INDY 500 NOTEBOOK : When the Green Flag Drops, You Play It by Ear

One of the surprises here this month has been Arie Luyendyk, a Dutchman whose qualifying speed of 223.304 m.p.h. put him outside in the first row, his best starting spot in six Indianapolis 500 races.

So, will Luyendyk battle Emerson Fittipaldi and Rick Mears in an attempt to lead through the first turn when the green flag falls Sunday?

“I’ll play it by ear,” he said. “I’ll keep up there with them, and if I can get to the corner first, I will, but I won’t be aggressive. I’m not going to say, ‘I want to be in the corner first.’ ”

A year ago, starting 15th, he passed seven cars on the first lap.

But that was different, he said, adding: “It just happened. It wasn’t planned. We had a little engine problem in qualifying, so the car was faster than we qualified.”

Belgian driver Bernard Jourdain was released from Methodist Hospital, where his spleen had been removed.

Jourdain suffered a ruptured spleen and a punctured left foot in a crash during practice last Friday.

He faces at least six weeks of rehabilitation, but is hoping to return to driving in the IMSA Camel GT sports car event at Sears Point, north of San Francisco, in July.

A.J. Foyt, at 55 the oldest driver to start an Indy 500, on his race-day strategy: “I really don’t know. When they drop that green flag Sunday, you don’t know what the race strategy is. You just take off with them.”

Foyt will start his 33rd consecutive 500 from the middle of the third row, but this will be his first as a doctor. He will be awarded an honorary doctorate in engineering today in graduation ceremonies at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind., about 80 miles southwest of here.

Roberto Guerrero and four-time winner Al Unser will drive cars powered by Alfa-Romeo engines Sunday, the first time that powerplant has appeared here since 1948.

In that race, Johnny Mauro of Denver drove the Alfa to eighth place, surprising even himself.

After two other drivers had failed to qualify the car, it was put up for sale. Mauro, dissatisfied with the rides he had been offered, borrowed $3,000, bought the car and qualified it after his mechanic had lowered the gear ratios.

“I knew I had to finish the race to make any money, and I had to make some money because I didn’t have enough to pay for the car,” said Mauro, who at 79 operates truck-driving schools in Colorado Springs, Colo.; Tulsa, Okla., and Rialto, Calif.

“I just decided it didn’t matter who else was out there, I was going to drive my own race, stay out of trouble and try to finish. And darned if I didn’t.”

Mauro made about $4,000 for his trouble, then sold the car for the same $3,000 he had paid for it, paid off his loan and pocketed the $4,000 profit.

Racing was a much simpler proposition in those days. Cheaper, too.