Motor Racing Roundup : Fittipaldi Wins 200 While Running on Empty

What Emerson Fittipaldi didn’t know didn’t hurt him.

Fittipaldi did not know how close the Patrick Racing team was cutting it on fuel as he drove to victory in the Budweiser-G.I. Joe 200 Indy car race Sunday at Portland, Ore.

“We have an onboard readout, but the reading is how much (fuel) I’m consuming,” Fittipaldi said. “I didn’t know how much they put in the car on the last stop or how much I had left.

“I just know they kept saying, ‘Save fuel, save fuel.’ ”

The Brazilian took the checkered flag for his second straight victory and third in the last four starts just moments before the Chevrolet Indy V8 engine in his Penske PC18 stalled--out of fuel.

Fittipaldi led for 62 of the 104 laps on the 1.922-mile, nine-turn road course, including the final 34. He managed to avoid a variety of troubles that plagued many in the 26-car field.

Fittipaldi, who started his hot streak with a victory in the Indianapolis 500 last month, also won the Detroit Grand Prix last Sunday.

His car crossed the finish line in Portland 20.36 seconds--about one-third of a lap--ahead of the Lola-Cosworth of two-time CART-PPG champion Bobby Rahal.

“We ran hard but we were by no means the fastest thing in a straight line,” Rahal said. “We couldn’t stay with the Chevys on the straightaways but we were running better than they were in the turns. We just had to run hard every lap.”

After Fittipaldi ran out of fuel, he wound up hitching a ride on the sidepod of Rahal’s car.

Arie Luyendyk of the Netherlands was third, the last competitor on the lead lap, followed by Teo Fabi of Italy and Scott Pruett, both one lap behind, and Michael Andretti, two laps back.

Fittipaldi, who averaged 103.98 m.p.h., took sole possession of the series point lead, breaking a tie for with Rick Mears, who finished eighth.

Bill Elliott, winningest active NASCAR Winston Cup driver at Michigan International Speedway, beat Rusty Wallace by 1.99 seconds for his first win of the season in the Miller 400 at Brooklyn, Mich.

Elliott, who averaged 139.023 m.p.h., earned $71,450 for the victory, the seventh of his career on the high-banked two-mile oval.

The race, run in 85-degree temperatures, came down to an 11-lap sprint between Elliott’s Ford Thunderbird, Wallace’s Pontiac Grand Prix and Darrell Waltrip’s Chevrolet Lumina.

Waltrip had a big lead, but Elliott began moving up fast, taking second place with nine laps remaining and passing Waltrip coming out of the fourth turn to lead with seven laps left.

Elliott pulled steadily away from the pack. Wallace moved around Waltrip on the third turn with two laps left and finished second.

In 1984 and ‘86, Elliott also came to Michigan looking for his first win of the season and he won both times. It was the 30th career victory in 275 starts for Elliott, who won the Winston Cup title last season.

Jean Louis Schlesser of France and Jochen Mass of West Germany, driving a Sauber Mercedes, won the world sports prototype championship race at Madrid, Spain.