The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 1

Wreck Knocks McCluskey, Bucknum Out Of Running 11 1 "l-'t 65 III! HI I T'l HItwaw A.ty". tmmt, A-rv tniiLj. I y'J i' r- 1 i if rYj Rogtr bails' hurriedly (left photo) from the No. 23 Sprite east turn. Ronnie Bucknum in No.

19 also hit wall while Sam Sessions drives low In No. 83 Greer Special while firemen extinguish fire in Me Special yesterday late in the race after spinning and hitting wall in north- No. 67 managed to stear clear of trouble. Donnie Allison (right photo) Cluskey's race car. Allison placed fourth.

(Star Photos by Merle George) PRESS IT I RE 5 I ER AT I A NEWYORKTIMESNEWSSERVICE NANA AP WIRE PHOTO WEATHER TODAY TH WD IANAPOLIS Am Sec. Jj Warm, Homld High, 80; Low, SS Yesterday High, 77; Low, 68 'Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is Cor. 3-17 it it 633-1240 VOL. 67, NO. 360 35 CENTS 30c SUNDAY, MAY 31, 1970 LAJU I Defies Early Rain, Fastest Field, Nasty 5-Gar Mxup Near Finale Tony's Luck Held Again, But Few Doubted It Would, By THOMAS R.

KEATING The skies above the Indianapolis Motor Speedway were cloudy almost all day yesterday, but for more than 250,000 race fans from around the world and a fellow named Al Unser, the 54th 500-Mile Race was run entirely in sunshine. By RAY MARQUETTE Al Unser became the world's most happy fella yesterday by defying rain, the fastest field ever assembled and a nasty little mixup near the end of the show to become the winner of the 54th 500-Mile Race. Yt 4' See Editorial "A Speedway Disaster?" Page SectlM 2 Pages Of Pictures On Pages II, IT Of Section 1 Other Stories, Pictures On Pages 7, 8, II, II and Sports Section i 1 5 It seemed fitting that a man who drives a Johnny Lightning car could shrug off the tension-filled minutes of an hour's delay from rain then run just about as he pleased to lead 191 of the 200 laps and earn himself approximately 8250,000 for a 3-hour motor, trip. For the full month of May, the youngest Unser brother had been the fastest traveler, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His exploits in the bright-blue machine earned him the pole position as he promptly parlayed his start into the first victory by a pole-sitter since bis car owner, Parnelli Jones.did it in 1963.

DESPITE SLOWING his pace to a 157-mile-an-hour "crawl" over the last 75 miles, the 31-year-old Albuquerque (N.M.) charger, still finished with a 31.79-second margin over Mark Dono-hue when the checkered flag was waved byPatVidan. Although the yellow light was out for 17 minutes and 45 seconds after a five-car mixup in the third turn on Al's 172d lap, he still finished with an average speed of 155.749 mph. Until the moment when Roger McCluskey, Ronnie Bucknum, Jack Brabham and Sammy Sessions got into the outer wall, the new champion had been running almost 5 miles an hour ahead off last year's record pace set by Mario Andrew. BOTH BOBBY UNSER and A.J. Foyt were nursing sour racing machines by the time the debris was finally cleared off the track and the final 17 laps of green-light running saw the chasers playing musical chairs with Dan Gur- The weatherman had predicted a 30 per cent chance of rain all day, and the huge throng waited patiently.

A slight rain delay held up the start 31 minutes but the crowd did not begin clapping for action until Jim Malloy spun into the wall on the pace lap, causfng another 30-minute delay. Police reported massive traffic jams immediately after the race, but said they were cleared within several hours. As in previous years, there was a giant rush for the exits when the race ended and thousands of persons were jammed together, frequently not moving for long periods, as they tried to get out the gates. THE INITIAL JAM right after the race was so huge that some fans reported their cars were unable to move from the Speedway for several hours. Some complained the lineup of cars at one point did not move for ltt hours.

"When the race ends, it's nothing but a mass of humanity trying to get out, and there's just no way to control 250,000 people," State Police Sgt. Harold Archer said. "THEY ALL MAKE a mad dash for their cars, and then the cars are blocked by all of the people trying to walk out. "Limited access to exits, coupled with a large amount of people makes for a hectic, unhealthy situation," Archer said. "The good Lord willing, no one's been hurt." THE SPEED DEVOTEES began swarming into town late Thursday and early Friday, setting tents and trailers in every available inch of space surrounding the Speedway.

Those not fortunate enough to have shelter slept in their cars or on the ground outside the track. As usual, some fans slept in the track infield and despite the race's noises missed what they had waited so long to see. Race fans come to Indianapolis in all shapes, sizes and colors, the famous mingling with the unknown. But, all those gathered yesterday had a common bond in their prayers for good weather. NO ONE at the track yesterday prayed harder for sunshine than Hector Mendez, 40, the Argentinian whose company was supplying a live telecast of the race via satellite to Latin America.

Because, for Mendez, a rainout yesterday, also would have meant a wipe-out. His firm is scheduled to televise today's first match in the world soccer tournament between Russia and Mexico, and Mendez said there was no way the soccer-crazy fans in Latin America would accept an auto race in place of a soccer match. MENDEZ SAID yesterday was the first time a live transmission of the race has been beamed south of the border because Memorial Day is not a holiday outside the United States and unless it falls on a weekend, there would be no audience. With the race scheduled to be run Turn to Page 10, Column 1 (lir Pboloi By Frank H. Flttt) WIFE WANDA (LEFT) AND MOTHER (RIGHT) KISS WINNER Al Unser Also Got A 830,000 Bonus AVs Big Win Earns Him Birthday Bonus ti The Star Otter New ney ending up third, rookie Donnie Allison fourth and veteran Jim McEl-reath fifth.

Foyt, trying to become the first four-time "500" winner, was the only man in the race who could seriously challenge Al after the first pit stops. And A.J. was an unwilling victim of that 172d lap bash when he popped his clutch while down-shifting to go into the grass and avoid passing through a flame-filled track. FROM THEN on, it was a nurse-maid job for A. with only second gear available, and he finally gave up the ghost after the checkered flag fell for Unser and finished an unofficial 10th, with Allison and McElreath ahead of him In team cars.

The estimated crowd of 250,000 had just about reconciled itself to watching Al and his George Bignotti-prepared car play cat-and-mouse to the rest of the Tun to Page Column 1 Final Standings SPEED-DISTANCE 1. Al Unser 15S.749 2. Mark Donohue 155.317 3. Dan Gurney 153.202 4. Donnie Allison 152.777 5.

Jim McElreath 152.182 8. Mario Andrcttl LAPS 7. Jerry Grant 198 LAPS 8. Rick Muther 197 LAPS I. Carl Williams 197 LAPS 10.

A. J. Foyt 193 LAPS II. Bobby Unser 192 LAPS 12. Sammy Sessions 189 LAPS 13.

Jack Brabham 175 LAPS 14. Did Simon 169 LAPS 13. Ronnie Bucknum 160 LAPS 16. Mel Kenyon 160 LAPS 17. Wally Dallenbach 143 LAPS 18.

Johnny Rutherford 135 LAPS 19. Lee Roy Yarbrough 107 LAPS 20. George Snider 105 LAPS 21. Mike Mosley 96 LAPS 22. Peter Revson 87 LAPS 23.

Bill Vukovlch '78 LAPS 21. Joe Leonard 73 LAPS 25. Roger McCluskey 62 LAPS 28. Gary Bettenhausen 55 LAPS 27. Lloyd Ruby 54 LAPS 28.

Gordon Johncock 45 LAPS 29. Bruce Walkup 44 LAPS 30. Art Pollard .28 LAPS 31. George Follmer 20 LAPS 32. Greg Weld I LAPS 33.

Jim Malloy DID NOT START i The Weather Low-Coat Innuranee The lodlanapolis Star today Inaugurates i low-cost accident Insurance service for Ms subscribers. It pays tax-free benefits ranging from 8100 to The cost Is 81 a month. For com-plete details see the advertisement on Page 11, Section 4, In today's Star. By DAVE OVERPECK Al Unser's birthday party was a day late but certainly not a dollar short. Matter of fact, it wound up 830,000 long.

Winning the 500-Mile Race is always worth a lot of money around 8225,000 to Unser at tonight's Victory Dinner. But that last left turn Into the pandemonium of the winner's circle was worth an extra 830,000 to the 31-year-old Junior member of the only winning brother act in "500" history. Waiting for Unser was Henry Orcn-steln of Topper Toys, sponsor of Al's Joe Crow Says: "Lightning" struck the other "500" drivers Johnny Lightning turbochargrd Ford. Orcnstcin had with him that check for 30 grand. YESTERDAY morning he had come up to Unser In the garage and told him, "If you win today, I'll pay you an extra 830,000.

"Gee, I don't know whether 1 can do that," Al told him. "Then I'll make it $60,000," upped Orcnstein. Thirty was sufficient. Driving the type of race that car owner Parnclli Jones advised, Unser made it look almost easy as he led every lap except those Immediately after his first two pit stops. "I didn't have any really serious problems all day," he said In a post-race press conference.

"The car performed beautifully all day. "I THOUGHT 1 drove a conservative race. 1 could hove run hnrdor all day." Which Is JuNt exactly the way 1W3 winner Parnclli had advised him. "I felt all month that, barring a In Hide Today9 Star Summary Of News On Page 3, Section 1 Star Telephone Number Uayh Is Doood Lustily At Uaca United States Senator Birch E. Bayh Jr.

was booed loudly when he was introduced at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway before the 500-Mile Race yesterday. Bayh was Introduced over the loud-speaker as he sat In the back of an Oldsmobile pace car convertible for a ride around the oval, but when his nam? was announced the booing began. Little applause was heard for the Indiana senator. Long-time Speedway observers said they could not recall when a public personality or celebrity was booed at the Speedway. Main Office Circulation 633 1240 633-9211 633-1212 633-1200 Indianapolis Variable cloudiness, warm and humid with chance of show crs or thundershowers today and tomorrow.

Probabilities of measurable precipitation 40 per cent today; 60 per cent tonight. Indiana The weather and temperatures generally will be uniform throughout the state today and tonight. It will be warm and humid with variable cloudiness and occasional periods of showers or thundershowers. High state temperature will range between 78-85; low, 58-65. Probabilities of measurable precipitation 40 per cent today; 60 per cent tonight.

1 Want Ads Scores After 4i30 p.m. Today' Prayer Heavenly Father, we thank Thre for the means of measuring time the hour glass and Its sand, the clock with the hand denoting the meridian, the delicate Instruments which sliow how our machines compare with the speed of sound and the speed of light. We humbly ask that the tempo of our lives fulfill Thy plans for the progress of mankind. In the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

TODAY'S CHUCKLE Gossip I something aegaHve that li developed and thea enlarged. Torn to Page II, Column 1 iY.