It All Comes Together for Lyn St. James

The Indianapolis 500 has its first female driver in 13 years, but it still doesn’t have a 33-car field for next Sunday’s 76th annual race.

Lyn St. James, running faster each time she took her 1991 Lola-Chevrolet around the 2 1/2-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway rectangular oval, qualified at 220.150 m.p.h. Saturday to earn the 30th starting position.

Although she and car owner Dick Simon held out until the last minute in hopes she could get her original car, a Lola-Cosworth, up to speed, St. James switched to a Chevrolet engine for her qualifying attempt. St. James, a spokeswoman for the Ford Motor Co. who recently signed a new 10-year personal services contract, would not make the car switch until she received theapproval of the Ford hierarchy.

“I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for all the support I’ve had over the years from Ford,” she said. “But that Chevy ran absolutely perfect.”

Her lap sequence was 218.585, 220.011, 220.902 and 221.119.

St. James, who will be making her first start in an open-wheel, open-cockpit race after a lengthy and successful career in sedans and sports cars, credited car owner Dick Simon with coaching her.

“It’s been golden,” she said of her association with Simon, which started in 1988 when she first tested an Indy car with him in Memphis, Tenn. “He always seems to know what’s going on in my mind. Because he is a former driver, he senses what I need to know. He’s a leader, he cares and he is incredibly knowledgeable.”

In qualifying, the 45-year-old Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., driver became the oldest rookie to make the field in 500 history. The previous oldest rookie was Walt Hansgen, who was 44 in 1964.

Simon, who also was Janet Guthrie’s mentor when she became the first woman at Indy in 1977, said both he and St. James owed thanks to Emmanuel Lupe, who allowed them to race Frenchman Philippe Gache’s backup car.

“When we approached Lupe about using his spare car, he said, ‘OK, Dick, you need car, you take car.’ ” Simon said. “Then we had to get blessings from our sponsors, JC Penney and Agency car rental, and Lyn had to get permission from Ford before we could put her in the Chevy. It was quite an ordeal, but it worked out. For Ford to do that put them pretty high in my saddle.”

Only two other drivers, rookie Brian Bonner of Boston and Los Angeles native Mike Groff, joined the field with St. James. Bonner ran 220.845 m.p.h. in a car purchased from Simon by Dale Coyne, giving Coyne two rookies in the race. Eric Bachelart of Belgium qualified last Saturday as the fastest rookie in the field at 221.549.

Groff, who set a rookie speed record last year, qualified late in the day in Scott Goodyear’s backup car. He ran 221.801 m.p.h.

Groff had spent all month trying to land a ride and credited Goodyear and car owner Derrick Walker for helping him get in his second 500.

“I’ve worn out about two or three pairs of shoes trying to get things sorted out, walking up and down pit lane,” Groff said. “Derrick gave me the chance, and Scott set the car up so all I had to do was go out and drive it.”

Several drivers, including former Indy 500 winners Tom Sneva and Gordon Johncock, made attempts but did not accept their speeds. Sneva was averaging 217.860 for three laps when the Menard Buick crew aborted his run.

“Everything’s a gamble here,” the 1983 winner said. “We were trying to see what the car would do. Hopefully we’ve got what we need for tomorrow.”

Others who failed to finish a four-lap trial included rookie Ted Prappas of Los Angeles, Didier Theys of Belgium and Dominic Dobson, a three-year veteran from Truckee, Calif.

One more qualifying opportunity remains today, with three berths open. As soon as they are filled, remaining candidates can attempt to bump the slowest qualifier from the field. At moment, that is Jim Vasser at 218.268.

Among drivers on the premises looking for a ride, or looking for more speed, are three-time winner Johnny Rutherford, Willy T. Ribbs, Rocky Moran, Johnny Parsons and Jeff Wood.

Pancho Carter, a veteran of 17 Indy races, crashed while warming up for a second attempt to qualify. The left front suspension broke, sending Carter’s Lola-Buick into the wall in Turn 2. He was taken to Methodist Hospital, where X-rays disclosed a broken right arm.

It ended a disappointing day for the former midget and sprint car favorite from Cal State Long Beach. He was timed at 221 m.p.h. in warming up for his morning attempt, but on the first official lap his speed dropped to 214.720 and his crew called off the run.

“We just didn’t run as fast,” was Carter’s terse reason for what caused the sudden loss of speed.

With 30 cars qualified, the average speed of 223.712 is 4.862 m.p.h. faster than last year’s 30-car record 218.850.

Tentative Indy 500 Lineup

INDIANAPOLIS--The tentative partial lineup for the May 24 Indianapolis 500, listing driver, hometown or country, chassis-engine, and four-lap average speed in miles per hour (R-Rookie; More qualifications today):

Driver Chassis-Engine Speed Row 1 1. Roberto Guerrero, San Juan Capistrano Lola-Buick 232.482 2. Eddie Cheever, Aspen, Colo. Lola-Ford Cosworth 229.639 3. Mario Andretti, Nazareth, Pa. Lola-Ford Cosworth 229.503 Row 2 4. Arie Luyendyk, Netherlands Lola-Ford Cosworth 229.127 5. Gary Bettenhausen, Monrovia, Ind. Lola-Buick 228.932 6. Michael Andretti, Nazareth, Pa. Lola-Ford Cosworth 228.169 Row 3 7. Scott Brayton, Coldwater, Mich. Lola-Buick 226.142 8. Danny Sullivan, Aspen, Colo. Galmer-Chevy A 224.838 9. Rick Mears, Jupiter, Fla. Penske-Chevy B 224.594 Row 4 10. Bobby Rahal, Dublin, Ohio Lola-Chevy A 224.158 11. Emerson Fittipaldi, Brazil Penske-Chevy B 223.607 12. Al Unser Jr., Albuquerque, N.M. Galmer-Chevy A 222.989 Row 5 13. Stan Fox, Janesville, Wis. 1991 Lola-Buick 222.867 14. John Andretti, Indianapolis Lola-Chevy A 222.644 15. R-Eric Bachelart, Belgium 1990 Lola-Buick 221.549 Row 6 16. R-Philippe Gache, France 1991 Lola-Chevy A 221.496 17. Scott Pruett, Dublin, Ohio Truesports-Chevy A 220.464 18. John Paul Jr., West Palm Beach, Fla. 1990 Lola-Buick 220.244 Row 7 19. R-Paul Tracy, Canada 1991 Penske-Chevy A 219.751 20. Jeff Andretti, Nazareth, Pa. Lola-Chevy A 219.306 21. Scott Goodyear, Canada 1991 Lola-Chevy A 219.054 Row 8 22. Jim Crawford, Scotland Lola-Buick 228.859 23. Al Unser, Albuquerque, N.M. Lola-Buick 223.744 24. A.J. Foyt, Houston Lola-Chevy A 222.798 Row 9 25. Buddy Lazier, Vail, Colo. 1990 Lola-Buick 222.688 26. Raul Boesel, Brazil Lola-Chevy A 222.434 27. R-Jim Vasser, Discovery Bay, Calif. 1991 Lola-Chevy A 218.268 Row 10 28. Mike Groff, Northridge Lola-Buick 221.801 29. R-Brian Bonner, Boston 1990 Lola-Cosworth 220.845 30. R-Lyn St. James, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. 1991 Lola-Chevy A 220.150

Field average--223.712 (Record for 33 cars, 218.590, 1991)