The Indianapolis News from Indianapolis, Indiana • 73

1 Wednesday, May 22, 1974 THE INDIANAPOLIS NEWS Page 73 Sentiment Varies On Qualifying Suit By DICK DENNY If running the $1 million Indianapolis 500-Mile Race were simply a morality play on wheels, then it would be easy to reopen quali fications for those car owners and drivers who felt they didn't get the chance they deserved to make the starting field. But auto racing is a sport predicated on rules and they must be followed to the letter or chaos might prevail. That seemed to be the consensus thinking of drivers, chief mechanics and team Hugus at the pole when an engine blew in his No. 3 McLaren on the first qualifying day (May 11) and he couldn't get into line on time, winding up with 25th place last Saturday, said of the suit action: "It's the same kind of situation where Al Unser and I kinda got the short end of the stick. I hate to see anybody else get it, but I don't know whether it's right or wrong.

"There are a lot of people involved. If it happens (that the race is held up), it could set a precedent that would kill auto racing." Mike Devin, chief mechanic for Lloyd Ruby, who will start 18th, said, "Morally they might have been right, but not legally; "They think they are right, but they aren't making many friends in racing. It's not fair for them to jeopardize other people. We want to make money, too. "I don't think they did their homework in reading the rule book.

They send you a blue sheet in February and you have to sign it, and believe me, you'd better read it. When you come to their ballpark, you play by their rules." Dan Gurney of All-American Racers, whose driver Bobby Unser grabbed the inside of the third row, said, "It's unfortunate, but I didn't think they had a case. "I don't see how they can hold up the race. It depends on what the rules are and whether the (qualifying) line was broken (as contended by the Speedway when car 94 was pushed into place a second time last Saturday)." Jimmy Caruthers, a 12th place qualifier, said, "My personal feeling is that they (the Speedway officials) should have extended qualifying at the time (last Saturday), to be fair and right. They have the power to extend qualifying.

"Now that they've done what they did, they should stick by it. Take Jan Opperman. He's a good example. He was capable of going faster by his practice speeds. But he went out and took four easy laps just to get in the field and it wouldn't be fair to bump him now." Heavy Traffic York Met Ceorge Theodore in the first inning of last night's game.

All was not lost, however, as Cardenal had time to pick up the ball and throw out Felix Millan at second for a fielder's choice instead of an error. The Mets won the game, 10-5. Page 79. AP. JIEW YORK Three heads aren't necessarily better than one as these three Chicago Cubs discover.

Jose Cardenal (left), Rick Monday and Dave Rosello (right) missed a high pop fly by New managers in the field of 33 who were interviewed yesterday concerning the suit filed in behalf of seven plaintiffs still in the qualifying line when time trials for the 58th Indy 500 ended at 6 p.m. last Saturday. A $1 million lawsuit, which asked for an immediate hearing and a temporary restraining order to prevent further activity until the action was heard, was filed by Wright Hugus a lawyer from Greenwich, representing the Roy Woods Racing team, and Indianapolis attorney Don Tabbert. Their plaintiffs were: Roy Woods Racing, with driver John Mahler. Driver-car owner Eldon Rasmussen.

Grant King Racing, with driver Bentley Warren. Owner Carl Gahlhausen and driver Bill Puterbaugh. Larry McCoy Sr. for his son, driver Larry McCoy Jr. Racing, with driver AI Loquasto.

Webster Racing, with driver Lee Bray-ton. Grant King, who has driver Tom Sneva in the field for Sunday's scheduled event, said he had not allowed use of his name in the suit. "I don't like the way the Speedway has handled things," he said, "but I'm not going to court to tell them what I have already told them in private." Johnny Rutherford, who missed a shot Elaine Baverman Contest Winner Bill Curry Committed To Players Rights By MILT RICHMAN NEW YORK (UPI) Bill Curry, the personable president of the National Football League, Players Association, is like I r-jtu West Best In Regionals? no other football player you have ever met. His mind is sharp, the type which cuts to the core of a problem immediately, and when he speaks he has a way of collaring your attention without pinning at up against the wall. Now with the Houston Oilers, Curry has It doesn't take a resident Speedway expert to qualify for first prize in The News' Front Row Guessing Contest, as Elaine Baverman of Indianapolis will attest.

"I'd have to say her predictions of those front row qualifying speeds were just wild guesses," explained her husband. "She did know that A.J. Foyt had had the best speeds in practice so her picking him for the pole was more of a calculated risk, I guess." Mrs. Baverman's winning card read Foyt, Wally Dallen-bach and Mario Andre tti across the top. She, as did each of the other 2,079 entrants, missed on at least one of her picks.

Many tabbed Johnny Rutherford as their choice to grab the outside spot, rather than the eventual Elaine Baverman Williams has run a 19-sec-onds flat in the 180-yard low hurdles, one-tenth of a second over the current state best and the unofficial best ever by Fort Wayne Wayne's Wilfred Rouse. West also has the best half-mile relay time in the state for 1974, having run a 1:28.4 with Williams as anchor man. Gary West, Fort Wayne Snider, Hammond and Jefferson-ville continue to look like the teams to beat as Indiana's high school state track meet moves to the regional level tomorrow. Regional competition will be held here and at Valparaiso, Fort Wayne and Columbus, with the regional qualifiers ad vancing to the state finals at North Central High School Saturday, June 1. West, an early season favorite for state honors and led by double-winners Jimmie Williams in the hurdles and William Pointer in the dashes, scored 123 points and qualified 11 individuals and both relay teams for its regional.

put in 10 seasons in rut Raellen Frank, Indianapolis Don Grant, Indianapolis Marlene Gorman, Indianapolis Elwood Latshaw, Indianapolis Rita Olson, Algoma, Wis. Larry Mann, Indianapolis Mary Ward, Indianapolis Richard Kastor, Indianapolis Lynn Stokely, Indianapolis Andy Stokely, Indianapolis Amy Owens, Trenton, Mich. Lisa Drodowski, Dearborn, Mich. Stuart Rowley, Indianapolis the NFL, but doesn't figure to be playing too." much longer. Not Bill Curry incumbent, Mike Hiss.

Where Mrs. Baverman beat I 1 Jbm 1 lli I the field was on her forecast of pole-winner Foyt's four-lap played for Vince Lombardi, and he certainly didn't fine anyone. He knew he could motivate players in other ways, and he did. Same with Don Shula. Why should you have to fine a man to make him perform? The whole concept is wrong." One of the freedom issues Curry is concerned with is the Rozelle Rule, a rule under which, the players claim, Pete Rozelle not only serves as NFL commissioner but also as final judge and jury in all disputes.

Curry says, with some justification, it is impossible for Rozelle to serve as an impartial arbitrator between the owners and players when his salary is paid by the owners. He also says pro football's reserve clause needs reshaping. The owners, on the other hand, say, also with some justification, that they can't just sit back and let the players run the entire operation because that would result in absolute chaos. It would also result in most of the owners asking themselves why did they put up their huge financial investment in the first place. Curry knows the way the owners feel.

"The real argument' here is whether what we (the players) are talking about would lead to anarchy and destruction of professional football," he says. "I've heard it said that what we're seeking would enable one owner, the richest one, to corner all the talent. That's not true at all. I don't think any owner is going to go lose $2 million in order to hire a stable of superstars just so he can be known as the last owner to win the Super Bowl championship as the NFL went down the tubes." Last fall, Curry, playing against the Los Angeles Rams, had some bones in his left knee shattered trying to block Merlin 01-sen. Curry wore a steel rod in his knee for seven months but feels ready to go again.

Only now the NFL owners have gone and changed the rules on him. "They changed them without consulting the players, or those best qualified to help us, the physicians and trainers," says Curry. "Let me show you what one of the new rules does. It says the offensive line will remain in place on punting situations until the ball has been kicked. You know what this means to an old offensive center? It means a wall of blockers for punt returners will be set up by the time I start to run, and it is only a matter of time until my knee goes again.

If it goes once more, who knows TERMS Thursday. Friday and Saturday with the kind of mentality he has. -Some smart corporation or network will come along pretty soon and hire him away. Watch and see. For the moment though, the Oilers' 31-year-old center is totally committed to the players' cause and their so-called freedom issues in the present impasse between them and the owners.

5 The players presented 37 new demands flpon the owners this week, making a total of 94 in all, and now there is growing talk of another strike. But Curry, with his firm belief in people of all kinds even football owners hopes it won't come to that again. believe in the fraternity of professional football," says the two-time all-pro center without sounding at all stuffy about it. "The reason I say that is because I've never found this same kind of love anywhere else between black and white people, rich and poor, quarterbacks and offensive linemen. In this complex society of ours, in this time, regardless of whether you're in a sports environment, an industrial environment or any other environment, with people having the degree of sophistication jthey never had before, it is imperative that they do things together.

The time is past when you can do it with a whip," Curry con-. tinues. "You don't, for example, fine a man $100 because he has a flat tire on his way to work. There is something radically wrong in any system where you have to fine a man to make him produce. The fine procedure we have now is one in which the player pays out for the ineptitude of his coach.

I See the NEW LOOK in men's tennis-wear such brand names as Wilson, Head, Sea Sport, Fred Perry, Tom Gorman and Pancho Gonzales. average qualifying speed. Her guess of 191.445 miles per hour was just .187 mph off his actual mark of 191.632. Second -p 1 a winner Kenneth Lord of Indianapolis was just a shade behind with his guess at 191.828. Foyt's speed converted into dollars and cents is $191.63, incidentally, and that's the size of the prize Mrs.

Baverman will receive. Others close to first money included: C. J. Brunnemer, Indianapolis W. V.

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"He's on my team, he's my teammate, he's my friend. When it's all said and done, the important thing is whether we win or not." Yeager, who was hitless in three tries to snap a six-game hitting streak, nonetheless figured in the Dodgers' winning rally. Willie Crawford opened the ninth with a single and was advanced to second when Ron Cey sacrificed. Bill Russell SPECIAL $1795 Regular $19.95 LOS ANGELES (AP) Al Campanis, the Los Angeles Dodgers' vice-president, keeps talking about "happy dilemmas," and the Dodgers have a pretty good one in their catcher's position. There's the incumbent-catcher, Joe Ferguson, who slugged 25 home rims and drove in 88 runs last year.

But he's been mired in a season-long slump so far this year. So what happens? His replacement, Steve Yeagcr, takes over and bats .359. Moreover, in the 16 games Yeager has started, the Dodgers have won every one, including last night's 3-2 deci sion over the Cincinnati Reds. However, it was Ferguson who came off the bench to deliver a pinch sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning that broke a 2-2 tie to swell the Dodgers' lead in the National League's Western Division to a commanding eight games. The victory was the Dodgers' 12th in their last 14 games.

There are some who are suggesting there is animosity in the battle between Ferguson and Yeager over the No. 1 catching job. "Let me set that straight," Ferguson said after driving in coyd was second and Floyd Davis third. Bob Bunting, cochief mechanic on Car No. 95, won the mechanics division with a 39 and John O'Connold was tops among car owners with a 39.

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On Approvtct Credit then was walked intentionally. Yeager was next. But he was hit with a pitch, to load the bases. Ferguson batted for Dave Lopes and flied deep to cen-terficlder Cesar Goronimo, scoring Crawford to win it. Afterward, Cincinnati manager Sparky Anderson, who was ejected from the game in the seventh inning for disputing a strike call at the plate, bemoaned the Reds' eight-game deficit.

"We have to win some games from the Dodgers, no doubt about that," he said. "I'd say we have to win no less than 9 of the next 14 we play them. They have a nice IILJb Ill PffiWS Hi cyclists around the track beginning about 3 o'clock tomorrow. The bike race, which pits the 33 drivers qualified for Sunday's 500-Mile Race with guest riders, will follow pit practice from 1 to 3 p.m. Car-burction tests will precede pit practice from 10 a.m.

to 1 o'clock. Olympian Wayne Stetina of Indianapolis, who has captained Delia Chi Fraternity to victory in the last two Little 500 races at Indiana University, will pace the first "Indy 5" bicycle race at the Speedway. The 20-ycar-old I.U. sophomore, who has won 9 of 13 events this season around the county will lead aficlf33 South 876 So. U.S.

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