The Indianapolis News from Indianapolis, Indiana • 26

1 r1 r- Paje 26 Monday, May 25. 19 THE INDIANAPOLIS NEWS 1 Lin Al 'a 4s nef dream: Victory for "I probably would drive said Unser. "I'd love to see thenr come. I think it's neat." There were no position changes jj when the official finish was posted today. Several drivers' lap figures were changed, but it didn't alter "I really don't know what's going to happen." Unser said he has received no offers yet for a ride the rest of the season.

"But I really haven't had time to get on the telephone," he added with a smile. "I don't know where the offers would come from. There are not that many new car owners and the teams that had problems yesterday, they can't do it." Porsche, which plans to enter the last three CART races of the season and will be here next year, is a possibility since most drivers are under contract for the year. Bobby last won the 500 in 1981. "I wanted Al to race, too." Al Jr.

finished fourth in Sunday's Race, four laps behind his father. Big Al came to the Speedway without a ride and is leaving it without one, too. He landed a ride here with former boss Roger Penske only after replacing the injured Danny Ongais in the No. 25 car. What are Unser's plans now? "I have no other plans than what I had last Saturday," said Unser.

"I'll probably watch some of the races and go from there. "People were asking me after the first time I won this race (in 1970) if I was going to quit and I said, 'Heck. I just started. "If 20 years ago we'd been standing here and I would have said I'll be running when I'm 47 years old, you would have torn up your notes and left." Unser will turn 48 Friday. Big Al said not only would he like to be the father of a 500-Mile Race winner, but the grandfather of one, too.

Al Jr. has a 4-year-old son, Al III. or Mini-Al as he has been nicknamed. "I would like to see him race, sure," said Unser, whose brother MA Indianapolis Newt Al Unser has won the 500-Mile ftace four times, but his mission is far from complete. "I hope my boy Al wins here," said Unser early today at his garage in Gasoline Alley.

"It would tickle ri)e to death. jk "It would make everything come true." But it would not influence Big Al On his thoughts about retiring from racing. "No way would it," he said. "I'll face until the day I feel I'm not Competitive anymore or I can't get a fide. Gary Bettenhausen was credited with 195 laps (instead of 194), Dick Simon 193 (instead of 192).

Scott 1 Brayton 167 (instead of 169). Derek Daley 133 (instead of 132) and A. jjfi Foyt 117 (Instead of 1 16). Brayton'aTj change was the result of a two-lapOT penalty for passing on the yellow. No protests were filed.

ZACH DUNKIN V'U''-'v- lst 3rd 4th 5th 6th AlUnMfSr. Roberto Fabrizio Al Unser Jr. Gary Dick Simon i 200 Ups Guerrero Barbazza 196 Ups Bettenhausen 193 Ups jkf Jij 2001aps 1981.P. 195 laps Us "'it, SL. -a A lU Tt 7th 8th 9th ioth nth 12th 1 V' Stan Fox Jeff Mario Andretti Tony Johnny Scott Brayton S- 192 Up MacPherson 180 laps Bettenhausen Rutherford 167 laps CTfr' 182 171 laps 171 Ups aftV i- 1 K-'xL 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th Witfc kok P)t I c5" i nzi Tom Sneva 143 laps Arie Lnyendyk 125 Ups Derek Daly 133 laps Josele Garza 129 Ups Ths News Photo, Kan Prlbblo Fabrizio Barbazza is ecstatic over bis third-place finish.

91 Emerson Fittipaldl 131 Ups 20th 19th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th frf Barbazza effervescent over third-place finish Italian driver beats five other rookies in Race A.J. Foyt 117 Ups Rich Vogler 109 Ups Ed Pimm 109 Ups Geoff Brabham 71 Ups Rick Mean 75 Ups Gordon Johncock 76 Ups 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th kH il (53 PTI ISR popped off. He spun, but averted a collision with the wall. "This place is so deceptive," said the 30-year-old Canadian. "You can run 100 or 200 laps during the month and everything feels good and comfortable.

"Then suddenly, when something goes wrong, it really gets your attention with just how fast you're going, how narrow the track looks how the wall comes at you. "I'm Just thankful I didn't touch the wall." said Heimrath. "Now we have a car to race next weekend at Milwaukee." Randy Lewis, the first rookie out of Sunday's race, will have work to do before his car is ready for its next race. Lewis, 41, sputtered for only eight laps before falling out. victimized by a bad gearbox.

"I didn't think I'd enjoy this place near this much," he said. "Now I'm Just looking forward to getting back." Steve Chassey 68 Ups Bobby Rahal Pancho Carter 57 Ups 45 Ups Davy Jones Michael 34 Ups Andretti 28 Ups Ludwig Heimrath Jr. 25 Ups 33rd 31st 32nd I ,1 I Randy Lewis 8 Ups George Snider OUps Kevin Cogan 21 Ups bazza did, fighting turbulence nearly every mile of the way. He joked some about his difficulties, comparing 1987 to last year when as a spectator he fell asleep watching the race from the first turn. But the 24-year-old driver also admitted his experience with Formula Three cars never prepared him for such a ride.

"I've never had turbulence like this never," he said. "I learned while driving in this race." Fellow rookie Stan Fox, 34, finished seventh after starting in the middle of the ninth row. "We kind of lucked into it when a lot of people dropped out." said Fox. the only car among four A.J. Foyt entries to complete 500 miles.

The third and only other first-year driver to finish the race was Jeff MacPherson In eighth place. "To finish was my goal," said the 30-year-old MacPherson. "To finish in the top 10 is added, but I felt something was missing." Three other rookies were relaxing In their garages or cheering teammates before 100 miles had been run. Davy Jones, at 22 the youngest driver and also the fastest rookie qualifier, fell by the wayside with a hole in his engine after lap 34. But Jones stayed in the pits to absorb whatever he could until Foyt, his mentor, dropped out on the 1 15th lap.

"Emotionally, (the race) was no problem. I was so relaxed," said Jones. "I wanted to use the whole race to learn as much as I could." Ludwig Heimrath Jr. started with the best rookie spot on the inside of fourth row and led the first-year drivers after 1 6 laps. Then, In the chute between the third and fourth turns.

-Helmrath's left rear wheel By TOM RIETMANN Tho Indianapolis Nwc Driver Fabrizio Barbazza. feeling like a winner, uncorked the first bottle of champagne and doused all within spraying distance. Then pop, pop, fizz, fizz suddenly there came two more champagne showers in garage 25. "For me. it being the first time here, this is like a victory." said Barbazza, his curly hair dripping with bubbly.

The 24-year-old driver survived his first bout with tricky turbulence, as well as a late-race 360-degree spin, to wind up third in Sunday's 500-Mile That finish placed the Monza, Italy, native atop a field of six rookies and made him a shoo-in to be named rookie of the year. "Just like a victory," he repeated later, before receiving a telephone call from his father in Italy. Barbazza started from the middle of the sixth row, ascended to the 12th spot by lap 35 and creeped his way to the top as cars dropped out. He insisted a top 10 finish was his goal, but crew chief Paul Daitlovich told a different story. "We think we could have won it." said Daitlovich.

chief of the Arciero entry. "We knew we had a handle on it once we made the car go fast and we were running ahead of (eventual winner) Al (Unser) Sr." Maybe, but Barbazza felt fortunate just to escape his fourth-turn spin on lap 162. Daitlovich blamed a broken piece of wing for the pirouette. "I didn't know what happened," Barbazza explained in broken English. "At first I closed my eyes, waiting for the crash.

"Then I thought. 'It's better to open your eyes. If you see a way out, you can push on the gas and go And go again is what Bar Mario: He won't dance for Unser (i-No Longer Racing) Al Unser Sr. 91,790,816 A. J.

Foyt 1,730,466 Rick Mears 1,551,462 Johnny Rutherford 1,482,774 Tom Sneva 1,214,853 Mario Andretti 1,180,402 x-Bobby Unser 1,169,527 Gordon Johncock 1,157,294 Bobby Rahal 842,688 1. 2. 3. 4. S.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

16. Danny Sullivan 756,576 670,796 597,976 Pancho carter Kevin Cogan George Snider Gary Bettenhausen 569,544 502,522 483,853 468,290 Dick Simon Roberto Guerrero "I'm happy for him. but I'm not going to sing and dance for him." If Andretti was not ready to sing and dance, he was ready to "press on. We'll Just have to go on our merry way to Milwaukee (next Sunday). "I've lost a lot of races like this.

1 think the more disappointments you have, the sweeter it makes the victory. You know it doesn't come easy. "There are a thousand and one things that can go wrong. I think everything was done to prepare us as well as possible. We even got the car blessed." "I'll try to win it again," said Andretti.

9 Continuod if om Page) 25 yellows, and fuel mileage was abundant. Pausing for emphasis, Andretti said, "I don't want to hear anything more about the Goodyear (radial) tires. They were absolutely immaculate." The HaasNewman team was Just about ready to put on a set of tires that already had gone 40 miles on the car when disaster struck. "I drove the car as smoothly as I could, knowing the cushion I had." said Andretti. "I was thinking.

'Just take care of this baby and bring it "Then all of a sudden the thing backfired. There was no warning." Andretti was driving between the third and fourth turn on his Lap 178 when he heard the pop that signaled his end. Instead of pitting immediately, Andretti thought he might be able to figure out the problem while driving. He couldn't. "When 1 went in (on Lap 180), the engine died and raw fuel was going in it.

I couldn't keep the engine running. It was like It was flooding out." What did Andretti think of Al Unser Sr. winning a fourth title to tie A.J. Foyt for most victories? "Al Is a good friend of mine. He came without a ride and it was a great stroke of luck for him.

It shows you how fickle this place can be. Ccxccx Iccdczs LEADING LAPS 1. Rait OtPakna 13 UflMT 113 A J. Foyt SS Wilbur Shav SOS .42 BM Vukovich Sr. .440 I.

Bobby Untor (. Billy Arnold 10. Gordon Johncock 410 XL.