The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 25

SUNDAY, JULY 24, 1994 The Indianapolis Star Brwkyard qualifying will be test of timing John Andretti gets lift with another team's gift Robin Millet jf Talladega, Ala. 3 Thpr rnnlH hp 1 A- ft i I 1 3 as many as 80 cars attempt to qualify for the Inaugural Brickyard 400 next month and that's got a DieHard 5Q0 TOP QUALIFIERS At Talladega, Ala. 1. Dale Earnhardt 193.470 mph 2. Jimmy Spencer 193.006 3.

LoyAllenJr 192.765 4. Ken Schrader 192.370 5. Ernie Irvan 192.328 6. Mark Martin 191.815. 7.

ToddBodine 191.524 8. Sterling Martin 191.470 9. Michael Waltrip 190.371 10. WallyDallenbach Jr. 191248 Earnhardt-tested motor helps gain success in qualifying for DieHard 500.

By Curt Cavin STAR STAFF WRITER Talladega, Ala. There sat John Andretti, soaked in sweat at the rear of a race trailer long on stale, stifling Alabama air. One friendly favor and a quick qualifying lap felt mighty refreshing, though. The Indianapolis native short on financial backing had received support from stock car racing's strongest team, and it felt good. Damn good.

Suit-cooling good. "I tell ya," he said, "it's so exciting to know that they were willing to help. They had nothing to gain, but we would have been going home. They did it out of sportsmanship." Andretti was too slow Friday in qualifying for today's NASCAR Winston Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway, the DieHard 500. His Hagan Racing team could not find speed or assistance.

Then car owner Billy Hagan, who drove in the inaugural event here 25 years ago, found his friend and former competitor, Richard Childress. Childress owns the car of polesltter Dale "I have a feeling you're going to see some good teams go home." In addition to the 50 Winston Cup fulltimers on hand, teams from the Winston West series and ARCA are also entered not to mention the handful of Indy-only efforts for Indy drivers A.J. Foyt, Danny Sullivan, Davy Jones and Geoff Brabham. "I guess one of the most intriguing things will be how many of the not-so-regular Winston Cup competitors will be able to make the field and how competitive they will be," said Darrell Waltrip. Because the competition is so strong and close in Winston Cup, qualifying has become quite an issue.

Already this season, four drivers have won a pole at one track and then missed the show at another. NASCAR provides five provisional starts per driver each year and 22 different cars have already used at least one this season. Bill Elliott is among the three former champions who needed this safety valve to make a show. See MILLER Page 3 y. k' number of Winston Cup regulars concerned about the possible consequences.

Because time trials aren't scheduled to start until 3 p.m. Aug. 4 and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's track surface Is notoriously slow from 1-4 In the afternoon, it's easy to see a late draw being real advantageous. It's also easy to see a few big names missing one of NASCAR's most glorious days. The competition doesn't bother them, but the logistics do.

"Qualifying is going to be interesting and if you slip just a little bit, that will be the difference between making the show or going home," said six-time NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt, the six-time Winston Cup champion and top-to-bottom tough guy on the year-long circuit. Childress offered an Earnhardt-tested Chevrolet motor for little in return. A motor leased for the weekend averages $25,000. "I don't want anything, it's Just a favor," Childress said.

"All I want is a smile when they do good." Saturday, Andretti did. Not only did he earn a tough-to-tackle starting spot in the 42-car field, he was fastest among the See ANDRETTI Page 3 Star Staff Photo Greg Griffo PRIZE OF CHOICE: Ken Schrader holds trophy from Saturday's GN race; daughter Dorothy clutches stuffed animal. Story, page C3. collapse gives a beeban lead -M S-- I 111 in 0,: Associated Press NEW LEADER: Patty Sheehan reacts to birdie putt on No. 18.

Star Staff Photo Ron Ira Steele JUGGLING ACT: South's James Turner (left) tries to get a handle on a punt after a collision with teammate Mike Call. South in trenches eats I wth Second-round leader falls two shots back after a round of 76. By Joe Juliano KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS Lake Orion, Mich. Helen Al-fredsson couldn't understand what was happening why, after two days of record-smashing play in the U.S. Women's Open, she was suffering through her worst golfing nightmare.

At one point in Saturday's third round at Indianwood Golf Country Club, the fiery Swede led by seven strokes. Then the agony started. Fairways narrowed. Holes shrunk. Tree branches sprang out to deflect her ball.

In the amazing sequence, Al-fredsson played the last 11 holes in 8-over par and fell two shots behind, allowing a stunned Patty Sheehan to grab the lead going into today's final round of this suddenly up-for-grabs Women's Open. Sheehan actually trailed by eight shots on the front nine. And even though she carded only two birdies to go with 16 pars in her round of 69, she found herself to be the unexpected front-runner at 7-under 206, thanks to Alfreds-son's collapse on this sunny and breezy day. "It was pretty amazing," said Sheehan, the 1992 Women's Open champion and a member of the LPGA Hall of Fame. "I think I'm a little surprised at this point." Alfredsson, 29, who had broken Open records for 18 holes with a 63 and 36 holes with a 132 the previous two days, looked to be on track for the 54-hole mark, too.

She stood at 13-under for the championship after making a 5-foot putt at No. 7 for the last of three straight birdies. In 43 holes, she had made just one bogey. But shockingly, Alfredsson went into reverse with a double bogey and six bogeys. The double bogey came at the par-3 17th, where she hit her tee shot left and saw her next shot deflect off a branch and Into the rough.

Two of the bogeys came on inexcusable three-putts from 4 feet at No. 9 and from 5 feet at No. 11 and the last on a 4-foot miss at No. 18 that ended a 76. "This is a game you never try to understand," said Alfredsson, who had asked for extra time to "let off steam" before meeting with reporters.

"You just are going to try to play it as good as you can. It was one of those days where I tried to play and it didn't go the way I'd like it to go. "I didn't feel like I lost my composure on tw; golf course. Every shot I took vSL time. It wasn't like I said, '1 don'i 1 always try to U.S.

Women's Open THIRD-ROUND LEADERS Par 35-3671, 6,244 yards Patty Sheehan 66-71-69206 Tammie Green 66-72-69207 H. Alfredsson 6359-76208 Donna Andrews 67-72-70209 Pamela Wright 74-65-71 210 Alicia Dibos 69-68-73210 Pat Bradley 72-69-70211 Laura Davies 68-68-75211 Neumann 69-72-71212 Betsy King 69-71-72212 Judy Dickinson 66-73-73212 Michelle Estill Today on TV: 2:30 p.m., WRTV-6. "The problem was No. 1 (defensive left tackle Bo Barzilaus-kas of Bloomington South), No. 40 (Evansville Harrison linebacker Sean Bennett), No.

2 (North Central cornerback Leonard Taylor) Beck wisely stopped there but could have continued to the point where he would have missed supper. Chatard export Jamel Coleman had his gobbling of yardage. Rocketing through a hole one See SOUTH Page 7 98) and time of possession to name only a few categories. Glaringly absent within the mountain of numbers put up by the South is the play of the offensive and defensive lines, both dominant from beginning to end. "We had a lot of things go wrong today, but there are no excuses.

We Just got beat up front," said Ernie Beck, the North head coach from Class 2A state champion West Lafayette. "There are some things you Just can't do anything about. Three-hour marathon sessions and attempts to withstand the brunt of mammoth-sized young athletes in cleated footwear do have a way of taking a toll, you know. The North All-Stars know. Following Saturday's 17-2 loss to the South at Carmel Stadium, they know all too well.

In evening the overall series at 14-14, the South left sizable imprints everywhere, especially the statistical column where it displayed a firm upper hand in first downs (18-5), total yards (262- Southerners hold big statistics edge in Indiana All-Star game. By Mike Beas STAR STAFF WRITER Carmel, Ind. The 28th Annual Wendy's Indiana All-Star Football Classic was played just up the road from Its traditional home because, quite honestly, the playing surface at North Central High School was silently pleading for a breather. Former Scottsburg coach fights in court to save her reputation give it 100 percent. I think that is why sometimes it is hard when you give 100 percent and end up with a day like this." The key element of Alfredsson's collapse was that it allowed many grateful players a chance to contend for the championship.

When she blrdled No. 7, no one was within six shots of the lead. Now 11 players are within six shots of the lead, plus the leader herself. Tammie Green parlayed a scrambling 69 into second place at 207, one shot ahead of Alfreds-son. Donna Andrews, who tied Alfredsson for second place In last year's Women's Open played at Crooked Stick Golf Club, carded a 70 for 209 and sole possession of fourth.

Scotland's Pamela Wright and Peru's Alicia Dibos shared fifth place at 210. Pat Bradley, who shot a 70, and LPGA champion Laura Davies, who held second W. i id IIW7 AMERICAN LEAGUE Boston 6-3 Seattle Cleveland Tl Chicago 2 Toronto 9 Texas 1 Oakland 6 Baltimore 3 rtansaspity 4t)Btroit 1 Minnesota 5 Milwaukee 1 New York 2 NATIONAL LEAGUE Sari Francisco 4 New York 2 Atlanta 8 St. Louis 5 Cincinnati 3 Chicago 1 San Diego 7 Philadelphia 1 Montreal 2 Los Angeles 0 Houston 11 Pittsburgh 0 Coiorado 5 Florida 4 ASSOCIATION Indians IP 7 Oklahoma City 6 the counter at Hardy's has played middle ground to numerous discussions and occasional differences of opinion. There are residents who feel the school board was within its rights the evening of April 12 when it voted 5-0 not to renew Cheatham's contract as coach but to keep her aboard as a high school biology teacher.

Others strongly insist the highly successful Cheatham, 48, Indiana's alii'time winnlngest girls coach with a record of 379-80 was handed a bum deal. Whatever the case, it's a story yet to be completed. In early June. Cheatham brought suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana against former Scottsburg Superintendent William J. Riggs, Principal Curtis Wilson, Athletic Director William "Buff Gardner and the five Board of Trustee members that sealed, at least temporarily, her fate.

ie COACH Page 7 By Mike Beas STAR STAFF WRITER Scottsburg, Ind. Hardy's Cafe is a bareatery that for 35 years has sat on the west side of this town's dignified downtown square. Inside, 40 cents buys a bottomless cup of coffee. Gossip Is free. In the three-plus months that have passed since the Scottsburg School System chosje not to renew tirf contract of glrfci varsity basketball coach Donna Cheatham, See SHEEHAN Page.