Motor Racing

Although a tape recorder caught Mario Andretti’s pit crew urging him to create a caution period for his son during the Indianapolis 500, the U.S. Auto Club doesn’t plan to reopen its investigation.

Evans Rust, a fan from Scottsdale, Ariz., used a scanner to tape a message radioed to Andretti by his pit crew late in the race. At the time, Michael Andretti was running second behind Rick Mears, the eventual winner.

“Michael needs a yellow,” the voice on the tape says. “Stop, Mario. Create a yellow!”

After a long pause, the voice says, “We’ll come on down and pick you up.”

Mario Andretti, who finished seventh, did stop his car near the entrance to the pits but said it was because of mechanical problems.

“We are doing nothing about the tape. There is no acknowledgement from Mario on it indicating that he did anything wrong and the bottom line is that the stopping by Mario did not change the outcome of the race,” USAC spokesman Bill Marvel said.