MOTOR RACING ROUNDUP : Sullivan Wins; Unser Loses to Fire

Fire, one of the perils that drivers fear most, gave Danny Sullivan a victory in Sunday’s Cleveland Grand Prix.

A frightening pit fire spoiled a strong showing by Al Unser Jr., knocking him from a race he had dominated and injuring several of his crewmen, none seriously.

Unser led all but six of the first 62 laps at Burke Lakefront Airport and appeared a good bet to score his third victory of the season before he made what was supposed to be a routine stop.

As his crew serviced the Chevrolet-powered Lola, it appeared that the nozzle on the fuel hose missed its receptacle on the side of the car. Methanol from the hose splashed onto the car and momentarily burst into flame.

Unser, who had his helmet visor up as he took a cool drink during the stop on the hot afternoon, was sprayed with fuel, irritating his eyes and causing superficial facial burns and singed eyebrows. Several crewman were burned before other members of the crew and safety officials could splash everyone down with buckets of water.

Two crewmen were taken to Cleveland Metro General Hospital. Officials said both had first- and third-degree burns to the face and groin and were expected to be released after treatment.

Two others were checked for minor injuries at the track and released.

Sullivan, who had been running a bit more than one second behind Unser under the green flag, inherited the lead. He went into the pits the next time around and returned to the track with the lead under the ensuing caution period.

He said he could see the confusion in Unser’s pit, adding, “All of us drivers are control freaks. Our biggest fear is fire or something breaking on the car.”

Sullivan led the rest of the 85-lap, 201.4-mile race, averaging 112.67 m.p.h. in his Penske 90 Chevrolet and beating Bobby Rahal, Unser’s teammate, to the finish line by 5.02 seconds. It was Rahal’s fourth second-place finish in seven races this season.

It was Sullivan’s 14th victory. He is the fifth driver to win in seven CART-PPG events this season.

Emerson Fittipaldi, the defending race and series champion and a teammate of Sullivan, was third, followed by Mario Andretti.

Record-setting pole-winner Rick Mears was eighth. He was fourth until a mechanical problems stopped him three laps from the end. Still, he moved past Unser in the driver points standings, 85-83.

Alain Prost waited for his only chance, then burst past a sputtering Ivan Capelli with two laps left for his third consecutive French Grand Prix victory at Le Castellet.

The Frenchman gave Ferrari its 100th victory in Formula One racing. It was Prost’s second victory in a row, giving him 42 for his career.

Prost trailed Capelli for 77 of the 80 laps on the 2.37-mile circuit built in a forest near Marseille. Three-quarters of the way through the 78th lap, Prost cut inside of Capelli just before a double right-hand curve, hit the accelerator and shot into the lead.

“It was the only place possible I could do it without risking second,” Prost said. He had twice tried it earlier, only to be blocked by Capelli.

Chuck Bown led 200 of 250 laps and held off Tommy Houston by 0.4 of a second to win the $214,000 Oxford, Maine, 250 Grand National stock car race, the richest short-track event ever run in the Busch Series.

Bown, driving a Pontiac from the seventh starting position, earned $51,782 for his fifth victory in 17 races this season.

Bown averaged 53.380 m.p.h. for 250 laps on the one-third-mile track.

Joey Kouragas was third in a Pontiac.