Unser Keeps Fittipaldi Behind Him This Time

The hurt of losing the Indianapolis 500 on the next-to-last lap never will be totally erased, but Al Unser Jr. scrubbed away a little of it Sunday when he held off Emerson Fittipaldi--the man who beat him at Indy--to win the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

A record crowd of 86,500 watched a nose-to-tail race between the youthful Unser and the veteran Fittipaldi over the final 20 laps of the 95-lap race on the seashore streets of Long Beach.

For a time, it appeared as if Long Beach could have the same scenario as Indianapolis a year ago as Fittipaldi, the 43-year-old former world Formula One champion in the red and white No. 1 Penske-Chevy, pulled within striking distance of Unser, 28, in the red, white and blue No. 5 Lola-Chevy.

“I definitely saw a red and white car behind me,” Unser said with a smile.

But this time there was no last-minute attempt to pass, as there was last May when Fittipaldi survived a bumping incident to win the Indianapolis 500 as Unser spun into the wall.

“After the last stop, I drove as fast as I could, but he was faster than I was--that was the problem,” Fittipaldi said.

The victory, worth $143,908 to Unser, was his third in a row in the Long Beach street race.

Fittipaldi’s Marlboro Penske teammate, Danny Sullivan, finished third, just ahead of fast-closing Michael Andretti’s Newman-Haas Lola-Chevy.

What excitement there was in the first 70 laps came when Sullivan and Andretti had to charge through the 25-car field after an altercation on the first turn of the second lap.

Sullivan was third--close behind Fittipaldi--when he failed to brake in time and banged into the rear of Fittipaldi’s car. Sullivan spun in the middle of the turn. Andretti, fourth in the pack, locked up his brakes to avoid Sullivan and stalled his engine.

Sullivan, who admitted fault, was able to spin his car around and return to the race in 12th place.

“I wasn’t even thinking of passing Emerson,” Sullivan said. “I just screwed up. I came down into the corner and just rolled on the brakes with him, and I didn’t anticipate him braking quite as much. I was still rolling in when he was stopping a little faster than I thought. I jumped on the brakes and tapped his rear and spun around.”

Andretti was not as fortunate as Sullivan. He had to wait for the field to pass so course workers could push-start his car.

“It was a shame,” Andretti said. “It made every lap like qualifying after that. It was the only thing I could do. I was hoping for a yellow flag, which we finally got, but it was too late for me to catch Sully.”

The lone caution flag of the race, caused when Scott Goodyear and Dean Hall spun in Turn 9, a 90-degree corner off Seaside Way, came on Lap 66 and lasted five laps.

It enabled the field, which had been straggling behind Unser, to bunch close for a 25-lap dash to the checkered flag. Unser, who had held leads of as much as eight seconds, never could shake Fittipaldi but also never let him get close enough to attempt a pass.

“On the last 10 laps, I was very lucky in traffic,” Unser said. “I caught up (to slower cars) at just the right place, and when they saw me in their mirrors, they moved aside. They were very professional.

“It was a good day all around. Most of my success came in the pits. I had super pit stops. Those guys (the crew) worked their tails off.”

Unser led 91 of the 95 tours around the 11-turn, 1.67-mile circuit. The only time he gave up the front position was during his first pit stop. Mario Andretti held the lead for four laps, pitting later than Unser.

Unser and Fittipaldi both said neither thought of their tense struggle at Indianapolis during their equally tense duel Sunday.

“You’re concentrating so hard--or at least you’d better be--that you don’t have any time to think about things like that,” Unser said. “There are cement walls out there, and if you let your mind wander, they’ll bite you.”

Fittipaldi: “No, thoughts about the 500 never came to mind. I was too busy trying to find a chance to catch Al. Every time I thought I had a chance, he would go a little faster. Very frustrating.”

Sullivan said he was thinking about it, though, as he followed them from a distance.

“All I kept thinking about at the end of the race was Indianapolis last year,” Sullivan said. “There was Little Al and Emmo again, and I thought, ‘boy, this will be good.’ ”

After passing everyone but Unser and Fittipaldi, Sullivan and Michael Andretti waged a tense duel over the final laps.

“Another lap in traffic and maybe I’d have had a chance,” Andretti said. “I couldn’t seem to put the power down like I wanted to. I guess, considering what happened at the start, I should be satisfied with fourth.”

Unser’s victory, his 10th on road or street courses--without a win on an oval in his eight-year Indy car career--enabled him to pass Mario Andretti as the biggest money maker in road races. Unser has earned $2,153,793 to $2,082,684 for the elder Andretti.

Mario Andretti finished fifth, just behind son Michael, after having turbocharger problems that turned into a brake problem.

“For some reason, which I don’t know, the (turbocharger popoff) valve that I had been using all weekend went bad,” Mario said. “I had to dial the boost all the way back and the valve would blow. At the end of the straightaway, I couldn’t take advantage of what I had working for me.

“As a result, I started working the brakes hard and cooked them. The brakes got so they wouldn’t recover, so I had my brake foot to the bulkhead.”

Rick Mears, the runaway winner at Phoenix two weeks ago, finished sixth, a lap behind Unser.

“The car just never handled right,” Mears said. “We had a push in the corners and it was loose coming out. With that kind of inconsistency, you can’t do anything about it.”

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