The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 27

TOM TAKES TOP SPOT 2D STRAIGHT YEAR Way Financial Section 2 The Indiwu'ous Stak sunday, may 21, 1978 Sneva lip 5 nalifiier To Record FIRST ROW DANNY ONGAIS 25 Interscope Racing PARNELLI-COSWORTH TOM SNEVA 2 Norton Spirit PENSKtCOSWORTH RICK MEARS 71 CAM2 Motor Oil PtNSKE COSWORTH TIME SPEED TIME SPEED 203.620 TIME :44.35 :44 91 :45.13 45.50 SPEED 202.931 200.401 199.424 197.802 :44 20 :44 43 :44.60 :44 95 45.02 :44.96 45.00 200.222 199 911 200.178 200.000 202.566 201.794 200.669 :44.85 Totals 2:58.08 202.156 Totals 2:59.89 200.122 Totals 2:59.93 200.078 SECOND ROW AL UNSER GORDON JOHNCOCK JOHNNY RUTHERFORD 4 1st National City MCLAREN COSWORTH 2 1st Nat'l City Traveler's 20 No. American Van Lines Checks wilocatogs IOLA-COSWORTM Pole Day II UillifcWiffaiBgpwiiWpiMRgiyBWSpiWM JWW Jib xlrfa XL pi v. 4 SNEVA A 4t ft TIME SPEED 45.05 199.778 45.40 198.238 :45.84 196.335 :46.36 194.133 Totals 3:02.65 197.098 TIMF SPEED :45.86 196.249 :45 52 197.715 45.84 196.335 :46 01 195.610 Totals 3.03.23 196.474 TIME SPEED 45.44 198.063 :46.14 195.059 :46.17 194.932 :46.08 195.313 Totals 3:03.83 195.883 THIRD ROW MIKE HISS 7 Gould Charge WALLY ALLEN BACH 6 SugaRipe Prune Spl. McCLAREN -COS WORTH JOHNNY PARSONS 16 1st Nat'l City Traveler's Checks LIGHTNING OFFY PENSKtCOSWORTH TIME TIME SPEED TIME SPEED SPEED 197.759 196.164 194.932 192.143 45.51 :45.88 :46.17 :46.84 45.48 46.35 46.53 :46 44 197.889 194.175 193.424 191.734 :46 16 :46.23 :46 28 :46.18 194 974 194.259 194.468 194.890 By DAVE OVERPECK Tom Sneva is on the pole again. He's got a new set of matched track records.

But he wasn't what you would call satisfied with Saturday's 202.156 run in his Norton Spirit Penske-Cosworth. Happy, yeah. Proud, of course. But not terribly satisfied. "I wasn't the smooth veteran that I'm supposed to be out there, I can tell you," he said.

"We were doing a lot of slipping and sliding out there qualifying." You couldn't tell by the results, but Sneva figures he guessed Related Stories, Pages 2, 4, 6, It. More Pictures, Page 3 wrong on his chassis setup. So, he said, his 10 miles against the clock were not without their dramatic moments, particularly for the driver. FOR THE SECOND year in a row, there were suggestions that he might have used the outside wall for a cushion at least once on his run. He wasn't denying it.

"I don't know if I touched the wall or not," he said. "But we had the rear end up on edge a couple of times and we didn't do that last year." All told, Sneva didn't rate this year's record-wrecking as highly as he did last year's mainly because it wasn't so smooth. Not that he particularly blames Sneva the driver as much as Sneva the chassis man. "I really didn't feel like I did as good a job this year as I did last year," he said. "But it's not so much the driver as the setup.

"We made some changes just before we went out to qualify and my guesses weren't as good this year as they were last year. "We definitely weren't that smooth on our run. The car wasn't that close. We had a little bit too much sh at one end and you just couldn't keep up with it with the sway bars. "WE WERE LOOSE coming out of (turns) 2 and 4 and pushing in 3.

Coming out of 2, right up there by the wall, we had her crossed up a little bit." The wind, which increased steadily from about 9 miles an hour at 9 a.m., caught Sneva by surprise when he was setting up for qualifying. "The wind down in No. 3 really bothered me," Sneva said. "We just didn't anticipate that it would affect the car that much. We were expecting the tires would go to a loose condition and we probably had too much push in it." Tire temperature gets to be a key factor at the 200 miles an hour mark.

When you're running that fast, temperatures are going to go up that much faster and higher. Hot tires don't hold as well as cooler ones. Thus, it wasn't surprising that Sneva's fastest lap was his first, a 203.620 circuit that was the second quickest posted on the electric eye. A.J. Foyt had a 203.666 clocking in morning practice Saturday SNEVA FIGURES THAT his 203.620 lap was less than he could have had, though.

"The first lap could have been a high 204 or even a 205," he said, "because I had to get out of it a lot more than I wanted to in 3." He had to get out of the throttle in 3 because he stayed in it too long entering the bend. "If I could have hustled it through there the way I really wanted to I feel it could have been a strong 204 or maybe 205," he said. However, that might not have helped the end product that much Sneva noted. "Maybe if I had gone 204 or 205 on that lap, the tires would have heated up faster and I might have slowed down more on th. other three," he said.

TO SOME EXTENT, Sneva came from behind to claim his pole berth this year. He didn't get over the 200 mph mark until Thursday when he moved into the top comany with a 203.4 mph lap. Part of that was because he and the Roger Penske crew were spending more time working on race day setups than they were in getting ready for qualifying. At the same time, Penske apparently was getting a little antsy to get his No. 1 driver over 200 where teammates Mario Andretti and Rick Mears had already gone.

After he got the job done, Sneva said he had considered going out to find a helmet that would fit the car owner. It sounded like some jockeying that frequently goes on among team members. But Sneva said Saturday he wasn't so sure that Penske's needle wasn't a hypodermic. "It was sort of serious," said Sneva. "It really kind of surprised me.

When we came out Thursday he said he may try this and that combination if we could turn on a TV red light. I wanted to try this and that combination, so I think he was telling me to get going." Saturday, he certainly did. jprj Totals Totals 3:05.30 194.280 Totals 3:04 40 195228 3:04.95 194.647 POLE PERFECT Pole Winner Tom Sneva (center) and his wife Sharon flash their best ear-to-ear smiles following Saturday's record qualifying run of 203.620 for one lap and 202.156 for four laps at the Speedway. On the left is an unidentified member of the pit crew. (Star Photo by Frank H.Fisse) FOURTH ROW DICK SIMON 17 Le Machine VOLLSTEDT OFFY LARRY DICKSON I PolakSta-Ox Car Glaze PENSKECOSWORTH ROGER McCLUSKEY 11 National Engineering EAGLE AWC Cauthe Ml -if; Waits, Wins TIME SPEED :46 66 192.885 :4681 192 667 :46 91 191.857 46.87 192.020 Totals 3:07.25 192.256 TIME SPEED :46 67 192 843 46.44 193.798 :46 62 193.050 :46.83 192.184 Totals 3:06 56 192 967 TIME SPEED :46 21 194.763 46 15 195.016 :46 63 193 009 :47.12 191 002 Totals 193 434 Affirmed The Preakness FIFTH ROW STEVE KRISILOFF 40 Foreman Industries WILDCAT OGS SHELDON KINSF.R 24 Thermo King WATSON OPFY TOM BAGLEY 22 Kent Oil WATSONOFFY Baltimore (AP) Steve Cauthen and Affirmed played the waiting game Saturday, and it paid off in a Preakness victory that put the chestnut colt on the threshhold of the Triple Crown.

(Pi TIME :46.71 :47.11 47.26 :47.15 TIME .46 89 :46 67 :46 81 :47 08 SPEED 191. 9.19 192 843 192.267 191.164 SPEED 192.678 191 042 190 436 190 880 TIME SPEED :46 97 191 612 :47 27 190.396 47.25 190.476 47.05 191.286 Totals 3:08 54 190.941 Totals 3.07 45 192 051 Totals 3:08 23 191 255 SIXTH ROW SPIKE GEHLHAUSEN 19 Hubler-WIRE IAOLI OFFY JOHN MAHLER 39 Tibon Special IAOLI OFFY JANET GL'THRIE 51 Texaco Star WILDCAT DCS TIME SPEED TIME SPEED TIME 46.79 :47.31 47.57 48.08 SPEED 192.349 190.235 189 195 187.188 :47 12 :47.15 47.37 47.51 191002 190.880 189.994 189.434 :46 99 47.07 47.20 47.62 191.530 191.205 189.593 188.996 Totals 3:09.75 189.723 Totals 3:09 15 190 325 Totals 3:09 15 190.325 SEVENTH ROW TOM BIGELOW 43 Armstrong Mould Inc. BOBBY UNSER 48 ARCOGraphite EAGLE -COSWORTH WltOVG OF SCREW Boost Is A Bust, Foyt Bid Ruined By GEORGE MOORE For want of a turn of the screw, the pole may have been lost. A.J. Foyt, who was running 203 miles an hour in practice prior to the start of qualifications at the Speedway Saturday, inadvertently gave the on his turbocharger the wrong setting.

"I did it to myself," A.J. said. "I set the wastegate for 19 pounds of boost instead of 25." This condition developed when the screw which controls the spring pressure that holds the pressure relief valve closed in the wastegate wasn't screwed in tight enough and permitted the valve to open and bleed off the manifold pressure before the allowable amount of boost was reached. AS A CONSEQUENCE, there wasn't sufficient pressure from the turbo to develop enough horsepower in A.J.'s Foyt V-8 for fast qualifying speeds. When Foyt abandoned his qualifying run, he eliminated himself as a pole contender, as the first day of qualified contenders for the pole ends with Joe Saldana in the Hoffman Offy No.

69. When Foyt makes his qualification run, assuming he completes it, he will have to start behind the first day lineup of completed qualifiers. See FOYT Page 2 WILOCATOFFY TIME V9 'V- TIME :46 32 :46.15 :46 26 46.21 SPEED 194 301 195.016 194.553 194.763 SPEED 188 363 189.553 189.394 189.155 1 Cauthen followed instructions to a and Affirmed responded brilliantly to become a millionaire. The winner's share of $136,200 from a purse of $188,700 pushed Affirmed's career earnings to $1,023,227. Affirmed paid $3, $2 10 and $2.10 in winning his seventh straight race, beating Alydar for the sixth time in eight meetings and running his career record to 13 wins and two seconds in 15 starts.

Alydar, owned by Calumet Farm, paid $2 10 and $210. Hickory Tree Stable's Believe It, ridden by Eddie Maple, also third in the Derby, was $2.10 to show. Completing the order of finish behind Believe It, who was Vli lengths in back of Alydar, were Noon Time Spender, Indigo Star, Dax and Track Reward. "I have to say Alydar is a nice horse. Another horse might have had his heart broken," the wonderboy of racing said in reference to Affirmed's superiority over Alydar on the track.

"But he just keeps on trying." ALYDAR CERTAINLY tried on this sunny day with temperatures in the 80s, and he pushed Affirmed to the limit. It was the duel that was expected in the Derby but never really materialized. Once Affirmed got into the lead, Cauthen set a pace with Alydar in mind. He completed the first three-quarters in 1114-5, a length in front of Noon Time Spender with Believe It third another head back. Alydar was fourth at this point and moving.

Affirmed completed the mile in and had something in reserve when Alydar made his big challenge, the famed devil's red and blue silks of Calumet Farm glinting in the sun. It was a stirring challenge and an even more stirring rejection. Maple summed up the growing feeling about Affirmed's superb ability by saying, "That first guy, you just can't get by him." "We were outgained at the very end," said Alydar's trainer John Veitch. "When we come that close, I ain't afraid of him (Affirmed). We'll catch him someday.

We'll try him again in three weeks. "JORGE RODE A perfect race and the horse ran a perfect race. When these two horses meet, there's no telling, you know, who's gonna come out on top." It's been Affirmed on top in the first two jewels of the Triple Crown and as years go by, people don't remember who finished second. Cauthen was asked. "Do you think if you rode Alydar, you could beat Affirmed?" "I don't want to answer that," Cauthen said, then after a pause said, "I have to say Jorge Velasquez rode that horse beautifully." It was perhaps the only question that See AFFIRMED, Page 2 :47.78 :47.48 .47.52 :47.58 "I was waiting for Alydar the whole race," said Cauthen.

"He (Jorge Velasquez) set his horse down at the head of the lane. I set mine down, too, and we beat him." Affirmed beat his arch rival by a neck to add a triumph in the Preakness to his victory in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago. "I'VE CALLED two," said trainer Laz Barrera, who was confident before both the Derby and Preakness that Affirmed would win. "Now there is one to go." That one is the l'j-mile Belmont Stakes, the final race of the Triple Crown, June 10 at Belmont Park. "I was gonna let Believe It set the pace, but nobody was doing anything," said Cauthen.

"Track Reward was in front (after the first quarter-mile) and he was coming out so I decided to go ahead and set him on the fence." Affirmed took the lead and kept it, fighting off Alydar in a stretch duel that had the record Pimlico crowd of 81.261 cheering wildly. "I saw him (Alydar) at the three-eighths pole," said Cauthen. "He was outside a horse or two." Alydar was sixth after the first half-mile, back of Affirmed. He had been 17 lengths off the lead at one point in the l'-mile Kentucky Derby. BEFORE THE RACE, Alydar's trainer John Veitch said: "We can't be that far back this time.

We have to be very close turning for home." Alydar was very close turning for home and the race was on. Down the stretch they came, with both jockeys urging their mounts on and Affirmed was equal to the challenge. Affirmed ran the final three-sixteenths of a mile in a sizzling 18 1-5 seconds, tying he fastest final three-sixteenths in the 103-year history of the race. He crossed the finish in 1 54 2-5 to tie 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat and last year's Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew for the second fastest Preakness ever. Canonero II set the record of 1:54 in 1971.

"I was where I wanted to be," said a disappointed Velasquez. "I was right with him at the head of the stretch, but he wouldn't be passed. My horse ran a fine race, we tried, but. The victory got Cauthen off the hook with trainer Laz Barrera who was upset with the 18-year-old jockey because he hadn't contacted the trainer until just before the race. Cauthen said he arrived in Baltimore from New York Saturday morning.

BARRERA TALKED TO Cauthen in the saddling area and told him: "If the pace is slow, go with the horse. Don't fight it." Totals 3:04.94 194.658 Totals 3:10.36 189.115 500 'Recording Session9 Successful For Mears si--- Rick Mears, a handsome young man with a California tan who looks like he came off the cover of a Beach Boys' album, cut a record Saturday that makes "Little Deuce Coupe" sound like a waltz. In only his recording session at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Mears emerged with the third fastest time ever turned in, the quickest rookie run in 62 years and the outside slot of the front row for his first Indianapolis 500. His 4-lap average of 200.078 miles an hour earned him a thumbs up from owner Roger Penske, a handshake from his father, Bill, and some instant respect from the 120,000 speed freaks at the Speedway. And it also gave the 26-year-old phenom one more reason to pinch himself and make sure he isn't dreaming.

"EVERYTHING HAS happened so quickly I've really never had a chance to think much about it," admitted Mears following hii superlative performance. What's happened is that an off-road racer who spent many summers eating dust is on the threshhold of a full-course meal ticket in the big leagues of auto racing. Two years he was bouncing around Baja in a sprint buggy and listening to the 500 on the radio. "I never dreamed I'd ever get here," replied Rick. "I always thought this place was out of my league." After spending some successful years IQ the desert chass and Pike's Peak climbs, Mears got an invite to drive Bill Simpson's Eagle at Ontario In 1976.

He debuted with an eighth and followed that up with ninths at Texas and Phoenix. Then last season he started out slow with Art Sugai's old Eagle and finished fast with Teddy Yip's McLaren. Last fall, during a motorcycle excursion at Wally Dallenbach's place in Colorado, Penske asked Rick about his '78 plans. "That in itself was flattering," he recalled. SO THE CONTRACT was signed.

Mears would drive in the three 500s and any of the shows Mario Andretti couldn't make because of his Formula One schedule. "I figured being third on this team was better than being first on most," was his assessment. Following a fifth In the Phoenix he became a practice driver at Texas -and Trenton. He'd hot-lapped at 200-plus at Ontario, but had to turn his seat over to Sneva, whose machine had lost an engine. Then it was on to Indy where his initial attempt of a year ago had been plagued by mechanical failures.

Last week in practice, he traveled 201.703 and established himself as a definite pole threat. And with the impressive speed came the pressure to duplicate his feat on the day it counted. "I've always been fairly good at hand- A See Mears Page 2 sports Track Title Page 1 1 Big Fish 15 Golf Scene 14 Jim Murray 14 Lines Shots 15 KratZCrt Moves NL Baseball 5 Into 2d Place Page 14 Scoreboard 16 4 fa (AP Pllttt) A.J. FOYT GLUMLY PONDERS VALVE SITUATION Four-Time 500 Winner Waved Off First Attempt.