The Indianapolis News from Indianapolis, Indiana • 17

THE NEWS MAY 29, 1984 PAGE 17 Spots'- Rick Mears Column 18Fishing 19 American League 20 National League 21 500 Prizes Bring Out Lots Of Smiles li tf I i I Hj Mario Andretti (left) on winning rookie honors. Vi congratulates his son, Jj if i irfl '1 1 i 500-Mile Race winner Rick Mears addresses Convention $434,060.90 in prize money. Bedard Show reals At Dimmer Victory Of course, the money lots of it for everybody got many oohs and aahs, too. The Speedway divvied up a record J2J95.399 purse among the 33 drivers. Mears, driver of the Pennzoil March, became the first to receive a check topping $400,000.

"Ten years ago I didn't know what $432,000 was or looked like," said the race's newest two-time winner. "I still don't until I see it." What Rapid Rick hauled in would have paid the entire race purse through 1962. The bundle of dollars made Mears the sixth millionaire winner ($1,151,862.24) at the Speedway. He has reached that figure after only seven races, while the five above him have driven a minimum of 19. Al Unser Sr.

finished third and picked up a tidy check for $117,415.. That pushed his total winnings in 19 races to $1,606,369.67 and into first place on the list. He moved around four-time winner A.J. Foyt who collected $79,275.96 for sixth and now has won $1,578,892.26 in 27 races. Third, fourth and fifth are: Johnny Rutherford, $1,267,431.02 in 20 races ($56,452.95 for 22nd); Bobby Unser (retired), $1,169,526.78 in 19 races; and Johncock, $1,157,293.94 in 20 races ($61,372.95 for 25th).

All of Mears' mechanical crew, headed by Peter Parrott was brought to the podium along with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Mears, and his girl friend, Chris Bowen. Car owner Roger Penske also came forward. In his short speech, Mears gave particular credit to his crew.

"These guys here made it happen," he said. Then he read a brief list of sponsors he wished to thank and returned the microphone to master of ceremonies Paul Page. Seconds later he retrieved the mike and said: "I didn't thank Roger Penske. He made everything happen." That he did. It was Penske who made Mears a substitute driver for Mario Andretti several years ago.

And it was the same Penske who went out and purchased a new March just before 500 practice began when his own Penske car would not perform properly. Penske was rewarded with a first and third and total prize money of $551,476.92. Mears also received the keys to a Pontiac Fiero and numerous other awards. It took Rick 3 hours, 3 minutes and 21.660 seconds to negotiate the 500 miles. His payoff averages out to $2,367.25 for every minute he was on the track.

Last Pays $54,076 The increased payoffs filtered all the way back to 33rd and last place. Geoff Brabham, whose car lasted exactly one lap, picked up a healthy $54,076.95. "I went in as a darkhorse and finished the first lap as a mule," he said. Some other comments: TEO FABL 24th "It wasn't a very good month." DICK SIMON, 23rd "As long as they let this bald headed old man come back, I'll be back." JOHNNY RUTHERFORD, 22nd "I proved you don't have to be here all month. We did all this (made race) in a few hours." MARIO ANDRETTI, 17th "We have a lot of tenacity here." TOM SNEVA, 16th "I figured I had a chance to make the race pretty exciting for Rick and the fans." A J.

FOYT, sixth "My grandson said, 'You didn't keep the pedal to the AL UNSER Sit, third "Thank goodness for Rick. He saved our jobs for a little while." A total of six drivers, including last year's winner, Sneva, earned more than $100,000. By DICK MITTMAN Rick Mears patted his heart and rolled his eyes when his slice of the 500 Mile Race purse was announced last night as $434,060.96. It was truly a staggering sum for winning Sunday's race in record speed, but the sellout crowd at the Convention Center may have been more amazed at something else that transpired during the Victory Banquet. When Patrick Bedard's name was mentioned for position No.

30, everyone had immediate thoughts of the films and still pictures of Bedard's disintegrating car flipping wildly through the infield grass on the north end of the Speedway. It was a wreck that will be recalled for years to come. The last person anyone expected to see and hear was Patrick Bedard. But through the magic of television, Bedard greeted the crowd from his hospital bed at Methodist Other than a neck brace, he looked remarkably fit. "I don't remember much," he said.

"Actually, I'm in pretty good shape." He added he probably "made a mistake" trying to be conservative. It certainly was a startling moment on a startling evening. The television camera returned to Methodist a few minutes later to bring a live interview with two-time winner Gordon Johncock, who suffered a broken left ankle in his crash that wound up in the pits. He stunned the audience by revealing that he may be driving at Milwaukee next Sunday. Co-Rookies Named Another announcement that brought an appreciative reaction from the crowd was that second place finisher Roberto Guerrero of Colombia and Michael Andretti, Mario's son, were co-winners of the AFNB Rookie Of The Year award.

GEORGE GETS IT -V Co-rookie of year Roberto Guerrero gets kiss from his wife, Katie. SHOTS Soto Calmer Cincinnati pitcher MARIO SOTO, ejected for bumping an umpire Sunday in Chicago during a dispute over a home run call, was a bit calmer last night when the Reds returned home to open a three-game series tonight with Pittsburgh. "I don't know if they will suspend me or not I don't care if they suspend me. That's their decision," said Soto of National League officials who are investigating the incident JSoto was the central figure in the argument an brawl that resulted his ejections and that of Chicago manager JIM FREY. Diamond Greats Hall of Famers JOE CRONIN and TED WILLIAMS will be honored by the Boston Red Sox tonight when their old uniform numbers, 4 and 9, will be retired in special ceremonies on the club's annual Jimmy Fund Night at Fenway Park.

Cronin, 77, and Williams, 66, also will receive the Thomas awkey Memorial Award, named for the Red Sox' late owner, from the Jimmy Fund for their services in behalf of cancer research for children. tronin, a Hall of Fame shortstop, batted .301 in 20 major league seasons, the last 11 in Boston, before his career was cut short by a broken leg in 1945. He managed the Red Sox from 1933- 47 before moving up to the front 'office. He is board chairman of the American League. Williams had a lifetime aver- age of .344 with 521 homers in 19 i years with the Red Sox.

He hit a home run in his final at bat before retiring in 1960, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1966. Budd Cruises ZOLA BUDD, running barefoot nd gritting her teeth as she battled a strong wind and a rain-soaked track, easily won the meter final yesterday at the United Kingdom Track and Field Championships at Cwmbran, Wales, in a world-class time of 4 minutes, 4.39 seconds. It was the 18 year-old's most convincing victory since leaving South Africa in March and gaining British citizenship 10 days after her arrival. Short Takes DENNIS LEATHERS, an assistant boys basketball coach six years at Danville High School, has been named head coach, succeeding GARY COOK. The school also named Center Grove assistant CINDY LESTER its girls basketball coach Montreal Expos outfielder ANDRE DAWSON plans to return to the Dneup tomorrow night despite a medical report that said he is suffering from a "partial separation of an existing spur on the tibia due to direct stress from the impact of running." Dawson, off to a slow start with a .237 batting average and two home runs, has been out of the lineup the last four games SLEW GOLD, last years champion 3- year-old, was injured when he slipped and fell on a paved road yesterday at Belmont Park prior to what was to have been his first start of the year.

The colt suffered about 15 cuts. SHORT The NEWS Photos, Joe Young Center crowd after collecting 500 PAYOFF 1. Rick Mears, $434,060.96 (new record; old record, $385,886.25, by Tom Sneva in 1983). 2. Roberto Guerrero, $171,665.96 3.

Al Unser $117,415.96 4. Al Holbert, $106,260.96 5. Michael Andretti, $119,230.96 6. AJ. Foyt, $79,275.96 7.

Bobby Rahal, $74,995.96 8. Herm Johnson, $73,559.96 9. Danny Ongais, $68,084.96 10. Josele Garza, $66,909.96 11. George Snider, $69,356.96 12.

Dennis Firestone, $62,764.96 13. Howdy Holmes, $85,208.96 14. Tom Gloy, $62,466.96 15. Chris Kneifel, $61,182.96 16. Tom Sneva, $112,434.95 17.

Mario Andretti, $72,322.95 18. Scott Brayton, $64,396.95 19. Pancho Carter, $59,056.95 20. Kevin Cogan, $64,352.95 21. Al Unser Jr.

$67,984.95 22. Johnny Rutherford, $56,452.95 23. Dick Simon, $64,056.95 24. Teo Fabi, $71,196.95 25. Gordon Johncock, $61,372.95 26.

Tony Bettenhausen, $55,584.95 27. Derek Daly, $55,332.95 28. Chip Ganassi, $54,616.95 29. Danny Sullivan, $57,936.95 30. Patrick Bedard, $56,792.95 31.

Spike Gehlhausen, $54,184.95 32. Emerson Fittipaldi, $53,890.45 33. Geoff Brabham, $54,076.95 Mears also won the Pontiac Fiero Pace Car, the Borg-Warner Trophy, the Herff Jones "Champion of Champions" ring, the Thornton Bardach winner's ring, the INB "Leaders Circle" award and the Goodyear ring for his car owner. Michael Andretti and Roberto Guerrero shared the AFNB rookie of the year award. TOTAL PURSE Speedway, $2,109,499 Lap Parade Designated Awards, $625,900 Total $2,795,399 Old Speedway record: old designated awards record: old total purse record: $2,411,450.

Now It's Time For The Colts Indianapolis Colt veterans, rookies and free agents will begin arriving in waves tomorrow for their public unveiling. The Colts have scheduled their annual mini-camp for Thursday and Friday in the Hoosier Dome, where they will play their home games next falL Much of the mini camp, consisting mostly of running and weight-lifting with little actual will be open to the public for an admission charge of $1. Proceeds wiH go to charity. Colt players will undergo medi cal examinations tomorrow. Two sessions of physical testing are scheduled at 9 am and 1 p.m.

Thursday in the dome with only the morning session open. Thursday night the Colts will attend various meetings concerning real estate and job opportunities in town. Friday, only one session is scheduled, 9 a.m. in the dome. Play: ers will be dismissed around noon.

The players will wear uniform numbers for identification but na pads during the workouts. Toews Retires PITTSBURGH (LTD The tirement of linebacker Loren Toews leaves just seven players remaining with the Pittsburgh Steelers among those who played on all four of th club's Super Bowl championships. Pacers Name Irvine As Their 4th Coach PVY Gains Wish JV Gr8c Irvine vtfA let A. J. Foyt has to come back? MILEAGE MILESTONE A.J.

Foyt drove 492.5 miles in his 27th 500-Mile Race Sunday and now needs only 165 miles to reach an incredible 10.000 miles of competition at the Speedway. "I guess have to come back," he said. "How many miles has Al got?" Al Unser Sr. added 495 in Sunday's race to lift his total to 7.390 in 19 races. Questioned further about whether he would return for No.

$8. Foyt was non-committal. "I don't know," he said. tn Irvine said he had some people in mind, but there were no frontrun- ners. Irvine's Career Irvine, a native of Seattle and a 1970 University of Washington graduate, played in the American Basketball Association with the Virginia Squires and Denver Nuggets.

After his ABA career, he became an assistant with Denver under Larry Brown and Donnie Walsh before joining the Pacers for the 1980-81 season. He served three seasons as an assistant coach under Brown (now coaching at the University of Kansas) with the Denver Nuggets. Irvine, who played for coach Tex Winter at Washington, was the No. 3 draft pick of the Squires in 1970. He played four seasons with the Squires and spent his final year (1975-76) with the Nuggets.

Irvine missed the 1975-76 season due to an injury (he badly damaged his knee in an exhibition game). He became a fulltime Denver assistant and remained in that position under Walsh when the ABA merged with the NBA. The 6-foot4 guard-foward shot .530 from the field and averaged 9.6 points through a pro basketball career that totaled 325 games. His best season in the pro ranks was 1974 75 when he averaged 13.2 points for Virginia. Irvine led Virginia in field goal percentage in 1971-72 (.510) and 1972-73 (.540) and topped the Squires in three-point field goal percentage U50) during the 1974-75 season.

Irvine is married to the former Joan Helfant They have two sons Toby. 7. and Jaime. 4. By MARK MORROW George Irvine, vice president and director of basketball operations for the Indiana Pacers last season, today was named the team's head coach.

The announcement was made by Pacer president Bob Salyers at a Market Square Arena press confer ence. "After evaluating a number of candidates, including George, and doing extensive interviews, it was decided that George was the best candidate for the job," said Salyers. "With Irvine heading to the" bench, his postion of direcotor of basketball operations is the next position we must fill." At 36, he becomes the youngest head coach in the NBA. I'm very excited about getting back out on the floor," said Irvine. "I was very happy dcing the job I was doing, but for the previous seven years I had been preparing myself for the time I would become a head coach in this league.

This is a great franchise with strong owner ship and management and a young team that will only get better." The announcement came 34 days after, the Pacers exercised their option not to have fourth-year coach Jack McKinney return, and 22 days prior to the 1984 National Basketball Association college draft McKinney, recently named head coach of the Kansas City Kings replacing Cotton Fitzsimmons, who accepted the head position at San Antonio, was dismissed by the Pac ers April Z5 after finishing with a 26-56 record, poorest in the NBA. Irvine, who has been in charge of player acquisitions and scouting. served three years as a Pacer assistant under McKinney. Irvine becomes the fourth coach in the team's 17-year history, following McKinney, Bob Leonard and Larry Staverman. Indications all along pointed to Irvine, who said he hoped to one day become a head coach at the time he was elevated to the front office.

Salyers said he had an "acceptable candidate" three weeks ago. Since then, Salyers had been looking for someone to replace Irvine as director of basketball operations. More names have surfaced in regard to a replacement than have coaching candidates. Possible replacements for the front office position vacated by Irvine include former Pacer general manager Mike Storen (now with the Houston Astros), Carl Scheer, recently fired by the Denver Nuggets, and Scotty Stirling, NBA vice president of operations. Also expected to be announced in the next few days are two new Pacer assistant coaches.

Scotty Robertson was the lone assistant last season..