The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 28

(Gootityeai5 irEmo MMla9 tack mag mm mum second round of antibotics and was able to run on I Carmel resident says his fan mail still dwells on 1992 when he charged from last to nearly win race. Scott Gccdyear Born: Dec. 20, 1959, in Toronto. Residence: Carmel, Ind. Family: Wife, Leslie; sons, Christopher, Michael; daughter, Hayley.

Hobbies: Snowmobiling, snow skiing and horseback riding. Career Starting seventh Indy 500. Finished third in his IRL debut at Orlando, in January. Two Indy-car victories came in Michigan 500 in '92 and '94. Finished fifth in '92 PPG point standings.

Won first two career poles at Phoenix and Vancouver in '93. Named Most Improved Driver by his peers in '90 and '92. By Mark Ambrogi STAFF WRITER Ive years ago, Scott Goodyear nearly pulled off the first worst-to-flrst finish in Indianapolis 500 history. The 33rd qualifier finished .043 of a sec Carburetlon Day. It was his first action since May 12 and 13.

With such little time to prepare, Goodyear isn't sure what to expect on race day. "There's a lot of unknowns," he said. "There's some good teams up and down pit row. Almost everybody has the Oldsmoblle Aurora engine. We feel comfortable with Roush building ours, but how will it turn out for the other engine builders? Is there going to be failures? Is everybody going to complete the race?" Goodyear Is Just glad to be in this race.

During the 1996 Indy 500, he worked on an ESPN broadcast crew that did the competing U.S. 500 in Brooklyn Mich. He suffered a hairline fracture in his lower back in an accident in Brazil the previous March. Had he not been sidelined, he might have run in the Indy 500 for Walker Racing. He returned to action as a co-driver in LeMans' 24 hour race, finishing third for the Porsche Factory Team.

His first Indy-car race after the accident was at Toronto in July. Goodyear will run the rest of the IRL schedule with Treadway. He isn't worried about next year's plan until after today's race. "You're so consumed by this race. I know I always am," he said.

"I'm not thinking about anything else right now." Even though Goodyear wishes his colleagues from CART were Joining him, lady is where he wants to be. "I don't think it would matter if we were running garden tractors around here. It'd be a major race," he said. Staff Photo Mike Fender LOOKING AHEAD: Scott Goodyear hopes his next historical run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be a victory. ond behind Al Unser Jr.

The photo finish thrust Goodyear Into the spotlight in his third 500. "Indianapolis can make a driver a hero," he said. "I'm not so sure that I would have gotten any more media out of it if I had won it. It still goes on today. Fifty percent of the fan mail I receive today, It doesn't matter where it is from in the world, is usually about that finish." In 1995, Goodyear had another close encounter with victory lane.

He qualified third and led 42 laps in his Honda-powered engine. He was leading the race when he was black flagged because officials determined he passed the pace car on a Lap 191 restart. He ended up 14th and the memory still doesn't sit well. "Everybody sent me notes and faxes, saying It wasn't right, shouldn't have been that way, blah-blah-blah," he said. "It's history.

I guess." Goodyear doesn't dwell on that misfortune. He is Just pleased to be part of the Speedway lore. "You think about people who have come here for so many years and never even qualified in the top 10 or finished In the top 10," he said. "I was here only among other things. "I called it 'deja vu Every time we went out something happened, electrical, weird things," said Goodyear, who was bumped In '92 and entered the race in a car qualified by Mike Groff.

On the day before opening day of qualifications this month, his crew borrowed information from Treadway Racing teammate Arie Luyendyk's set-up. Goodyear qualified with a four-lap mark of 215.811 mph, slowing down on the fourth lap because the car was pushing. The Carmel resident came down with a case of strep throat on May 14. On May 15, daughter Hayley was born. Goodyear's wife, Leslie, and Hayley were the only family members not to get strep throat.

Sons Michael and Christopher both got it. Goodyear began regaining his strength after the for my third year and making a mark at the Speedway." The 37-year-old Canadian hopes to add to that mark today as he starts in the middle of the second row in his NortelSprint PCS ForceAuroraFirestone. Goodyear arrived at the Speedway this month believing he had a shot at the pole. However, his first week was a wash-out because of engine difficulties, New track, racy weekend officially off and running Robin Miller IWWW 2 races left for Moore to break age record 22-year-old driver trying to break mark for youngest winner at a CART-run event. MADISON, 111.

It didn't have the ambience, tradition and humanity of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But it did have a lot of the talent, teams and tenacity that should be at Indy today. or ine secona consecutive year, If Championship Auto Racing Teams i' i 1 .1... 'fl it Associated Press ON TRACK: Cars make the rounds during the inaugural race at Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis.

Tough decision nets 2nd-place finish 13U luiiipcuug ii i uic inuianapuiio 500. But CART'S debut Saturday at Gateway International Raceway may have somewhat soothed the drivers' despair at missing May's magic day. The inaugural Motorola 300 wasn't the greatest race ever, but it was a good way to start motorsports' biggest weekend and a fast way to bring back the paying customers. A packed house of surprisingly savvy and enthusi- astic fans was treated to a competitive show with a frenetic finish in between rain and 88 laps of caution. Afterward, it was difficult to tell who was happier: winner Paul Tracy, runner-up Patrick Carpentier, promoter Chris Pook or the 48,500 people roaring for more.

"We were very confident of the reception here if we gave them a good product, and I think we did," said Pook, who has built a street race in Long Beach, into one of auto racing's top draws. this track was barely finished and that light rain hung around, I think things went pretty well. Those people obviously enjoyed themselves, and that's the key. They didn't sit down the last 20 laps and they're quite knowledgeable." Thanks to a pair of Canadians, CART's seventh stop on the PPG series will be remembered for Its finish. With 25 laps left, the always-exciting Tracy was fifth and Carpentier was out In front and living up to his great expectations.

High, low and teetering on the edge of adhesion, Paul proceeded to gobble up Jimmy Vasser, Gil de Ferran and Alex Zanardi like PacMan. With two laps left, he shoved his Marlboro Penske-MercedesGoodyear Inside his younger countryman and took his third consecutive checkered flag. Often and deservedly denounced for not thinking as fast as he can drive, Tracy was brilliant all afternoon in coming from a lap down. "That's what short-track racing is all about," said Tracy, whose divorce and new girlfriend seem to have a positive influence on his driving. "I put the knife in my teeth and went for it, and it's great to hear these people respond." Considering the 1 oval has had only 20 days to cure and it looked like a one-groove special, the surface proved extremely racy.

"It reminds me of Phoenix," said Greg Moore, who looked to be Tracy's equal until a flat tire robbed him of any chance at his Initial victory. "You've got to get low in Turns 1-2, but you can pass on the outside In 3-4. It's quick and It's fun." The whole show looked like what you would expect out of the best open-vheeled series in America. After last year's disastrous crash at the U.S. 500 and two amateur attempts at taking the green in earlier 1997 races, CART finally got the start right.

"We got a clear message from Wally (Dallenbach, the chief steward) he wanted a clean start," said Tracy, breaking into a grin. Pook, whose Long Beach event is CART's largest production, wisely brought his winning formula to the Midwest. He had announcer Bruce Flanders keeping the fans entertained and the rest of his staff handling the nuts and bolts of a race that he figures will seat in the future. He's got a NASCAR Busch race and NHRA show on the schedule for '97, but he'd like to have a different CART date. ''Don't get me wrong.

We're very happy with what happened today, but I'd be happier if all these guys By Curt Cavin STAFF WRITER MADISON, 111. Even though Greg Moore is 22 years old, he is quickly running out of time. Once believed to be a lock to break Al Unser age record for winning a Championship Auto CART NOTEBOOK Racing Teams event, Moore has two races left to accomplish it. Unser was 22 years, 1 month and 29 days old when he won at Portland in 1984. Coincidentally, Moore will reach that age a few days before CART returns to Portland, next month.

That leaves Milwaukee and Detroit, the series' next two races, for Moore to break the mark. Not achieving it Saturday In the Motorola 300 at Gateway International Raceway hurt the Canadian. He gave a stellar performance. "I'm extremely disappointed and this outcome is most frustrating," the driver of the Player'sln-deck ReynardMercedes said after finishing 13th. A cut tire on Lap 203 removed him from contention.

"We had the car to win. Paul (Tracy, the winner) and I were very fast and the car was solid throughout." A hot pair Teammates Bobby Rahal and Bryan Herta each dropped out with fire on board their Reynard-Fords. Rahal suffered minor arm burns when the fuel line came loose, igniting the cowling. Herta was uninjured when an electrical fire broke out by his knees. "Am I on fire?" Herta screamed on the radio to his crew, two laps before he bailed out.

The crew said no. Notes Several drivers were miffed by a CART mistake on Lap 122. The pits were Inadvertently closed to Moore, Jimmy Vasser, Alex Zanardi, Scott Pruett and Mark Blun-dell, who were allowed to return to their pre-pit stop positions. Paul Tracy now leads the CART standings 85-67 over second-place Zanardi. Tracy's win was the 99th overall for owner Roger Penske Lee Bentham won the Indy Lights race, his first.

By Robin Miller STAFF WRITER MADISON, 111. was the toughest request Tony Bettenhausen ever had to make as a car owner. His resplendent rookie, Patrick Carpentier, owned a comfortable lead as Saturday's Motorola 300 wound down. Team Bettenhausen's first victory was in sight and the large Alu-max contingent cheered every lap. But Bettenhausen had his eye on the computer.

And it said if Carpentier didn't slow down, his Alumax '97 ReynardMercedes would run out of fuel. "Tony was yelling at me to slow down and conserye fuel because we needed the points. I was yelling, 'No way, Tony, we're up front and we're going to said the 25-year-old Canadian. "I shifted into sixth gear and he said, 'Good Then I went back into fifth (gear) and he wasn't happy. So I changed the fuel settings and slowed down." With 10 laps left, it looked like Carpentier was a sure winner.

But in the face of Paul Tracy's charge to victory, it wasn't to be. "Tony kept saying, 'He's coming, he's and I kept saying, 'I see him Carpentier said. "I saw him in my mirrors and then a few laps later he was alongside me. "But I'm not disappointed, because before that last yellow I never thought we would have a chance for the podium." On the next-to-last caution, the former Toyota Atlantic champion pitted, hoping to get track position. That's exactly what happened when the rest of the lead pack pitted a few laps later.

And when Darlo Franchitti stopped on Lap 2 10, Carpentier assumed command. "Two more gallons of fuel two more gallons and the kid wins it." Bet- Umm iiiir-ri-ffi-g i Associated Press ROOKIE REWARDS: Patrick Carpentier poses with his second-place trophy after he was forced to slow down near the end to conserve fuel. Paul Tracy passed him to take the checkered flag. spot to challenge. It looked like he grazed the Turn 2 wall, but he said it was just like his day close but "Tony yelled on the radio, 'You hit the and I yelled back, 'No I he laughed.

"I just missed it." The wall and a victory. tenhausen said. "We did the right thing bringing him in earlier and we had to back him down. "Believe me, it was the hardest thing I've ever done, but it was a good result for our team and our sponsor." Starting fifth, Carpentier ran in the top five early. He got out of sequence on his first pit stop and dropped to 17th, but then persevered to be in the right were running at Indy next Memorial Day weekend," Pook said.

and the Indy Racing League so these guys can go back to Indianapolis where they belong." PenskeMercedes cars in Turns 1 and 2, while he and de Ferran were side by side throughout Turns 3 and 4, Tracy's favorite end of the track. "He had two wheels locked in my sldepod," Tracy said of de Ferran. "This place is quick and you really have to trust a guy." Tracy used a fast run off Turn 4 to slingshot past Carpentier at the end of the front straightaway. Carpentier also had to contend with a "We got hung out," said Tracy, who won his 13th Indy-car race by 2.4 seconds. "Once we got stuck we had to stick to (a different) strategy." Tracy stretched the initial fuel run to 65 laps and made one fewer stop than his rivals.

He also maintained his aggressive nature, using low-line and high-line passes with equal regularity. He and Unser had a virtual drag race of identically prepared Marlboro TRACY Continued from Page 1 a coffee cup," the crew said. With nine cautions, the event required more decision-making than usual. Tracy and pole-sitter riRaul Boesel were the only front-runners not to pit on Lap 32, a decision Tracy called a mistake. Whei he later pitted under green, he lost a lao.

lapped car, but Tracy said the rookie "was fair" with his line. De Ferran came from 15th to finish third in the ValvolineCum-mins ReynardHonda. He was followed by Alex Zanardi and Jimmy Vasser in similar Target Reynard-Hondas. Goodyear tires swept the first three places. Michael Andretti struggled with a loose car but was in front when the leaders pitted on jap 123.

Because the rain had Jusi started, exploded In a ball of fire, the front end snapped back into the wall. "The brake pedal went to the floor and I was carrying too much speed into the corner," said Pruett, who was shaken but not injured. "I took a big hit. It felt like someone jumped on my chest." Boesel led 41 laps but gave away five midway through when his engine briefly quit. He finislfd 14th.

Andretti opted to forego fuel and keep the lead, hoping the event would be shortened by the inclement weather. He led 66 laps but was passed by Vasser nine laps after the green flag returned. "I was holding on for dear life," he said. Pruett survived the day's hardest hit, a wicked rear-entry incident in Turn 2. The Brahma ReynardFord bobbled briefly and swapped ends.

After the gearbox.