Phoenix 200 : With Mears Out, Mario Andretti Wins It

Racing teams can spend millions of dollars on aerodynamic engineering, exotic Space Age materials and turbocharged engines, but all the money in the world can’t control traffic.

Traffic in the Checker 200 Sunday on the mile oval at Phoenix International Raceway wasn’t as slow as freeway rush hours, but it was just as crowded. And just as unpredictable.

Rarely has a car seemed as dominant in a race as Rick Mears’ Penske-Chevrolet did in the early laps of the season-opening Indy car race. By the seventh lap he was lapping slower cars and by the 20th lap he had overtaken half the field.

On Mears’ 22nd time around, a Sunday driver ruined his day.

Mario Andretti was the benefactor of Mears’ bad luck, driving his Lola-Chevrolet to his 50th career Indy car win and his first in Phoenix since 1967. The 48-year-old former world champion collected $38,460 for finishing more than a half-lap ahead of Roberto Guerrero and his son, Michael Andretti, who were the only other drivers on the same lap.

A.J. Foyt was fourth and Brazilian Raul Boesel fifth, both two laps back. Teo Fabi brought Porsche its first Indy car race finish when he ended up seventh driving a March chassis with a Porsche engine.

Andretti led the last 134 laps after Randy Lewis had put Mears out of the race on lap 22 and a pit fire had knocked Arie Luyendyk out of the lead on lap 66. Once Andretti got in front he was more than a lap ahead of everyone on the track and allowed himself the luxury of letting Guerrero and son Michael pass him late in the 1-hour 38-minute 22-second race.

Many spectators who made up a record Phoenix crowd of 45,500 were still backed up in traffic, trying to get into the stands and completely missed Mears’ performance.

Driving the canary yellow Penske, Mears was preparing to lap Foyt when he came up on Lewis, a driver he had already lapped once. But he never made it to Foyt.

Mears was passing Lewis on the outside of the fourth turn when, inexplicably, Lewis turned his nose into the side of Mears’ car. The impact pushed Mears around, and he slid backward along the pit wall almost the length of the straightaway.

“When I got my front wheels ahead of him, I knew I was home free,” Mears said. “I know I gave him a lot of room because we talked about traffic in the drivers’ meeting. I was being so careful. I hesitated a bit, then when there was a good opening on the outside I went around him.

“I couldn’t even see him when he hit me. He had to see me when he moved over on me. He got my left rear with his right front. I don’t know how he did it.”

Lewis, 42, is a second-year Indy car driver from Hillsborough, Calif. Scott Brayton inherited the lead at that point, but was quickly run down by Luyendyk, who led for 33 laps. The Dutchman was still ahead when he pitted his black Lola for fuel on lap 66, but when a fire broke out in the fueling mechanism the crew doused Luyendyk and the car with water. One crew member was hospitalized briefly with burns about the face.

Ten laps later, when the car and the driver had been dried off, Luyendyk returned to the race and finished ninth.

“It’s disappointing to me, what happened today, but we got back in time to pick up four points,” Luyendyk said. “It was gratifying to know that the car was working so well.”

Mario Andretti, driving cautiously but consistently on the hot, sunny Sunday, never came close to losing the lead once he took over from Luyendyk. One fortunate break on the track, followed by some quick pit work, put the Haas-Newman Lola more than a lap ahead of the remaining cars.

Mario had been planning to refuel and was in the fourth turn, just before ducking into his pits, when a caution flag was displayed. Andretti was in and out of the pits with enough fuel to finish the race before any of his challengers realized what was happening.

“We had every advantage in the pits,” Andretti said. “We were ready for our final pit when I saw the yellow flag coming out of the fourth turn. We knew the tires would stay under us and the light load would give us an advantage later in the race.

“I didn’t want to take any risks, so when those guys (Guerrero and Michael Andretti) wanted to pass me, it was fine by me. I think if I hadn’t known that I was a lap ahead, Roberto might have found it much more difficult to get around me.”

Guerrero, who was last year’s winner here, was making his first start since being hospitalized during a two-week coma last September after being struck in the head by a flying wheel while practicing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“For my first time back, I have to be happy,” the Colombian driver said. “I knew I was completely back (from the accident), but this proved it to a lot of skeptical people. This was the first and I hope the last time that I am happy to finish second.”

Some of the most exciting racing of the day occured in the final 15 laps when Michael Andretti repeatedly challenged Guerrero for second place. At one point, Michael seemed to have passed him in the first turn, but the gritty Guerrero fought him off by driving side-by-side all the way through the second turn.

“I couldn’t quite do it,” Michael said. “It was like a see-saw. I almost had him one time, but then we ran into some tough traffic.”

In a preliminary race for Formula Russell cars, four people in the pits were injured when a wheel flew off one of the cars and catapulted over the pit wall. Bill Baue, a Leader Card team worker, suffered a fractured pelvis and a concussion. Rick Schroeder, a CART observer, also suffered a concussion. Both were taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix where they each were listed in guarded condition.