The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 24

KUIV DELAYED press conference oR. Waited Before Claiming Pole 1 By DAVE OVERPECK Johnny Rutherford wrapped up his third pole position start around 2:11 Saturday afternoon. About the only people who didn't concede that were A.J. Foyt and Johnny tmm ww-www ni.ni rf J5'l- I V. A Rutherford.

Lone Star R. held off having his press conference until 5 45. waiting for Foyt to make his qualifying run. Super Tex actually didn't get on the track until about 10 minutes later. When he did, Rutherford was in the middle of an involved answer about the competitiveness of the race when the sound of A.J.

leaving the pits came through the walls of the Tower Terrace conference room "There goes A said Rutherford, breaking off in mid-sentence. Pause. "What were we talking about anyway?" ON Tins DAY, though, Fovt was a phantom challenger, finally settling for a 185 5 average that will have him starting 12th. almost seven mph behind Rutherford's rapid 192.256 ride in the Pennzoil Chaparral Cosworth. But Rutherford wasn't taking anything for granted, although his name aiready had been penciled in on an oversized check for $10,000 from Budweiser, ironically his sponsor a year ago when he was driving for Team McLaren.

it's not over yet," said Rutherford at the beginning of the press conference. "There's still a couple guys Danny On-gais, in addition to Foyti out there on the line who could pull a "sneaky one if they get out. 1 can remember watching a tape a few years ago of Mark Donohue saying how great it was to win the pole while Pete Revson was out on the track knocking him off of it." At the same time, Rutherford gave the impression that the pole was what he expected and he wasn't at all surprised that he was on it. "THE PENNZOIL Chaparral lived up to its expectations," he commercialized. "The car was very stable.

There were a couple of anxious moments, but the car really was very comfortable. "You always take the car to the limit in qualifying, but I really didn't scare myself The car felt very comfortable to me." Rutherford actually made the run in his backup car The No 1 machine burned a magneto wire during the morning practice session, melting down the rap "So we pulled it nut of line." said HEADING FOR THE POLE Johnny Rutherford, in his No. 4 Pennzoil Special, streaks speed was 192.256 for the four-lap, 10-mile trek, good enough to earn the pole position around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during his qualification run Saturday. Rutherford's for the Indianapolis 500 May 25. (Star Photo by Bob Davis) operation and Al Unser quit Hall to join his crosstown (Midland, Tex.) rival, Bobby Hillin.

Though he can't remember who approached whom, Rutherford is very happy to be tied up with Hall, a former driver. "It's a pretty fantastic feeling that the circumstances came together at the right time to put us together," he said. "IT'S VERY EASY to work with Jim At the same time, Rutherford wasn't downgrading the machine that had L'nser pulling away from the field until the transmission pitched a year ago "This car is just tremendous," he said. "I don't think we've reached its potential yet. "I don't see any reason why it can't do again what it did last year." ground effects Chaparral something of a super car.

Rutherford calls that a misconception. "Really it's just another race car." he said. "It's got some things going for it that other cars don't, but the driver still has to drive it to the limit. 1 had about the same feeling with it as the McLaren last year only we were going a lot faster this time." Hall because when I tell him something he cam relate to it." Saturday's ride climaxed what Rutherford called one of his easiest pre-qualifying periods for the 500-Mile Race. "It was very satisfying because we were on schedule all the time," he said.

"About the only thing was we went a little faster than we expected right out of the box." The tendency has been to consider the "We just decided we'd go with the first car that came through the line, and if something happened to it, we'd have the other available." It's an injustice to call the Yellow Submarine II a "backup" car. Rutherford had practiced in both during the week and was almost equally fast in each. And that fast was the fastest on the lot until Friday afternoon when rookie Tim Richmond blew him off with a lap at 193.505. "WE GOT A little anxious Friday when everybody started bombing around us and over us," said Rutherford, "but only until we settled down and figured what the heck, wait till tomorrow (Saturday), do your best and see what happens." Saturday, Rutherford just tried to keep from getting too charged up for qualifying "When I went out." he said, "I just told myself "it's just like practice try to run four smooth laps and coma in and see how the boss likes The boss this year is Jim Hall, owner and builder of the Chaparral It is a new relationship, begun last fall when Rutherford's Team McLaren folded its US. Work Fun For Mario Again Going to work the past 18 monlhs just hasn't been very enjoyable for Mario Andretti.

But Saturday it was fun again The little legend from Nazareth, Pa was back where he belonged following the opening day of time trials at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Up front. His run of 191 012 miles an hour was good for the middle of the front row but more importantly, it was good for the spirit of the 1969 Indianapolis 500 victor. Since capturing the 1978 Grand Prix crown. Andretti has been on a downhill ride with Team Lotus. Last year he managed a couple of top six finishes but this season has been nothing but DNFs (that's "did not finish" and headaches as he's failed to earn a single point in the World Championship standings.

Section The Indianapolis Stak SUNDAY, MAY 11, 1980 Qualifying Table "OBVIOUSLY, IT'S been very frustrating." he replied after sticking his Essex Penske Cosworth in between Johnny Rutherford and teammate Bobby L'nser "The only reward you get in this business is when you bring home the bacon, and I've been smiling and biting my tongue a lot lately "But it feels good to go fast again and be competitive, and I'm just glad Roger (Penskei puts up with the headache of three cars." However, nobody has consumed more Excedrin the last two years than Mario Following the championship success of the Lotus 79 and its ground effects concept, he's had his talented hands on a couple of losers the Lotus 80 and 81 The latter is so poor he has trouble seeing the starting flag drop from his view at the back of the grid "It's the slowest Formula One car there is in a straight line," he declared "And in the situation we're in you have to gamble, so consequently, I've looked like an a- on a few occasions this year BECAUSE OF THE Lotus' fade, many of the European journalists have written Andretti off as a 40-year-old former FIRST KOW MARIO ANDRETTI 12 Essex Motorsport BOBBY UNSER 11 Norton Spirit JOHNNY RUTHERFORD i Pennzoil CHAPARRAL-COS WORTH PENSKE COSWORTH PENSKE COSWORTH champ who should retire to the pace car circuit "The working press in Formula One consider themselves experts, and they are very opinionated." related Andretti. while dining with his family on the elegant cuisine in the Essex MotnrsporLs Room "The general feeling is that I won my champioaship and now it's over Of course that's not the way Colm See MARIO Page 4 :47 15 190880 :47 38 189 954 17 39 189 913 47.56 189.235 Totals 3 09 48 139 994 w'V-l 46 80 192 308 46 93 191 775 fraJ 192 226 4717 190 799 A II 73 192.5 fl :47 23 190 557 iU XhtV ff :46 90 191 898 1 fc 47 14 190 927 PL Jr Total Totals 3 07 25 192 256 "wV 3 08 47 191 012 'ZLifi SI. COM) HOW JERRY SNEVA 7 Hueeer's RICK MEARS 1 Gould Charge PENSKE COSWORTH SPIKE GEirLIIAl SEN 35 inton Sales PENSKE-COSWORTM Security Begins In Front Row LOL COSWORTH rJfe- :48 45 :48 13 (fe" :4777 iPS: ft 189 195 188.719 187.656 185 874 185 759 186 994 188 403 188.838 :47.57 :47 69 :47 96 :48.42 188 877 190 114 188 363 186 066 I i 148 37 Totals 3 11 64 187.852 Totals 3:12 01 187.490 Totals 3:11 14 188 344 Sports Ovor Lightlv Lltob Collins, Sports Editor Timti) now PANCHO CARTER 10 Alex XLNT PENSKECOSWORTH AL UNSER 5 Dairy Queen LR-Ol-COSWORTH JOHNNY PARSONS 15 Hopkins LIGHTNING OfPV "ln jria' itf'- 187 891 187 383 186 955 187 422 :48 03 f'sn 4814 it :48 02 Py :48 21 186 683 jf0 :48 27 186.451 48 34 186 181 fcl if fip)j :48.23 186.606 3,3.05 :48 13 186 994 :48 20 186 722 48.36 186 KM :48 40 185.950 Totals 5:13 09 186 442 Totals 12 09 187 412 I ()l IM HOV JIM McELREATH 23 McElreath Racing PENSKE -COSWORTH A.J. FOVT 14 Gilmore PARNELLI-COSWORTH ROGER RAGER 66 Advance Clean Sweep WILDCAT-CHEVROLET TN SOME WAYS it's the strangest Afront row in 500-Mile-Race history. Reading from the outside in.

we have a retired hill climber, a visitor from Europe and an apprentice journalist. They are experienced, however Their total championship victories 81 add up to almost two-thirds of their combined ages. Thus, this one may be remembered as the tiolden Age or Grecian Formula "500." Bobby l'nser is 46. Johnny Rutherford. 42, and Mario "Andretti is the baby at 40 At those ages men usually begin thinking about security and retirement homes But L'nser.

Rutherford and Andretti have found a great measure of security at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Their wallets are every bit as heavy as their feet. The only retirement homes they'll ever see will be the ones they invest in This threesome has nicked the Hul-man family for $2,130,166 and change in Speedway purse monev Unser. winner in 1968-75. has hauled away $832,970.

Rutherford, the 1974-76 champ, shared large chunks of $810,437 with Internal Revenue, and Andretti. who whipped the field in 1969. has earned $486,759 here. AM) ALL three, incidentally, will go directly from their last ride to the Hall of Fame probably in a Brink's truck Rutherford took a beautiful 192 2.56 ride to win the pole position for the third time Rutherford has taken up writing a column for The News and I'm sure that by now he has found the endeavor more difficult and nearly as dangerous as driving race cars For example. Johnny slowed quite a bit on his fourth qualifying lap.

And here is the exclusive reason wny: ne broKe concentration got to worrying about whether that should have been a comma or a semicolon near the end of his last column Mario jets around the world so much he now speaks four languages some- :48 16 186 877 :47 99 187.539 :48.14 186 955 times in the same sentence This can work a bit of a hardship on the listener when one of the languages isn't English Andretti. a two-time pole-winner, will start from the middle of the front row with a speed of 191.102. After winning everything in the United States at least once. Mario spent a good portion of the '70s pursuing his lifetime goal of winning the world driving title. And the native of Italy, who long has been an American citizen, climbed that mountain in 1978 I CHECKED the record book and received a shock to discover that Bobby only has started from the pole position here once That was in 1972 He's been one of the favorites so many times I thought he kept the pole in his closet at nights.

He has. however, qualified for a front-row position eight times. Saturday's run of 189 994 pushed him ahead of Rex Mays as the all-time leader in that category Bobby won the Pike's Peak Hill Cl'imb so many times it finally was decided to retire either him or the mountam It's something like 11 or maybe it's 111 All three drove ground-effects cars Ground effects is a new "in" thing at the Speedway which some say is simple but only seems to work well in cars entered by Jim Hall or Roger Penske Rutherford drives Hall's Chapparal, while Andretti and Bobby toil for Peaske. It has something to do with the way the air flows under the car. And as I see it, anything would be an improvement over the hot air that has has been flow ing around racing for the last year.

:47 91 187 852 :48 35 186 843 :48.30 186 335 :48 60 185.185 Totals 3 13.16 186 374 :48 53 185.452 :48.55 185 376 :48.48 184.313 Totals 3:14 07 185 500 :48 47 185 682 :48 69 184 843 Totals 3:13.39 186.249 WT. BACK IN THE RACE Mario Andretti poses for oHicial photographs Saturday after he qualified for this year's 500-mile race with a speed of 191.012 mph. Andretti wasn't in the race last year, concentrating on the Formula One Grand Prix circuit. (UPI Photo) Cosworlhs Rule Speed Roosl With Less Boost By GEORGE MOORE The first day of qualifications at the Speedway Saturday gave some proof to a couple of adages. First, practice makes perfect.

And second, it pays to do business with an old, established firm. The "perfect" part came by virtue of Johnny Rutherford's capturing the pole in the year-old Pennzoil Chaparral. The 'old. established firm" established itself when Cosworth power dominated the front positions, sweeping the first two rows and taking two spots in the third. It took Johnny Parsons in Lindsey Hopkins' lay-down Offy to score for the 4-cylinder contingent, and Parsons was down a bit at 187 412 miles an hour from both Rutherford's 192 256 and Mario Andretti's 191 012, in the Essex Penske-Cosworth.

Rutherford, Andretti and Bobby L'nser, who is on the outside of the front row in a Norton Spirit Penske-Cosworth at 189 944 mph. are wheeling machines which are the product of long development. CAR OWNER JIM Hall's "Yellow Submarine" really has benefited from a year of development. Last year it was fast at times, but suffered a certain degree of durability problems. This time out.

the car appears both fast and durable. It's no accident Basically, it's been a year of development by making very strong changes." Hall said "It's been a matter of very minor development changes which taught us how to set it up when we get to the race track We've changed- enough things that we know how to make a change to make the car do the things we want it to do Rutherford's Chaparral basically is the same race car it was last year. There have tx'en no fundamental design changes It simply has been a matter of getting everything dialed in to where the car works, the crew works and the driver works It has engendered a durability factor to where Hall feels he has a handle on that aspect. "SOMETHING ALWAYS can crop up you're not aware of." he said "But we have run the car a lot in the last six months and I've been pleased with the durability I don't know of anything that's let us down at this point See COSWORTHS Page 2 HU KOW TOM SNEVA 9 O'Conne II Racing LARRY CANNON 95 Cannon Racing WILDCAT-DOS TOM BAGLEY 40 Kent Oil WILDCAT COSWORTH PHOE I -COSWOR TH -k. 4 74 184 653 48.21 186 683 i.

'C :48 50 185 5h FW :48 86 184 200 :4885 184237 :49 14 183 150 :49 11 183 262 :49.46 181.965 Totals :48 45 185759 ijPX 1 :47 71 184 767 Totals totals 29 185 290 183 252 I AIT 3 14 17 185 405 i SIXTH HOW sports DICK FERGUSON 26 Aero Electronics PENSKE COSWORTH Sva minis iloturn i'ollogvs I'agf 10 49 11 183 262 49 32 182 482 Big Fnh Content 14 Bob Collins 1 GoltScen. 18 Horness Highlight 16 t.nes Shots 15 Prep Pourn 13 Scoreboard 20 ScoLrting The Otrtdoors 15 Shoot.n' The Stors 1 2 Lre Stories, I'aie 2, t. 7, 8 Picture Page, Page (Jualifyn-: Scorecanl, Page .5 :49 17 183 038 it -2 llamnwr Siwrs. I ll-IOI la 7 49 25 182 841 Totals 16 85 182 880.