Andretti Is the Right Horse on Long Beach Street Course : Grand Prix: He won the first Indy car race there, in 1984, and repeated in 1985 and ’87. And he saw his son, Michael, get his first career Indy car victory on the layout that has changed auto racing.

Mario Andretti was in Long Beach in 1975 when Chris Pook revolutionized motor racing by promoting the first modern-era temporary-circuit street race in the United States.

Andretti, as usual, was the fastest driver that summer day in September when 45,000 curious spectators paid to watch a Formula 5,000 race along Ocean Boulevard--past the porno shops and the waterfront bars--and as many more watched for free from windows and balconies of high-rise buildings.

He was driving a Viceroy Lola that day for Parnelli Jones and Vel Miletich, but after sitting on the pole with a speed of 89.450 m.p.h., he dropped out with a balky transmission. England’s Brian Redman won the street inaugural in an all-white Boraxo Lola.

Andretti is back today for his 15th start in 16 years in Pook’s annual Long Beach festival of speed.

As in 1975, he is in a Lola, but this one is the latest 1990 model, a T9000, powered by a Chevy Indy V-8 engine. The car is owned by Carl Haas and Paul Newman and is part of a team that includes Andretti’s son, Michael, who was 12 at the time of the first race.

After 15 years, Mario was only a tick slower Saturday than he was in 1975 when he qualified fifth for today’s race at 88.822 m.p.h.

No one, other than Pook himself, has been more responsible for the growth and success of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach than the elder Andretti.

He won a Formula One event in 1977 by passing South Africa’s Jody Scheckter on the final lap of a race that established Long Beach as a major event.

“When he won our race in 1977, the excitement he created put us over the hill,” Pook said. “The next year, when he became world champion, racing--and Long Beach--got a worldwide ambassador. Mario has a unique quality that enables him to relate to everyone in the sport on a global basis. Not everyone gives him enough recognition for that.”

Long Beach switched to Indy Cars in 1984 and Andretti won that race and repeated in 1985 and ’87.

He was on the track the day Michael Andretti won the first race of his Indy car career in 1986.

“I’ve had a lot of good times here, no doubt about it,” Andretti said. “It’s no small feat to have the things happen to a person that have happened to me in Long Beach.

“It’s hard to find a bigger thrill than winning a (Formula One) Grand Prix in your own country, like I did in 1977, but each win is special to a driver, so I have a lot of special memories of this track. It has had three or four different configurations, but I liked them all. It helps to have a good car under you, and I always seemed to have one when I come here. Long Beach is one of my favorite tracks (of) anywhere in the world.

“Seeing Michael win his first race carried a lot of excitement, too. Only a father who raced could know how proud I was that day.”

The Formula 5,000 race in 1975 was an experiment, a dry run for a Formula One race the following March.

“The CSI (world racing body at that time) made us hold a race to prove we could do it, and that the track was adequate before we could put on a Grand Prix,” Pook said. “The entire concept for a street race, using cement barriers for guard rails, cable fencing and tire piles in runoff areas, was pioneered right here.

“We also pioneered pit suites for Formula One in 1982. And we were the first to have hospitality tents. Now they’re on every circuit in the world.”

Although thousands of enthusiasts now mill through the paddock and garages to watch as mechanics and drivers prepare for the 158.65-mile race, it was not a guaranteed success in its formative years.

The Grand Prix drivers were appalled in 1976 by the cement barriers that lined the course. They had never seen anything like them. But an incident occurred in their first race that convinced them of their value.

“Gunnar Nilsson was coming down Shoreline Drive about 190 (m.p.h.)--the course went all the way up to Ocean (Boulevard) then and the straightaway was longer--when his suspension broke and the car turned sharp left, straight into the cement barriers,” Pook said. “The barrier did what we’d hoped it would do: It sent Nilsson sliding along the concrete, probably 150 yards down the track.

“Everyone in Formula One had predicted an impact like that would likely be a fatality, but Gunnar walked away with nothing more than a sore neck. The accident went a long way toward making street circuits a thing of the future. It showed that concrete barriers were safer, not more dangerous, and we were accepted.”

It took a few years before the temporary-circuit concept caught on, but after a cement barrier-lined track was built in the Caesars Palace parking lot (in Las Vegas) in 1981, cities around the country sought to have a race on their streets.

This year, seven events in the 16 PPG/CART Indy car series will be on temporary circuits. Races will be on city streets in Detroit, Toronto, Denver, Vancouver, Canada; and East Rutherford, N. J., and at the Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, as well as in Long Beach.

Other street races are scheduled for Miami, San Antonio, Tampa and Del Mar by the International Motor Sports Assn., and for Des Moines, Iowa; Dallas and St. Petersburg, Fla., by the Sports Car Club of America.

The Long Beach race has also helped change the face of the city that was once known as Iowa West, an old-folks’ town with a lovely bay.

The original course started and finished on Ocean Boulevard, with the first turn a sharp right-hander that dipped down Linden Avene onto the flatlands around the Sports Arena. The cars returned to Ocean Boulevard, after a 2.02-mile circuit, by a steep uphill on Pine Avenue, where they often became airborne as they crested the rise.

“The race drew so much attention to the sleazy atmosphere along Ocean Boulevard and the rest of the area where we ran, that little by little, the city began to change it with new hotels, office buildings and then the Shoreline Village,” Pook said. “In 1982, we had to get off Ocean Boulevard because it had changed so much.”

The course was shortened from 2.02 miles to 1.67 miles in 1984 and has remained at that distance. The start-finish line is along Shoreline Drive, which during the 95 laps becomes a three-quarter-mile curving speed trap. Turns 1 through 4 are at the west end, along Pine Street, where the cars sweep through the underground garage of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in a series of four 90-degree turns. Turn 9 is along Seaside Way, which leads to the fast Turn 10 and the hairpin Turn 11 that brings them back to Shoreline Drive.

Andretti set the track record of 92.190 m.p.h. in 1985, one of four times he has been fast qualifier in Long Beach.

“Most of the time I’ve been here, I couldn’t have been happier, but not last year,” Andretti said.

“That was one of the most frustrating things that have happened, to get knocked not just out of the lead, but out of the race.”

Ten laps from the finish, Andretti was leading when Al Unser Jr. attempted a pass between Turns 2 and 3. When Unser locked up his brakes, his car slid into the rear of Andretti’s and spun Andretti into the wall.

Unser, unaffected by the collision, continued on to win. Andretti was credited with 18th place.

“Not only did he take the win away from me, he took away all the (PPG Cup) points,” Andretti said. “Even if he’d made a clean pass, the worst I would have been was second. It was terribly frustrating.”

Then he paused, smiled and said, “That was a year ago, and it still hurts, but as far as the 16 years here are concerned, it’s been a happy place for the Andrettis.

“The most amazing thing is that we’re still here after 16 years, racing at the same place. It’s a tribute to the city of Long Beach that they recognized what our sport can do for them, and we should feel grateful to the city for giving us the opportunity.”