The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 12

THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR MONDAY, MAY 18, 1992 ain fails to fall so Momota's day turns out all wet Vihen Vasser's run was over, Momota's engineer, Joe Snyder, walked up and said, "You did your best. You drove hard. You learned, huh?" It was a long, hard lesson. v. Ly'-- I I "'XLi' vr iO I I I 1 1 j- fmm i By DAN DUNKIN SIAH STAFF WRITER There are long days, and then tfiere is the final day of qualifying at Indianapolis.

For rookies, it's best timed by calendar. i'lndy neophyte Kenji Momota arrived at Indianapolis Motor 3peedway Sunday morning with the appropriate anxiety. "It's more like the 365 days of iay." said Momota. After an agonizing four-hour wait, it was wait 'til next year for Momota, who was bumped shortly, after 4 p.m. by rookie Jimmy But even after qualifications ended, the day and the month weren't officially over for Momota, whose team filed a protest alleging dual usage of the same qualifying engine by the teams of Gordon Johncock and Buddy Lazier.

The protest was denied at 8 pm. and Momota was left to linger with the longest day of his 29-year-old life. We. Momota was Sunday's first qualifier and clung to the second-slowest average speed 2J8.967 as threatening skies smiled down at him with the field full. But the rain headed south and so would Momota's chances.

After Johncock bumped Vasser, Vasser promptly went out in his backup car and pumped out a 222.313 to easily extricate Momota from the field. Momota spent the afternoon pacing in front of his garage. Joking about trying a Japanese ram dance. As Vasser headed out on his run, Momota was the loneliest young lead-foot at the Speedway, left alone in his garage without a capable backup car. Momota appeared to be meditating, staring down at the floor from a chair poised before his right front tire.

His girlfriend, the only other previous presence in the garage, left him alone with his thoughts. When Vasser's first lap of 222.069 was announced over the radio, Momota, with reporters and cameramen peering into his garage, responded admirably. He clapped a couple of times and shrugged at his crew in the ad- Rookie Kenji Momota gives a thumbs up after qualifying early Sunday, here in 1986. He discovered Mo- named after Capcom's best- mota in the Indy Lights series selling video game In Europe and and finally found a sponsor after Asia Momota gave It his blaz- an aborted Indy inclination with ing best, according to Kuzma. Momota In 1990.

Capcom, a Jap- "He did a very good Job, not anese manufacturer of software having a whole lot of experience for video games, came aboard for in Indy cars," said Kuzma. "It Its first sponsorship abroad. Car- was a bit of a gamble. We didn't rying the name Street Fighter II know what the weather would Benner Continued from Page 1 sticker (new) tires on, which makes them feel pretty good for three laps or so. We did a banzai and It Just wasn't quite there.

"We started Friday with the car and just didn't have the time to get the thing on the track and sorted out. "It's been the roller-coaster, up and down. It's been a bummer. "It's real sad that it all had to come down this way." Sad, yes; surprising, no. The realities of IndyCar racing in general and Indy, in particular, dictate that money talks, and ability walks most often with helmet in hand, thumb out.

hoping to hitch a ride. And Sunday, Rutherford wasn't the only former winner trying to launch a last-minute qualifying attempt. So were two-time champ Gordon Johncock and 1983 winner Tom Sneva. As a group, they are accountable for 64 starts. 8,060 laps.

843 laps led. 25 top-10 finishes and six victories. But all had the same answer to why they continued the quest. They're racers, and Indy is and always will be the zenith of motorsports. "Obviously It's not related to a high ig," Sneva said of his llth-hour attempt.

"It's hard to explain it. It's hard to rationalize It. But racing gets in your blood. You Just feel like you have a lot of fun doing It and you enjoy the atmosphere, the sport and the competition." "Obviously, we love it or we wouldn't do it," added Rutherford. "It's a lot of fun and it pays pretty good." But this month was anything but fun for Rutherford, and it paid off only in aggravation and frustration enough to make the fast man from Fort Worth want to consider hanging it up.

"I don't know," he said. "That's a decision I have to make and I've been rasslin' with the last three days. The only way I would (come back) Is if I had a substantial sponsor, somebody to put up the money to do the job right, get some test time and for me to get back in and run the car full-time." That said, he took his glistening helmet the one of red, blue and pearlescent, the one with the familiar lone star adorning the crown and stuffed it into his helmet bag. He zips It up. And you wonder, with a tinge of regret, if you've seen it for the final time.

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You drove hard. You learned, huh?" It was a long, hard lesson. Momota was running in the 217-218 range during the first week of practice before becoming acquainted with the Turn 4 wall that Wednesday about a half hour after Indy icon Rick Mears wiped out in Turn 2. After a week of restoring the right side and rear of the 1991 Lola, Momota waited while his countryman, Hiro Matsushita, was put out of action for the month, and fellow rookie Jovy Marcelo was killed. Momota got up to only 214 mph in practice Sunday morning.

He found an extra 4 mph on a consistent qualifying excursion in the CapcomTeamkar Lola-Chevy A. A few minutes afterward, Momota was all smiles and Indy innocence. "I was too excited," said Momota, speaking decent broken English. "I didn't have enough time for my recovery mentally, physically. "I felt a lot of pressure, but the car went fast." Car owner Roman Kuzma was a solitary, solemn figure in Momota's garage in the early afternoon, praying for rain that had been reported at his home In Clermont.

Kuzma brought Jim Crawford became the second qualifier of the day. Dobson opened with laps of 221.675, 221.190 and 220.076 before dropping down to 218.521. The last lap was the most memorable of the run. "I was scared to death," Dobson said. "I would have hit the wall if I had gone faster.

We picked up a pretty good push. "The track had gotten greasy and that's been a problem for a lot of drivers out here this month. The car was pushing off the fence on the second and third laps. In fact, I thought I was hitting the wall In Turn 2 on my third lap so I really backed off quite a bit. "I knew we had a good enough average If we could keep a reasonably good speed, and we would still qualify OK.

So I did slow down; I Just didn't want to take any chances." It was decent enough to make his fifth Indianapolis 500. And despite the last-minute engine installation, Dobson's month of May has been smoother than last year. Dobson, who had driven for the Bayside team in 1989 and '90, found himself without a ride and replaced Gordon Johncock In the Burns Racing '89 Lola-Judd. Although the 32-year-old resident of Fairfax. broke his thigh after hitting the Turn 4 wall on the second day of qualifying, he returned to IMS on crutches.

He then qualified the backup and soldiered the car home to 13th position in the race. DOBSON HAS some major league help In his 1992 effort. Lending financial as well as moral support have been Chuck Person of the Indiana Pacers and former Colt Harvey Armstrong. Armstrong also provided Dobson some "Incentive." "My position on this team Is the enforcer," Armstrong quipped. "I told him (Dobson) If he didn't go 220, I wasrt't going to let him out of the car." STAR STAFF PHOTO FRANK ESPICH He later was bumped.

do. We would've liked a higher speed." "I did my best," Momota confirmed with a firm chin after Vasser took him out, but didn't KO his perspective. "I feel very sorry for Hiro," Momota added. "But I'm still in one piece. I'll be back." JIM MOBILE hi PHONES INC.

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AUTO iitK 1,7,1 WINDOW TINTING '79 Up SOLAR KING OF INDIANA 5511 E. 38th St. 547-1715 WZW By RICK SHAFFER STAR STAFF WRITER Dominic Dobson found there's a certain ingredient needed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 an engine. Dobson, a veteran of four Indy 5P0s, arrived at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway earlier this month with a 1991 Lola chassis driven In last year's race by Al Uftser but no engines. He could have had a Buick, exit since he wanted a Chevy, he waited.

And waited. And waited $bme more. -Sunday proved the wait worthwhile, though, as Dobson qualified the BurnsTobacco Free CplaChevy-A at an average speed of 220.359. first two weeks, there was a lot of sitting around and parting," said Dobson. "We arne here without a commitment to have an engine.

1 "We had an opportunity to (lave a Buick, but we passed on 5 hat. I really wanted a Chevrolet. hey weren't In a position to anything to me until af-er the first weekend of qualifying- "So we took the gamble based being able to run the 500 friiles and based on being able to fun some races later in the year. 5 really have to credit Chevrolet tor coming through for me." Dobson's gamble meant hav-tfg his car sit In the Burns Team garage without a motor until Tuesday. "We were on the track for the (jlrst time Thursday afternoon and really didn't get up to speed intil Friday (a top lap of 320.060)," Dobson continued.

We had some problems (Saturday) with qualifying we lost boost and (Sunday) it all seemed to come together." Saturday's boost problem forced Dobson to abort the run after laps of 219.341 and 217.533. After practicing Sunday morning with a top lap of 221.6757Vastest among the non-qualifiers, Dobson was ready and Dominic Dobson is relieved to averaged 220.359 mph to make the Kr 'XVf HAIR REPLACEMENT k. Custom Made or t-T; Ready Made or I BF Free Human Mair i is Use A Vldeo 89B-1116 or 843-9958 tjJT Hairi8 06T 38th St. '399 LEASES A 1992 325i 1 1 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION AIR CONDITIONING PREMIUM SOUND SYSTEM POWER SUN ROOF, WINDOWS DOOR LOCKS ANTILOCK BRAKES 'DRIVER SIDE AIR BAG '42 month clmed end leaie. Purchite option M3.M9.

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