Mears Cranks Up a Record 217.581 : He Knocks Teammate Sullivan Off the Pole for Indy 500

The “unfair advantage” that has set Roger Penske apart from other racing team owners for two decades was never more evident than it was Saturday.

First, Danny Sullivan and then, Rick Mears, both in Cosworth-powered Marches owned and prepared by the Penske team, obliterated records at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with an orgy of speed that was not anticipated by the most enthusiastic Indy car buffs.

Mears, with a single lap of the 2 1/2-mile rectangular oval at 217.581 m.p.h. and with four laps, or 10 miles, at an official qualifying speed of 216.828 m.p.h., won the pole for the 500-mile race on May 25.

He also collected $72,500, plus a Chevrolet van, for his record effort.

Sullivan, last year’s winner and Penske’s fourth 500 champion in seven years, had earlier speeds of 215.755 and 215.382 to erase Scott Brayton’s one-lap record of 214.199 and Pancho Carter’s four-lap mark of 212.583 from the 500 record book.

Al Unser, who won the national championship last year while sitting in for the injured Mears, tried to make it an all-Penske front row, but his newly created Chevrolet-powered Penske PC-15 could muster only 212.295 for a second-row berth.

Third, instead, with a place on the outside of the front row for the fastest Indy 500 in history will be youthful Michael Andretti, Mario’s son, who bumped his famous father into the second row with a four-lap run of 214.522.

When it was over, Penske, Mears and Sullivan all called it a “team effort,” which, in Penske parlance, is the ultimate unfair advantage.

“We came here to win, that’s how we go into this,” the silver-haired Penske said. “We don’t have a No. 1 driver, I think Rick will tell you that. If the team does well, you do well, and we just kind of leave it at that. The guys are here early in the morning and usually the last guys to leave at night, and that’s what we expect.”

It all looked so easy, and it all happened so smoothly, it must be true.

Penske, a former sports-car champion who runs a $700-million business as well as Indy car racing’s most successful team, watched from pit row with his stop watch as team manager Derrick Walker directed the operation.

When Mears completed his first lap, the Captain, as Penske is known, looked at the “217” on his watch and leaped up, triumphantly thrusting his fist in the air. It was a rare expression of elation from the all-business Penske.

Sullivan, wearing his familiar Hollywood-style wraparound dark glasses, was standing along pit wall, next to the track, when Mears took off in his Pennzoil yellow March-Cosworth. After giving his teammate the thumbs-up sign, Sullivan led the cheering when Mears broke the records that Sullivan had set 90 minutes earlier.

“Rick is probably the finest oval-track driver there is,” Sullivan said. “Sure, I would have liked to have the pole, but if Rick’s the only one to beat me, I don’t feel too bad.”

Mears’ performance, coming less than two years after a horrendous crash in Canada that damaged his feet and legs, gave the Bakersfield driver a clean sweep of all Indianapolis speed records.

He also holds the 500-mile record of 163.612 m.p.h. set in 1984 and the fastest lap recorded during a race, 204.937, on Lap 14 last year.

Mears’ 217.581 lap Saturday was also the fastest ever officially, anywhere, for an Indy car, surpassing the 215.202 by Bobby Rahal last year at Michigan.

It also was a continuation of Penske domination of the 500 since Penske and the late Mark Donohue left sports cars and road courses in 1969 to tackle Indy and its four left-turn corners. Since then, Penske drivers have won five times (Donohue in 1972, Mears in ‘79, Bobby Unser in ‘81, Mears again in ’84 and Sullivan last year), won the pole six times and had 18 front-row starters.

This is the second time that Penske has had the first and second qualifying positions--no one else has done it twice. His first was in ‘82, when Mears and Kevin Cogan started 1-2.

Other 1-2 starters were Team McLaren’s Tom Sneva and Howdy Holmes in ‘84, Joe Leonard and Graham Hill in STP turbine cars in ’68 and Novi team drivers Duke Nalon and Rex Mays in ’49.

“Everything just went perfect with my car all week long,” Mears explained. “It ran good when we got here, and we spent most of the week just fine-tuning it. We never had a problem of any consequence.”

Mears arrived last Sunday and ran 210.329 his first time on the track. Every day thereafter, he was either the fastest or second-fastest.

“I don’t know if the other guys noticed, but I was doing my laps in the middle of the day, when it was 80 degrees most of the time,” Mears said. “I avoided the Happy Hour (between 5 and 6 p.m. when the temperatures cool down) because I don’t believe it relates to what you can expect on pole day, or in the race, either.”

No one attained 215 before Saturday, when all the cars got out early in the morning for pre-qualifying practice. Eight or nine drivers, who had been closely bunched during the week, entertained thoughts of winning the pole--until Mears and Sullivan dropped their bombs.

First, Mears ran an unofficial 217.548, and shortly afterward, Sullivan came back with a 217.601.

Said three-time pole winner Tom Sneva: “I figured then that the rest of us were looking for the third spot in the front row.”

Sullivan blamed the midday heat for his failure to run back to the early- morning speed.

“When the track got hotter, it got a little slippery,” he said. “I slipped a little on Turn 3 on the fourth lap, and it probably cost me about a mile an hour.”

Sullivan was correct. He had three laps better than 215.6 when his bobble dropped him to 214.4 on the final lap.

Last year’s winner, who has become one of the most popular drivers at the Speedway if the applause meter on Saturday’s estimated 200,000 fans is any indicator, believes that speeds are about at the limit given them by 1986 model cars.

“Speed depends on the rules,” he said. “But after the rules, it becomes more than that. There are people like Buick, Chevrolet and Cosworth that come up with better engines. Goodyear develops a better tire. It’s all these things. It’s a package deal.

“Obviously, if you make a car that will drive around out there at 225 m.p.h., there’ll be 10 guys capable of doing it. It just depends on the equipment.”

Other qualifying developments:

--Randy Lanier, winner of the 1984 Times Grand Prix of Endurance at Riverside, became the fastest rookie qualifier in history when he ran 209.964 m.p.h. in Frank Arciero’s March.

--A.J. Foyt, bidding to qualify for his 29th consecutive 500, was not permitted to attempt a qualifying run after his March was found to have illegal sidepods. Gary Bettenhausen’s car had the same sidepod problem. Both will try today.

--Twenty-three cars qualified, including three rookies (Lanier, Roberto Moreno of Brazil and Jacques Villeneuve of Canada). The slowest qualifier was Geoff Brabham at 207.082.

--Pancho Carter, last year’s record-setting pole winner in a Buick-powered March, could make only the fifth row in a Cosworth-Lola with his 209.635.

--Four drivers--Mears, Sullivan, Michael Andretti and Bobby Rahal (213.550)--all bettered Carter’s year-old record.

--Scott Brayton, who set the one-lap record last year in another Buick, fared even worse than Carter. He was so disappointed at his practice speeds in a new Buick-March that he elected to wait until today, or perhaps next week.

--Dick Simon and his Brazilian protege, Raul Boesel, both apparently qualified, only to have both cars tossed out when they failed to pass a postqualifying inspection. Chief steward Tom Binford said both cars had illegal popoff valves, which could have permitted them extra horsepower.

--Had Simon remained in the field after his surprising 208.935 performance, or if he can get back in later, the San Juan Capistrano driver would be the oldest Indy 500 qualifier in history at age 52. Jim McElreath was also 52 when he last raced here in 1980, but he was five months younger than Simon.

--Dan Gurney’s Eagle, the only American-built chassis on the Speedway grounds, never made an appearance. Jan Lammers, Gurney’s driver, has managed only 196.249 in the car.

PARTIAL INDIANAPOLIS 500 FIELD

No. Driver (Hometown), Car-Engine Speed FIRST ROW 4 Rick Mears (Bakersfield), March-Cosworth 216.828 1 Danny Sullivan (Louisville), March-Cosworth 215.382 18 Michael Andretti (Nazareth, Pa.), March-Cosworth 214.522 SECOND ROW 3 Bobby Rahal (Dublin, Ohio), March-Cosworth 213.550 2 Mario Andretti (Nazareth, Pa.), Lola-Cosworth 212.300 11 Al Unser (Albuquerque, N.M.), Penske-Chevy 212.295 THIRD ROW 7 Kevin Cogan (Redondo Beach), March-Cosworth 211.922 33 Tom Sneva (Paradise Valley, Ariz.), March-Cosworth 211.878 5 Roberto Guerrero (Colombia), March Cosworth 211.576 FOURTH ROW 30 Al Unser Jr. (Albuquerque, N.M.), Lola-Cosworth 211.533 66 Ed Pimm (Dublin, Ohio), March-Cosworth 210.874 40 Emerson Fittipaldi (Brazil), March-Cosworth 210.237 FIFTH ROW 21 Johnny Rutherford (Fort Worth), March-Cosworth 210.220 12 *Randy Lanier (Davie, Fla.), March-Cosworth 209.964 15 Pancho Carter (Brownsburg, Ind.), Lola-Cosworth 209.635 SIXTH ROW 9 *Roberto Moreno (Brazil), Lola-Cosworth 209.469 81 *Jacques Villeneuve (Canada), March-Cosworth 209.397 25 Danny Ongais (Santa Ana), March-Buick 209.158 SEVENTH ROW 55 Josele Garza (Mexico), March-Cosworth 208.939 16 Tony Bettenhausen (Indianapolis), March-Cosworth 208.933 61 Arie Luyendyk (Netherlands), Lola-Cosworth 207.811 EIGHTH ROW 24 Dennis Firestone (Los Alamitos), Lola-Cosworth 207.471 8 Geoff Brabham (Noblesville, Ind.), Lola-Cosworth 207.082

Note: Qualifying resumes today, Saturday and next Sunday. Average speed of field: 210.884 m.p.h. *Rookie driver.