Andretti, Rahal Crash; Al Unser Jr. Wins Race

Al Unser Jr. won the U.S. Grand Prix at East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday, while favorites Mario Andretti, Danny Sullivan and Bobby Rahal all fell victim to on-track incidents.

Unser, driving a Lola T-900, finished 36.5 seconds ahead of Brazil’s Emerson Fittipaldi, who was driving a March 85C.

It was the first win of the season for Unser, the 23-year-old son of three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser, and it was the second Indy-car victory of his career.

The elder Unser, 46, finished third.

Sullivan, who took the lead from pole-sitter Andretti on the 10th lap, spun and stalled his car on lap 30, losing three laps by the time he got the car restarted, pitted for tires and returned to action. Eventually, he retired with a turbocharger problem.

Andretti was leading Rahal by less than a second on lap 35 when he appeared to lock up his rear brakes. He swerved slightly and Rahal’s car ran into the rear of Andretti’s, shoving the latter’s Lola into the back of a car driven by Geoff Brabham of Australia. Both Andretti and Brabham hit the concrete barrier and were out of the race.

Rahal did manage to continue into the pits, but his car was badly damaged, and he had to retire for the day.

“I think he probably should try to check his depth perception,” said Andretti of Rahal, who also tangled with Andretti several weeks ago on the way to winning an International Race of Champions event at Lexington, Ohio. In that race, Rahal bumped Andretti while trying to pass him for the lead and spun Andretti’s car.

“Rahal hit me in the back under braking and pushed me into Brabham . . . this was senseless, really,” Andretti said. “Things like this can and should be avoided.”

Rahal said Andretti appeared to miss a shift, which Andretti denied, and then swerved into his line. “There was no place I could go,” Rahal said.

Andretti still leads the season standings with 82 points, followed by Fittipaldi with 52, Unser Sr. with 48 and Sullivan with 47. Unser Jr., who was second two weeks ago at Portland, is fifth with 42.

The winner averaged 90.167 m.p.h. in the race.

Doug Padilla outsprinted Thomas Wessinghage to win the men’s 3,000 meters as the United States scored an overwhelming victory over West Germany in a rain-drenched track and field meet at Bremen, West Germany.

Padilla won in 8:10.25 as he fought off a late challenge by Wessinghage, who was timed in 8:10.46.

Despite the absence of such stars as sprinter Carl Lewis and Edwin Moses, the U.S men defeated the West Germans in the two-day meet, 126-95, while the U.S. women won, 96-72.

Slippery conditions hindered Willie Banks’ attempt to become the first man to leap 59 feet in the triple jump. Banks won but managed a jump of only 55 feet 2 inches. He holds the world record of 58-11 1/2, which he set earlier this month at Indianapolis.

Michael Musyoki of Kenya finished first and two of his countrymen were second and third in the 15-kilometer Cascade Run Off through downtown Portland, Ore., and the surrounding hills.

Grete Waitz of Norway won the women’s division of the race in a course-record 48:35.

Musyoki was timed in 42:48, well off the world best 42:27 he ran in 1983. Runner-up Joseph Nzau finished in 43:03, and Simeon Kigen, last year’s winner, was third in 43:08.

Musyoki and Waitz won $10,000 each as $55,000 was divided among the top 10 men and women.

Led by 7-2 1/2 Arvidas Sabonis, who scored 23 points, the Soviet Union trounced Indiana University, 74-54, to win the Kirin World Basketball ’85 Championships at Tokyo. Steve Alford paced Indiana with 18 points.

In an earlier game, Japan’s national team came from behind to beat the Netherlands, 65-62, for third place.

Former heavyweight champion Leon Spinks scored a unanimous 10-round decision over Tommy (Franco) Thomas Saturday night at Santa Rosa, Calif., to win his fourth straight match of the year, running his pro record to 16-4-2.