nine each.

Bobby Leonard looks at one column to see just how" aggress i his Pacers have been: The offensive rebounding. "If we finish even or ahead, on offensive rebounding, I know our guys really want it," he has said on several occasions this season. Friday night the Pacers got 23 offensive rebounds to 16 for the Stars. One thing that hurt the Stars Friday night was that Tom Washington was virtually out of the game. One of the best "gar bage" men in the ABA, he got only two points and was effectively kept away from the offensive board.

Washington is the first man off the bench for the Stars, and it is indicative of Friday night's game that he did not have a good game. The Pacer bench Thacker, Becker, Barnhill produced quite a bit more than the Stars reserves. THAT WAS A big difference the first time. It could be again. The series continues tomorrow night at Ahaheim, with game four also scheduled there Tuesday evening.

WLW-I (Channel 13) will televise to morrow night's game. D.O. "500" mo.vth DOIO SALE IEDAM IUPREMI COUPES ri.u-nonqnn.uun.- have the American Basketball Association's 1969-70 championship without one whale of a fight. i It is not lost upon the Pacers that for three quarters Friday night's game was anything but the rout it became when Mel Daniels and Billy Keller broke loose in the fourth quarter. "THEY SURPRISED me," said Daniels after the first game of the best-of-seven series.

"They're a lot better than I thought they would be." Naturally, the a are hoping that the Stars aren't any tougher in today's 2 p.m. nationally-televised second game at the Coliseum. The Indianapolis area will be blacked out. Defense and rebounding did the job for the Pacers Friday night. Daniels and Bob Neto-licky kept Craig Raymond fairly well contained in the middle.

Neto, Art Becker and Roger Brown kept the pressure on George Stone outside. Tom Thacker did an effective job of keeping Bob Warren away from the boards. Bill Keller, Freddie Lewis and John Barn-hill kept pressure on Mack Calvin and Merv Jackson outside. On the boards, the Pacers Pro Basketball Playoffs YESTERDAY'S RESULTS AMERICAN ASSOCIATION No scheduled. TODAY'S SCHEDULE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION PINALS Los Anoeles at INDIANA (INDIANA series, 1-0) FRIDAY'S RESULTS INDIANA 109, LOS Anoeles 93.

p' v' Sports Editor dragged out a slide rule and qualified at a speed of 168.209 Struck By Pitch Allen In Hospital St. Louis (AP) First baseman Richie Allen of the St. Louis Cardinals was taken to a hospital yesterday for ob-s'-rvation alter being struck by a ball thrown by pitcher Ted Abernathy of Chicago. Alien was at bat in the ninth inning when the pitch hit him i'i the back of the head, knocking off his helmet. After being civen base, Allen told the first base coach he was feeling dizzy.

A Cardinal spokesman said rays showed no signs of a fracture, but that Allen would remain at the hospital as a precautionary measure. It was uncertain if the Cardinal slugger would play in today's game eg3inst the Cubs. McGwy'n 2 Homers Earn IVrry'x lOOth Los Angeles (AP) Willie McCovcy slammed his llth and 12th home runs of the season, carrying San Francisco to a 5-4 victory over Los Angeles last night as Gaylord Perry won his 100th major league game. WITH GENERAL ELECTRIC SILICONES; T-i uj mini ix: Well sir, Mario Andretti yesterday afternoon. says ydDQDir If you have spent any time around this joint for many E'nionths of May, you know what a job Mario did yesterday.

There are race drivers. There are super race drivers. rT And there is Andretti. The Indiana Pacers are not letting Friday night's 109-93 victory over the Los Angeles Stars go to their heads. They arc well aware that the Stars are not going to let them PRO DAOEDALL SCOREBOARD AMERICAN ASSOCIATION EASTERN DIVISION Pet.

GB Inwa 17 I INDIANAPOLIS 14 .609 2 EvamvilH 10 .155 5V Omihi 13 i'i WESTERN OIVISION Ptt. fan OkUhimj City 17 WlchiU Tulvi 1J 13 5Vi 1J 15 .444 5Ml I II .301 Denf AMERICAN LEAGUE EASTERN DIVISION Pet. .727 .543 .484 GB a ii ii Bittimnr 24 New York Detroit Boston 19 16 15 14 15 17 U9 noton i 13 20 3M 11 .37 WESTERN DIVISION Pet. .677 GB Mlnnasota California 21 10 22 11 17 17 15 17 .667 .500 .344 .333 Oakland Chicaoo Kmn City Milwaukct 6'j 10' II NATIONAL LEAGUE (I Wist Cnatt Gamti Not Includad) Pet. GB Chita?" '7 14 Niw York IK 16 .5 .484 2 3 .342 5' .344 6'l St LrutJ Pittborti PtiiHrl.lorlla Montreal 15 In 1 1 13 21 11 21 WESTERN DIVISION Pet.

GB Cincinnati 25 10 .714 .56 .574 .486 Atlanta 19 14 iLoi Angeles iHtinton 1 14 17 111 San Franeiico 17 19 .472 iSn OittD 14 21 .432 10 Yostt'nlay's Result AMERICAN ASSOCIATION Omaha 2, INDIANAPOLIS Tulsa It Oklahoma City Wichita 9. Denver 2. Iowa 3. Efnsyill 2. AMERICAN LEAGUE Oakland II, California 3.

Mlnneota 11. Milwaukee 7. Chicago 6, Kansas City I. Brstnn 4, Cleveland 2 Baltimore 4. Washington NATIONAL LEAGUE Pllt'burgh 4.

Montreal 3. Chitvio 3, St Louis 2. Cincinnati 2. Atlanta 0 Nw York 6. Phlle'lelDhio 1) Sin FrenrlKO S.

Los Anjellt 4. Houston 9. San D90 7. Today's Schedule AMERICAN ASSOCIATION INDIANAPOLIS at Omaha. Oklahoma City al Tulsa.

Eenver at Wichita, vansville at Iowa. AMERICAN LEAGUE California -(Wrloht 4 2 and Garrett 2 0) al Oakland (Odom 3-2 and Downing 3-3), 2. Minnesota (Perry 5 2) It Mllwaukei (Bolin 1-2). Kansas City (Rooker 1-2 and Draqo 1-3) al Chicago (Janeski 3-2 and Johnson 0-0), 'Baltimore (Cuellar 4-2) Washington (Coleman 1-31. Detroit fNlrkro 33 and Cain 12) it N.w York (Peterson 4 and Wislewskl 001.

2 Cleveland (Moori 3-2) it Boston (S'l-bert 3-1). NATIONAL LEAGUE Nw York ISaderki 10) it Philadelphia (Bunnlnq 1-41. (Moor 0 0) it Pittsburgh 1-0) Chiraoo (Jenkins 2-5) it SI. Louis (Brills 1-tl Atlanta (N)kro 44 and 3-2) It Cincinnati (Merritl 72 and McGIOthlin 3-31. 2.

San Pranrlsro (Robertson 2-2) It Los Anieles (OsHen 3 41. Hnuston (LiMaster 3 3) al Sin Diego (Corklrn 2-31. Purdue, Gophers Split Twin Bill STAR STATE REPORT Lafayette, lnd. Purdue bunched eight hits to win the opening game of a double-header from Minnesota yesterday, M. However, the clouted Rix home runs In the second till to gain a split in the twin bill, 12-1.

Minnesota is 13-3 in conference play and 32-14 (or the season, Purdue's Big Ten rec ord Is 6-8 and the Boilermakers are 14-16 overall. Minnesota 000 202 0-4 Purdue 003 120 1 Hotpnir, Erlckior) 4) md Printim Johnston md Blavdes. MR Pvrditt, David Mlmtfsofl 302 112 312 13 0 Purdut 009 008 1- 1 I Plshir ir Plodln lihild'ldiny lnd Wllniief. MR MKinroti, Wallieo 1, Plodln 1, An -Gonzales Upsets Aussie Net Ace Las Vegas. Nev.

(AP) -r Pancho Gonzales, the seem-Tlngly ageless tennis pro-t climbed the mountain once again yesterday with a stunning victory over top-seeded Australian Rod Laver in the $47,000 Howard Hughes Tennis Championships. On courts considered slow, Pancho changed his style of play and used lobs instead of smashes to record the 6-1, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 triumph in temperatures in the 90s. The victory earned for the Malibu (Calif.) pro a $17,500 first prize which was awarded in cash, enclosed in a glass case with a new racquet. Laver took home $6,000. Neat Hitting .314 Scott Neat, former Indian- apolis Star All-Marion County Athlete from Speedway High School, and a basketball and baseball standout at Butler University, has boosted his batting average to .314 for I Greenville's Red Sox in the Western Carolinas League.

Neat is in his first season of pro ball. 9u ASKED SEAT COVEIt cmdarlnflneall? 32 A.R.A. Custom Air Conditioner! to choos from, nd most art in stock nowl FORD PICKUP CHEVYGMC PICKUP DODGE PICKUP FORD ECONO-LINE GLOVE BOX UNIT MUSTANG MAVERICK GALAXIE FAIRLANE TORINO CAMEROCHEVY II CHEVY CUSTOM CHALLENGERBARRA- Rutherford Is Named 'Clark9 Chairman Johnny Rutherford yesterday was named chairman of the selection committee for the second annual Jim Clark Award by Dr. Peter H. Wright, president of the Britannia Club of Indianapolis.

Rutherford was recipient last year of the award named after the great Scots driver who won the 500-Mile race in 1965. THE AWARD IS SPONSORED by the Brittania Club. This year's winner will be announced at the club's "500" Ball, Saturday at the Airport Holiday Inn. The award is given to a figure in the racing world who by his conduct, on and off the track, "best exemplifies the spirit shown during his lifetime by Jim Clark." According to Dr. Wright, all future winners of the award will be invited to serve on the selection committee, with the most recent serving as chairman.

Other members of the committee are Bob Collins, sports editor of The Star; Wayne Fu-son, sports editor of The News; Sid Collins, chief announcer for the Speedway Radio Network; Chuck Marlowe, sports director of WTTV, and Bill Marvel, public relations director of Sports Headliners. 3 JTZ? act tp th A A. UNI r. eyery mt. PHONE Til.

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