Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 29, 1995 TAG: 9506010008
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Long
In a wild finish to a race that began with a multi-car wreck, Villeneuve drove to victory after Scott Goodyear was penalized for passing the pace car on the last restart, just 11 laps from the end.
With the black flag flapping in the brisk wind, Goodyear refused to come off the track.
``Everybody in the world knows who won this race,'' Goodyear said.
Villeneuve, 24, came back from a two-lap deficit, the most by any Indy winner, to close out perhaps the most bizarre month of racing ever at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
``What a fight. What a driver,'' said Villeneuve's car owner Barry Green. ``We ran 505 miles out there, and I thought we might need to be paid a little extra.''
Goodyear couldn't believe the U.S. Auto Club had called the devastating penalty.
Unless there is a change of heart by USAC, the winner that everybody will know about is Villeneuve, son of the late Formula One star Gilles Villeneuve.
The duel to the finish was set up as the pace car led Goodyear and second-place Villeneuve through turn 3 on lap 189, ready to let them get back to racing at the flagstand.
But, as the pace car came onto the main straightaway, near the pit entrance, Goodyear suddenly was up to speed, shooting past the Chevrolet Corvette as Villeneuve hit the brakes and maneuvered to keep from going by.
``By the time I was going past him, I saw the green light,'' said Goodyear, whose Tasman Motorsports team was furious. ``That was disappointing. We were racing to the end. I don't agree with what's going on here right now.
``When I was going past the pace car, the next light I looked up upon was the green light and that's all I needed to see. I was staying out because in my eyes it was perfect. If we came in and we found out it was a mistake, then it would be too late.''
Tom Binford, retiring after 22 years as Indy's chief steward, didn't see it that way.
``We saw it quite differently. The green did not come on. ... The one time you can pass a pace car is when you're waved around,'' he said.
Asked if there was any possibility of the penalty being lifted, Binford said, ``The violation took place and I applied the penalty that I have a responsibility to apply, so I do not think it would be changed.''
Villeneuve is the youngest driver to win the race since Troy Ruttman in 1952 and the fourth youngest ever.
He was penalized on lap 42 for passing the pace car under a yellow flag. That appeared to knock him out of contention, but Villeneuve came back to the front using strategic pit stops and yellow flags.
``He didn't slow down,'' Binford said. ``He just acted as if there weren't a yellow flag. That's the reason we penalized him two laps. The book calls for that.''
``I was really, really unhappy,'' the winner said. ``I think I was swearing, actually. I didn't think that we could make it after being two laps down. ... I stalled it on two pit stops. The first pit stop, I started before the refueling was done. But the car was really, really strong.''
As for the final restart, on lap 190 of the 200-lap race, Villeneuve said, ``Everybody was flying by the pace car. At that point, I thought that was it. I stayed close to Scott Goodyear. Then, when we got close to the pace car, I hit the brakes. You can't get by the pace car before he hits the pits. I knew he was going to be penalized.''
Green said the penalty against Villeneuve ``was just bad communication on our part. But we made it up.''
This was the culmination of a month that saw, among other things, the powerful Team Penske drivers, defending champion Al Unser Jr. and Emerson Fittipaldi, fail to find enough speed to qualify. That left Roger Penske, the all-time Indy leader with 10 victories, including six in the past 10 years and the last two in a row, without an entry.
With only three former champions, the fastest field in racing history also was the youngest and most inexperienced since the early years of the race.
Christian Fittipaldi, a 24-year-old rookie and Emerson's nephew, finished second, just ahead of 1986 winner Bobby Rahal. Eliseo Salazar, another rookie, was fourth, followed by 26-year-old Robby Gordon, who was fifth for the second straight year. Mauricio Gugelmin, in only his second Indy, led 59 laps - the most by anyone - and finished sixth.
Despite early morning rain, the sun broke through and the race began on time. But it was less than 10 seconds old before it was slowed by a multi-car wreck in which veteran sprint car driver Stan Fox was seriously injured.
Fox, who started in the fourth row, was racing into the first turn when his car appeared to drive over the rumble strips at the lower edge of the track and suddenly veered to the right. He slammed nearly head-on into the outside wall, then was hit by Eddie Cheever, whose car sheared off the front of Fox's car, leaving the driver totally exposed.
Fox, 42, a seven-time Indy starter who finished seventh as a rookie in 1987, sustained a head injury and was taken to Methodist Hospital. He was in intensive care following surgery to relieve pressure on the brain.
``I was on the outside of Stan. He just turned sharp right and went into the wall,'' Cheever said. ``I couldn't avoid him. He had a big hit.''
Debris from the incident was strewn across the track and several other drivers got caught in it, including Lyn St. James, the only woman in the 33-car field, Gil de Ferran, Danny Sullivan, rookie Carlos Guerrero and Eric Bachelart.
De Ferran, whose right front wheel was broken by a flying wheel from another car, drove slowly back to the pits on three wheels. Sullivan, who was hit in the helmet by debris, was able to continue and finished 19th. The others were knocked out of the race.
The last first-lap accident was in 1991, when Gary Bettenhausen slid sideways and Buddy Lazier spun into the wall trying to avoid him. Neither driver was injured.
Michael Andretti, again favored to win, led 41 of the first 77 laps. He was about to regain the lead from the pitting Gugelmin when he had to drive up the banking in the fourth turn to avoid the slowing car.
Andretti slid up into the wall, then made an almost 90-degree turn into the pits. The disappointed driver, who continued the legacy of frustration begun by father Mario after his 1969 victory, was done for the day.
``I was coming up on Mauricio,'' Andretti said. ``I guess he was slowing down to go into the pits and I didn't realize it until it was too late. I went a little wide, missed him and it went into the gray. It's like ice up there and I hit the wall.
``The car was beautiful, the best I ever had here,'' he added sadly.
Moments after Andretti's incident, Scott Sharp hit the wall in virtually the same place, stopping alongside the concrete barrier. He was not injured.
Pole-winner Scott Brayton and teammate Arie Luyendyk, who started in the middle of the front row, were unable to stay with the leaders following problems with their developmental Menard V6 engines.
The Menard stock block engines, which were born as Buicks, are given a slight horsepower advantage over the conventional Indy V8s under USAC rules, but haven't been reliable over 500 miles.
Luyendyk, the 1990 race winner, stalled his engine during his first stop, then had problems getting back up to speed. He wound up seventh. Brayton never was a factor and finished 17th. The pole sitter faded on the start as Goodyear jumped into the lead from the third starting position.
Scott Pruett, who came into the race as the season points leader, was locked in a battle for the lead with Goodyear before the late-race fireworks began.
Goodyear, using the powerful Honda engine to perfection, jumped Pruett on a restart on lap 177 and shot into the lead. Pruett then tried to run down the leader in a high-speed chase that saw the fastest laps of the race.
Goodyear's lap 179 was 224.009 mph; Pruett hit 223.580.
On lap 185, with Goodyear starting to pull away, Pruett got up high in turn 2, the rear end of his car began to slide and he tagged the outside wall, then hit the inside guardrail.
He wasn't hurt, but that left the finish to Goodyear and Villeneuve, who had been running in third.
Davy Jones also escaped injury in a one-car accident.
Villeneuve, who will win more than $1 million from a purse expected to top $8 million, finished the race in 3 hours, 15 minutes, 17.561 seconds. He averaged 153.616 mph in the unofficial standings. The official finish was to be posted six hours after the conclusion of the race.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB