The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 36

MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 1991 "Motivation key to Bud Light triathlon journey Athletes have many reasons to excel in multi-effort event -THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR- I ill A iH' 8, All--. VI I the deal and Indeed a first-place finish followed. She did not catch Jan Klpple, who entered the race as the Coke Grand Prix points leader, until the final stage of the event. Hut after letting Hippie draft on her heels for a mile and a half, the former University of Arizona All-American runner took off for the tape. McLaren was one Irlathlete who did not get a chance at the tape, lie was not one of the top-placing professionals, nor a local hero returning home.

Yet throngs of admirers followed him. McLaren, a former Yale football player who lost his left leg below the knee In 1985, uses his prosthesis as an Incentive, never a crutch. "Six years ago I was brought Into a hospital dead on arrival," McLaren said. "But that put my life in perspective. Now everything else I face Is relative.

"I have trouble In the transitional stages of these trlathlons, especially when I have to put on a different leg to ride the bike. Hut it doesn't matter If I win because this gives my life focus. I love the sport, so I take pride In simply finishing." Many of the professionals even shared McLaren's lack of concern about victory, but for different reasons. Next weekend's NCC Pro Championships in Cleveland will decide which Americans will represent the United Slates In the World Championships. For most, that took precedence over top-place finishes In Sunday's triathlon.

Professionals Kob Macklc and By MOLLYMAHONEY STAR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT All of the 1 100-plus competitors at Sunday's Hud Light Triathlon Series rare had motivation, but It could be seen In varying degrees, For some of the 19 professional athletes participating In the event, it was more a warm-up for next weekend's National City Corporation Pro Championships than the main event. Hut lor others, like amputee trlalhlete Jim McLaren, this triathlon, like every one he completes, is an extraordinary triumph. Regardless of the motivation factor, every Irlathlete professional or amateur approached the event In his or her own way. A swim, 24.H-mlle bicycle race, which Includes a lap at the Indianapolis Motor Spccd-. way and 6.2-mlle run demand an Individual approach.

"I still feel scared to death out there sometimes," said Jimmy Hlccllello, who won the men's professional division and remains the points leader In the season-long Coke Grand Prix. "1 tried to keep a steady pace, but I never thought I was In command. "I was hurling a little, but 1 wanted to gain the lead and then Just try to bold the rest off." Joy Hansen, the professional women's winner, used a less-structured plan of attack. "I always try to make the fewest mistakes possible and do the best Job possible and then let the placing take care of Itself." She look care of her end of (left) runs toward victory; women's STAR STAFF PHOTOS KELLY WILKINSON winner Joy Hansen is exhilarated as she breaks the tape. occurred at 9:45 a.m.

at 30th Street and Lafayette Road, according to the Indianapolis Police Department. Burch collided with a car driven by Melvin Johnson, of 1221 North Goodlet Avenue, who was driving a red 1988 Chevrolet Caprice. No further details on the accident were available. 7" Championships are my focus. That's my whole thing.

"Last year I made the team and I was the first American finisher In the World Championships. I took pride In that and I want to Improve upon It." Hatfield took fourth place In the event, but looked at the triathlon as more of a precursor to the grand finale. "Some days you have that condition and underwent surgery Sunday night. "I saw he (Tracy) was running high and for some reason, I decided to go low." Luyendyk said. "I saw he came up close to Scott Brayton and his car looked like It lost Its downforce in front before he hit." On Lap 22, Luyendyk was behind Emerson Fittipaldi when he slammed Into the Turn 3 wall In the Marlboro PenskeChevy.

Fittipaldi suffered a bruised shoulder and a bruised thigh In the accident caused either by a cut tire or a broken suspension piece. Luyendyk was lucky to miss that one. but his real troubles began during a caution to tow In Bobby Rahal on Laps 182-186. The Dutch driver pitted on Lap 186, putting Mears and Mario Andretti ahead of him. On the Lap 187 restart, he passed John Andretti pripr to the green light and it cost a stop-and-go penalty that dropped him 23 seconds behind Mears.

That gap grew to killer Instinct and some days you don't." Hatfield said. "Today I didn't have It, but next week 1 will. A lot more will be at stake and I'll have to rise to the task." JAMES BURCH, a triathlon competitor from Michigan, was In stable condition in Methodist Hospital with head Injuries after his bicycle collided with a car during the event. The accident nearly 32 seconds as Mears set up to lap him. But Luyendyk got a break when the yellow came out on Lap 230 after the engine blew on Eddie Cheevcr's TargetScotch LolaChevy.

It allowed Luyendyk to go around to the back of the pack and when the green flag came out on Lap 234. Luyendyk was only 1.6 seconds behind Mears. With victory in sight and a clear track ahead of him, Mears cranked it up and slowly pulled away from Luyendyk. The 1.6-second lead grew to 3.95 seconds by Lap 249 and on the final lap, both drivers recorded the quickest lap of the race at 224.719 mph. "1 didn't want Arie to get up Into the draft." Mears said.

"I wanted to keep enough cushion that If we started lapping cars. I'd have time to pick and choose the way I wanted to and not force him Into a situation." Although the late caution made the stop-and-go not as sig LITTLE LEAGUE KARATE CLASS Broad Ripple Geist 335-2662 254-1668 Pro-Am Karate Union 2825 E. 56th St. mm ASSOCIATED PRESS Emerson Fittipaldi (5) slides to the bottom of the course after hitting the wall, as A.J. Foyt (14) and Jeff Andretti try to dodge the mishap.

Luyendyk keeps humor in tough times CART NOTEBOOK Men's winner Jimmy Riccitello Janet Hatfield, both of Blooming-ton, agreed that it was more Important to peak for the championships than bring home Sunday's hardware. "Obviously, you want to do well when you're racing in front of a hometown crowd," said Macklc, who took third place behind Nick Kadkewieh. a Notre Dame cross country and track runner. "Hut right now the U.S. Mears Continued from Page 1 second by Lap 57 and took the lead on Lap 133.

At that point, Luyendyk had the strongest car In the field. He led 52 of the next 55 laps. "I made up my mind to pass as many people as possible, and It worked out better than I thought would," Luyendyk said. "The car allowed me to run as fast as I wanted to all day." Ills charge to the front was not without Its moments, however. On Lap 3, Canadian rookie Paul Tracy slammed Into the Turn 4 wall In the Mobil Penske-Chevy and slid down the main straightaway.

Tracy had to be cut from the car and suffered multiple fractures to his lower left leg. lie was transported to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis where he arrived In stable honest, Hlro Malshuslta with a Chevy engine Instead of Scott Pruett? Or Sullivan? Patrick and Truesports are two of CART's strongest and most visible entitles. Patrick sports Miller Beer and three decades of loyalty to Indy cars. Truesports fields one of America's brightest talents In Pruett, Is backed by one of America's favorite refreshments In Budwelser and races the only American chassis on CART's great American circuit. "We changed to Alfa and that Irritated General Motors," acknowledged Patrick, who Is currently being courted to try the new Cosworth In '92.

"Then one of my people sent a Chevy engine to the Alfa factory and that Irritated them even more. "I don't have any animosity, but I think everyone that wants a Chevy, and can afford one, should be able to run one. They've been around for seven years now and If theyXan't provide engines for everyone finished so were sections as anybody." to suffer damage to debris right noseconc He lost his crew Pruett, nosecone, his left and ran TrucsportsJudd clutch Al Unser and on Lap slowed by his loosened LolaChevy in the race. Hair Thinning? Free Consultation In Private Reasonable Rates 20 Years Experience No Surgery Separate Departments for Men and Women No Appointment Necessary nificant, Luyendyk felt it contributed to the outcome. "It (the penalty) was part of what cost us the race," Luyendyk said.

"When I got the black flag, I was running behind Rick. We were closely matched. Catching up to someone is one thing, but getting by is another matter. But I think it cost me." For Unser, placing third highlighted a frustrating day. He cut two tires from debris from Tracy's accident and then suffered a handling problem on the Valvo-llne LolaChevy.

"For 30 to 40 laps, the car went loose and we were running about 207. That cost us two laps," Unser said. Fourth was Mario Andretti, who had the engine go on his KmartHa vollne LolaChevy with four laps to go. Fifth was Tony Bettenhausen In the AMAX PenskeChevy. Rahal, the series points leader, finished 11th despite blowing an engine on Lap 182.

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WASHINGTON ST 243-3706 787-138S 636-6501 high. The car ran well and there of the race that I was as quick BETTENHAUSEN WASN'T the only one from the Tracy accident. Hlro Matsushita and Scott Pruett suffered heavy their cars when they hit the after Tracy hit the wall. Matsushita's Panasonic LolaCosworth had Tracy's lodged in his front suspension. more than 50 laps in the pits while repaired the car.

whose crew had to change the repair the front wing and remove mirror, managed to lose only one lap as high as fifth In the Budwelser before retiring with a broken on Lap 170. Jr. also cut a tire on the debris 13, John Andretti cut a tire and suddenly, only to be hit from behind, cousin, Jeff Andretti. The impact the rear wing on John's Pennzoll and he had a scary moment later By RICKSHAFFER STAR STAFF WRITER Brooklyn, Mich. In spile of a frustrating weekend which saw him prohibited from running for two days and a penally that hampered his chances In Sunday's Marlboro 500 at Michigan International Speedway, Arle Luyendyk still managed to smile through the adversity.

Luyendyk even found part of It to be humorous. "When you look at what I went through, It Is kind of humorous," Luyendyk said. "I qualified with only a couple of laps of practice. Now I think they should shorten the weekends. Maybe they should shorten Indy." During the post-race press conference, it was announced that Rick Mears had become the first Indy-car driver to surpass the $10 million mark.

"Could you give me a loan?" Luyendyk quipped. "Belter than that, maybe you could sponsor me." Luyendyk's Granatelll LolaChevy has no sonsor. "RESULTS IN 75 DAYS" TONY BETTENHAUSEN recorded a fifth place, for his best finish of the season In the AMAX PenskeChevy. Colncldentally, he seems to have all of his best runs at Michigan International Speedway. In the Inaugural Michigan 500 In 1981, Bettenhausen chased Pancho Carter to finish second for his best -ever Indy-car placement.

In 1988, he finished fourth at MIS, He also got his best Indy-car starting position this weekend after qualifying seventh. However, the Indianapolis resident felt the day could have been better had he not cut a tire on debris from Paul Tracy's Lap 3 accident. He blamed CART officials for not running the field through the pit lane and believed he cut bis tire during the caution laps. "I couldn't believe CART didn't bring us down the pit lane," Bettenhausen said. "You had two other people cut tires during the same period.

"That cost us a lap right there. But I'm not really complaining. I'm tickled that we 'J 54 V.V BEFORE AFTER 1I AUTO PAINTING lniW' special JiT ACRYLIC ENAMEL INCLUDES REDS METALLICS i fjF7lff SEAL COAT POLYURETHANE CLEAR TOP COAT lS iSimiiPii mmuimmm I VEAR GUARANTEE WwAWf QjEjgSH' When Home was unable to acquire a Chevy a few years back, he put together his own program with a Judd and hired veteran motor man Herb Porter's staff. It's obvious with Pruett and a very racy Truesports chassis, the only thing keeping I lorne Company out of victory lane is a competitive engine. Ditto for Patrick and Sullivan.

"Deep down, we all understand what's going on here." said Home, not the most popular man In CART but certainly one of the most productive. "But forget Truesports, this Is Just bad for the sport. And what kind of message docs this send to corporate America?" To which Patrick replied, "Miller and Budwelser are two of Indy car's best sponsors but if they don't get Chevys, they're gone. And if Truesports and myself get out of Indy-car racing There will be 19cars'at the Michigan 500 next year. this sinks our ship, I don't know." The party line from Herb Fls-chcl, director of the Chevrolet Ra-ceshop, was that It's physically Impossible to accomodate all the teams who asked for Chevys and that current Chevy teams got priority.

"Barbara (Trueman, Jim's widow and president of True-sports) was told the decision was based on sound business reasons," said Home, Ilmor's board consists of the Ilmor creators, Mario llllen and Paul Morgan, the Ilmor's founder, Penske, and G.M. rep John Monk, a comptroller at Chevrolet. They cast the deciding votes, but their reasoning begs a cross examination, First, look at the principals, or lack of principles, if you like. Teak's first full year with Granatelll came unglued when he couldn't share the bills with Vlnce to run Arle Ltfyendyk. He's a good business Investment? Simon does a good Job, but let's be Miller Continued from Page 1 and been turned down." Tniesports, the Ohio-based operation that ventured Into CART In 1982 and won the championship a year later, has been plugging along In the middle of the pack with a Judd engine (he past three years.

"I talked to Roger (Penske) at Long Beach last April, told him we were Interested and followed every direction he gave us," said Steve llnrnc, team manager for TruesiMrts, "This is a very big dKuMln! merit for us. We had Nponsorshlpln place to run two cars ut Indy and this blows us out of the water. "Our contract with Budwelser Is up niter four years and one of the contingencies Jhey required to continue was a Hevrolct engine for 1992. Whether or not 1350 WEST 16th ST 636-5304 4502 KEYSTONE AVE. 545-9995 5717 WEST MORRIS.