The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 13

The Indianapolis Star Monday, Apr? 6, 1938 00 NBA 2 A major achievement Gil Morgan wins the first major of the Senior PGA Tour season, passing Tom Wargo in the final round at The Tradition. Page 4. AUTO RACING 3 HOCKEY 5 BASEBALL 6 SCOREBOARD 7 InMJne: 624-4636 Online: www.starnews.com (ft fc4. I 1 1 II JEV 1 1 -9 anardi steals another unlikely win CART's defending champion slips by leader Herta to take control of the last two laps at Long Beach. "4V ar-.

i A ft third race of the 1998 FedEx Championship with a drive that was equal parts lucky, spirited and stunning. After falling a lap behind early, the unrelenting 31 -year-old Italian staged an amazing comeback to win this street fight for the second straight year. Starting 11th in the Target ReynardHondaFirestone, Zanardi only led two laps the last two and beat Franchitti to the checkered flag by 2.917 seconds. "To be honest with you, I didn't think it would be possible to win to day," said Zanardi, referring to an early collision that bent his steering arm. I thought maybe a top five if we got lucky and I drove as though every car was in my way.

"But to win was incredible. I didn't think we could ever repeat our Cleveland performance." Zanardi's reference was to the '97 Cleveland race in which he overcame a penalty and 24 spots to win. But this triumph, his ninth since coming to CART in 1996, was even more unlike- See ZANARDI Page 3 Bryan Herta and Dario Franchitti. Neither could take their eyes off him. And, as Zanardi climbed halfway out of the cockpit and pumped his fist following another improbable and exciting victory, just about everybody in the crowd of 87,000 was standing and cheering the defending champion in Championship Auto Racing Teams.

In a style that's become his trademark, Zanardi stole the show and the By Robin Miller STAFF WRITER LONG BEACH, Calif. On Lap 72 of Sunday's 24th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Alex Zanardl pitted under the green flag and went back out in 10th place. Nobody paid attention. With seven laps left in the 105-lap event, Zanardi had flashed into third and was within 2 seconds of leaders -r L- 6F flJH -t ItA Guvfl- 1 4 2-1 More bad luck snatches win from de Ferran 7 Staff Photo Matt Kryger HERE I COME: Pacer swing player Jalen Rose heads for the hoop against Milwaukee's Armon Gilliam in second-period play. Robin Miller -V i LONG BEACH, Calif.

On a gorgeous California afternoon, there were few clouds in the sky. But a black one managed to find Gil de tl 1 i Indiana's win over the Bucks, its 52nd of the year, is not exactly of playoff caliber, coach Bird says. ft 1 Ferran. Again. COMMENTARY For the third consecutive year, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was de Ferran's to lose.

And he did. Fighting a faulty gearbox but still leading on the 93rd of 105 laps, the 30-year-old Brazilian was hanging on to first place and some hope that his bad luck here was about to end. Instead, what ended was the geartrain and another excellent effort from Derrick Walker's sna-kebit driver. While Alex Zanardi was spraying champagne, de Ferran was licking his wounds after going from victory lane to 20th place. "The curse of Long Beach; it got me again," said de Ferran, who lost second gear midway through the race before the gearbox on his Valvoline Reynard-HondaGoodyear exploded.

Nobody in this nerve-rattling arena handles disappointment with more dignity and class than de Ferran. Of course, he's had plenty of practice. In 1996, he was ahead of the pack with two laps left when a turbocharger hose worked loose, the power dropped and four cars See MILLER Page 3 By Mark Montieth STAFF WRITER Mark Jackson's shooting touch might be off, but his quarterbacking skills remain sharp. 4 Sunday afternoon, that was all he needed lead the Indiana Pacers to a fortunate and impbr tant 93-92 victory over twice-fooled Milwaukee a Market Square Arena. (i i -k; The Pacers (52- tied their NBA Milwaukee 92 Pacers 93 Next game: vs.

Cleveland, 7 p.m. Tuesday; regular-season record for victories, and are one game back of Miami for second place in the Eastern Confer A Associated Press HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW? Alex Zanardi, the defending Championship Auto Racing Teams champ, celebrates with teammates after his late dash around Bryan Herta earns him a race victory. Winner Martin has no beef with track ence playoff race. But their more immediate 'concern is Tuesday's home game against their likely first-round playoff opponent, Cleveland. Pacers coach Larry Bird admitted afterward his team had dodged a bullet one fired by Bucks forward Michael Curry, to be exact.

"I don't know," Bird said. "It's mind-boggling to me. I really thought they'd come out and play today, but they didn't. It's discouraging to play like his heading into the playoffs. Hopefully 'we can pick it up and play better." Indiana trailed by 11 points in quarter and by seven midway through the fourth to the happy-go-lucky Bucks, who are on the brink of mathematical elimination from the playoffs and were riding a three-game road winning streak.

But Jackson, who was suffering through a 2-of-ll shooting performance that was frighten-ingly reminiscent of Friday's 0-of-ll outing rat Charlotte, found a way to get it over the hump. With the game tied at 88, Jackson approached Bird on the sideline during a dead ball and offered a suggestion. He wanted to back in and post up his defender, Terrell Brandon, to draw the attention of Milwaukee's defense. And he wanted converted center Antonio Davis to line up wide, near the 3-point line, to spread out the arid perhaps draw an illegal alignment. See PACERS Page 2 Texas 500 champion refuses to join the critics of the bumpy, slick lV2-mile oval.

Associated Press FORT WORTH, Texas Problems with the Texas Motor Speedway? Not for Mark Martin or his car's owner, Jack Roush. Martin won the Winston Cup Texas 500 on Sunday, making him a two-time champion at the year-old track and giving Roush his third title in four races here. With so much success in such get wet even when it's not raining and a surface that drivers say is too slick to handle side-by-side racing. "It's a very difficult track, but there weren't any problems with dirt or with water or this or that," Martin said. "I'm tired of all the racetrack bashing." Martin tried giving the track some positive publicity, noting that there was a crowd of roughly 200,000.

The race was also one of the most lucrative of the year, paying more than $4 million, including $356,850 to Martin. See MARTIN Page 3 little time, it's no wonder neither was interested in Joining the chorus of critics taking shots at the 1 '2-mile oval. "Whenever we get a new track like this that has different characteristics, there is some anxiety, but we have positive feelings for it," Roush said. "Over time, this track will be fondly thought of for its uniqueness the same as people feel anxious about it today for its uniqueness." Some of the unique things about the track are a fourth turn that has a bump in the middle and is considered dangerously tight at the exit, a first turn that tends to Associated Press STUNTMEN: John Andretti (right) and Rick Mast elude the flames that engulf their cars following a 10-car crash at the Texas 500. Kicker To Fixer: Too Bad To Be True; Kevin Pendergast's need for money leads to a federal indictment Was it a home run, or wasn't it? Frank Thomas' mammoth shot at Troplcana Field that was ruled a home run is creating a stir over the ground rules for the park which houses the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Page 6. By Rick Morrissey CHICAGO TRIBUNE OS OLIVOS, Calif. Two -vwjjjr jf i weeks ago, Kevin Pendergast I stoodinfrontofthefacultyand 1 I 2 are your shoulders He said, 'They feel a little bit He has taken a leave of absence from his job at Dunn, stunning the high school, which sits in the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley wine country in Southern California. With his announcement, he had installed an early warning system for the school and then slipped away and waited for the siren to sound for the rest of the country. For the better part of 10 days, the sporting world has shaken its collective head at the sheer unbe-lievability of the whole situation.

If this can happen at brainy Northwestern, the most repeated phrase of the month went, it can happen anywhere. But there is a corollary to that: If Kevin Pendergast can get involved in something like this, maybe anyone can. See PENDERGAST Page 5 Inside: Think stories such as this are rare? Someone who should know, a veteran bookmaker, begs to differ. Page 5. were many of the 30 teachers and staff members.

The initial reaction at the high school was the same as the lingering reaction: It can't be true. Not our Kevin Pendergast. Not our brilliant math teacher. Not our former All-American soccer player. Not our friend.

Yes, he told them, it was all true. He had done it, and he was sorry. "It was stunning," said dean of students Bob Anderson, who has known Pendergast for 17 years. "It reflected everything he stands for. "I was sitting there with sweaty palms and a nauseated feeling.

Then I looked around the room at the ajiults and saw the reaction. I asked Kevin later in the day, 'How staff of the Dunn School, a boarding school unaccustomed to finding itself nose-td-nose with the seamier details of life. The former Notre Dame kicker, respected by students and coworkers alike, had some seamy details to share. In a few days, he told the gathering, he would be indicted on charges that he paid some Northwestern basketball players to manipulate the outcome of three games during the 1994-95 season. He told his peers he bet money on those games and told them he faces possible prison time.

Most of what they would read and hear, offensive as it might be to their sensibilities, was true, he said. M3y the time he was finished, Pendergast was sobbing, and so Baltimore 6 Detroit 3 Minnesota 10 Kansas City 1 Cleveland 6 Anaheim 4 N.Y. Yankees 9 bakland 7 Boston 10 Seattie 5 Milwaukee 5 Florida 2 Philadelphia 2 Atlanta 1 Los Angeles 1 Cincinnati 0 N.Y. Mets 0 San Diego 8 St. Louis 7 Chicago Cubs 7 Montreal 2 Houston 6 Colorado 2 Arizona 3 San Francisco 2 IHL Fort Wayne 4 Ice 1 NBA Pacers 93 Milwaukee 92 Washington 88 Orlando 85 LA.Ukers'"5' 103 Cleveland 94 LA.CIippers 93 Minnesota 97 Atlanta 96 Chicago WHoton 94 Phiiadeip "I Utah 99 Vancouver 93 Boston 102 NewYork 92 Sacramento 105 Daiias 99 Seattle 87 Denver 83 MAJOR LEAGUES Texas 6 Toronto 5 Tampa Bay 5 Chicago White SoxO Associated Press GOING TOO FAR OVER THE LINE: Kevin Pendergast, a former Notre Dame had evfjything goinrjfor but he wanted more..