The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 28

-SATURDAY, MAY 12, 1979 PAGE 28- THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR USAC HOARD VOTE IS UXAXMOUS Dick Kin nation Rejected not done the breakaway faction any good at all in the battle or public relations acceptance. BUT THAT IS only half the issue, the speculation went. By backing King in his time of trouble, it was suggested that he now has been strengthened in his attempt to work out a compromise with CART. King has been involved in negotiatinas to close the split for some time. But in the past he's been able to act only as a representative of the USAC board Whatever proposals that were presented, he still had to take back to the board for vote.

By backing him now, it was suggest ed, the board could, in effect, be handing him virtual carte blanche to settle the dispute on the best terms possible. Only time will tell on that one, though DAVE OVERPECK II took less than five minutes. In fact, there probably was no need for it to take more than 30 seconds. But it was about five minutes that Dick King stood outside the United States Auto Club hospitality room at the Speedway while the USAC board of directors voted whether or not to accept his resignation as president To the surprise of absolutely no one. King's offer tendered after it became public knowledge that he had served nine months in a New York reformatory following a larceny conviction 22 years ago was unanimously rejected.

Seventeen of the 21 board members were present and voting. The word came when 500-Mile Race Chief Steward Tom Binford, a former KING SPOKE BRIEFLY with the press following the vote. "I'd had indications of support through the day," he admitted, "but I really didn't know what would happen. It's always gratifying to have people stand up and back you." Long before the vote was taken, speculation already had begun that King could come out of the situation in an even stronger position than before. With the current L'SAC-CART split never more than a millimeter away from mnst people's lips, it was suggested this might even strengthen his hand in trying to break the impasse.

Though it has been vehemently denied, it is generally presumed that it was a CART member who pushed the issue, which has been known to a select number of L'SAC officials for some time. It has The vote actually was a foregone conclusion to everybody, except maybe King. And he really knew how the vote was going to go. Almost as soon as the word got around about the incident in his past and his intention to submit his resignation to the board, support began rallying to him Thursday. BINFORD, POSSIBLY the most influential single voice in American racing, had said Thursday night, "If they accept Dick's resignation, they can accept mine right behind it." Friday night he re-affirmed that and added, "If it had come to that, I don't think you'd have had a board to vote on it." Earlier Friday, Gary Bettenhausen, the drivers' representative on the board, called a meeting of his constituents to ask them how they wanted him to vote on King's resignation.

Putting them on the spot, he asked them to sign half a sheet of paper marked "go" on one side and "stay" on the other. Thirty-eight drivers, including virtually every top driver from both L'SAC and CART, signed the "stay" half. One, Gordon Johncock, signed the "go." Another, Larry Cannon, refused to sign either. Binford seemed to express the opinion of most when he said, "Personally, I think the whole thing is a tempest in a teapot. What happened 22 years ago has no bearing on what Dick King has done for L'SAC.

I think everybody was in agreement that he has done a fine job and we want him to continue. There is no question in our minds as to his integrity." L'SAC president himself, came smiling to the door and said to King, "Come on back in here. "It was unanimous. Congratulations." IN THE BRIEF interim. King had stood outside talking with members t)f the media, not a few of whom were wearing "I'm A Dick King Fan" buttons produced overnight by L'SAC car owner-promoter Sherman Armstrong.

Flipping at one of the badges. King said, "I feel like I'm in the middle of a three-ring circus." Actually, King came out of the emotionally spending experience stronger than he entered. The board also confirmed him as its chairman, leaving him holding more reins of power in the organization than anybody in L'SAC's 24-year history. ANDY HAS PLAN TO END 'MESS' Would Set Energy Limit 4. RASS 1 Andy Granatelli was back at the Speedway Friday, saying he'd love to be back racing but the current mess between CART and L'SAC makes it impossible.

And as ever, Andy's got an answer to end the mess. But simply, he proposes to end all the wrangling over rules by sacking all that now exist and starting over with a new formula. And Andy's got a formula all ready to go. IN FACT, IT'S A formula that he's pushed at various different times over the last 10 years. Essentially, Granatel-li's plan would eliminate all restrictions on engines.

Instead, he would restrict the amount of energy a car could use to race a given distance. Note the restriction is on amount of energy not type of fuel. Any fuel "even vodka, if you want" could be used. But a car would be restricted to just so many British Thermal Units (BTL's) of energy for a given distance. As an example, methanol produces 9.500 BTL's per gallon while gasoline produces 19,350.

Under current USAC rules, cars arc restricted to 280 gallons of methanol for 500 miles. Using that formula, a car using gasoline would be restricted to slightly less than 140 using less fuel, you make Detroit build those cars." And Granatelli is convinced that the engineering know-how is available in racing to produce an engine and fuel combination that would save 20 percent on current consumption. Granatelli has asked that his program be presented to the L'SAC board for consideration. Based on the usual attention Granatelli's suggestions get from that body, he piobably won't hold his breath waiting for an affirmative decision. LOCAL ARTIST Ron Burton was honored Friday night at the dedication ceremony of the "Miller Wall of Fame" at the Speedway museum.

The display of Burton's work covers a 50-foot section of wall in the Hall of FMAe where many of the museum's historical cars are on display. The eight pictures in the display will be augmented in later years. The Miller Brewing Company, sponsors of the wall, have commissioned Burton to paint annually a new oil capturing the competitive spirit and moment of glory found each year in the 500-Mile Race, Burton's work is familiar to race fans. He's specialized in racing for more than Only Granatelli would make the restrictions a lot more severe. He didn't mention any given figures that he had in mind and indicated he didn't think it would make any difference.

"If you only gave them (the racers) 10 gallons of unleaded gasoline to run 500 miles, you'd have cars here to race," he said. "They'd build a car to meet the formula GRANATELLI ISN'T suggesting anything that severe. "You'd have to come up with a compromise between economy and speed in the range you want." he said. Granatelli said his plan would again make a proving ground of the Speedway instead of "guys running around in a circle at 200 miles an hour." He said it would make a real contribution to solving the "world-wide energy shortage. If you had cars out here winning races and ANDY GRANATELLI a decade.

His work appears in many places around the city in nrigirAl or reprints. His brother Larry is chief mechanic on Billy Engelhart's car this month. INDIANAPOLIS FANS will get their first look at L'SAC's mini-Indy cars May 26. The Volkswagon-powered machines are part of a "Day Before The 500" doubleheader at Indianapolis Raceway Park which also will feature the USAC midgets. KINSER LIKES KING Sheldon Kinser indicates his support for USAC President and Chairman of the Board Dick King during Friday's draw for positions for today's first round of qualification runs at the Speedway.

(Star Photo By Jeff Atteberry) Lack Of Boost Not Changing Rutherford "Baloney But he doesn't go that far. HE DOES SAY: "The equation really hasn't changed that much. It just applies 10 miles an hour slower. "I'm really not changing my driving pattern any The loss of power hasn't changed that. But it has changed the setup of the car quite a bit.

"Before, you tried to get the car tacked down to the race track. Now the key is getting the car freed up. You can't sacrifice the horsepower drag to tie the car down the way you could before. So now we're running less wing (angle), smaller wings and thinner wings. "Before, we were trying to hold the car down on the track but with less power we want to free it up so it doesn't bog down from too much holding power." That would seem to indicate that the compromise to be made now is to give up a little in the way of tractive force and turn speed to get higher straightaway speed, but Rutherford says that really isn't the case.

"YOU'RE STILL looking for all you can get anyplace you can find it," he says "You still want as much as you get on the straightaway and you still want as much as you can get through the turns. If you don't get down the straightaway you can't get through the turas fast. And if you don't get off the turas you're not going to get down the straightaway. "So, no, really it hasn't changed." Nor does Rutherford think the reduction in horsepower has changed the driver-car ratio, at all. "I've always said that I've never seen a race car go as fast by itself as it does with a driver," said the man whose Speedway career began with roadsters in roughly 5 percent.

That has led some people to express (1) surprise, andor (2) the belief that some folks are poking more than 50 inches of pressure through the turbocharger Rutherford doesn't belong to either school of thought "The speed really doesn't surprise me that much," he said "I just think it speaks for the ingenuity of the teams. They've found out how to go almost as fast with less horsepower." BASICALLY, though, the speeds are being turned with cars that are designed to go faster than the turbocharger pressure limits now permit. That means the cars of today really aren't built for the job they are asked to do. "If they stick with this," says Rutherford, "it's going to result in a whole new race car." Some have said that it may even mean the end of the wing, which has By DAVE OVERPECK You hear a lot of things around the Speedway about how the reduction of turbocharger pressure has changed matters in many ways this year Among the reports The loss of power has changed the way you drive the race track The lack of power makes it tough to get the car up to the wall coming out of the turn the fastest way around in recent years The lack of power, and the lowering of wing angle as a result, means it's become more of a driver's race and less of a car's race. The speeds being turned simply aren't possible with just 50 inches of manifold pressure on the turbochargers Quoting another well-known American.

Johnny Rutherford could say, 1963 and is now entering its third generation of rear-engine equipment. "By the same token, a driver can't go any faster than the car will take him. "You still gotta have both I've got to have a good car and a good car still has to have a good driver." THE GOOD drivers still can get the car to go up to the wall by its own inclination without having to drive it up there and lose speed in the process. "That has more to do with momentum than horsepower," he said. "If you carry the car into the turn with vigor, it's going to naturally go up to the wall when you come out.

"The key is to get the car set up so you can go flat out around the place." The drop in turbocharger pressure from 78 inches to 50 (for eight-cyclinder overhead-cam engines) represenLs more than a 33 percent slice. But speeds have dropped only about 10 miles an hour become an integral part of every race car. Rutherford doesn't buy that "The wing will stay," he says "It's too much of a stabilizing factor. You can re-design the wing but it won't be eliminated. It still will have a great deal to do with the safety factor at high speed So you might say "the more things change, the more they remain the same Rutherford wouldn't disagree with you.

I "The priorities, haven't changed a bit," he said "I'm driving just as hard to go 190 this year as I did to go 200 a yej)r ago, but not any harder. "It's still very hard to go quick anywhere. If the car will only go lfifl miles an hour, then you've got to work hard at it to get it to go that fast The top speed doesn't mean that much. You still have to work to get the maximum out of it Nothing is easy." A Tiiumll i I 1 Tim ft iillni i hi i i ilfTI MB ft Miii. ft OPEN BOWLING -VRY MITE GIANT TENT SALE Spurs Rout Bullets, Grab 3-1 Series Lead SUMMER LG.

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