MOTOR RACING / SHAV GLICK : Three Decades Down, ‘90s to Go for Andretti

Every time Mario Andretti takes the green flag in an Indy car race from now on, he will set a record. When he climbs into his Lola-Ford Sunday for the Texaco/Havoline 200 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., it will be his 371st Indy car start.

A.J. Foyt, semi-retired and more of a team owner than a driver these days, is stuck at 369 after only two appearances this year--in the opening race at Surfers Paradise, Australia, and for his 35th consecutive Indianapolis 500.

Andretti won the pole--his record 65th but the first since his final race, at Miami, in 1987--with a 230.150-m.p.h. lap two races ago at Michigan International Speedway, but he has not won a race since 1988 in Cleveland.

“I’m just thankful to be around after all this time, to be honest with you,” Andretti said. “I like to think I’m still around because I’m competitive and not just around to rack up numbers.

“Sometimes, it can jinx you to reveal your goals, but I’m going to tell you mine anyway. My goal right now is to win an Indy car race in the ‘90s. If I do that, I can say I won in four different decades, and as far as my entire career is concerned, I could say I won a race in five decades. Those are numbers that have some meaning.”

Andretti’s first victory was in 1958 in a modified 1948 Hudson stock car. His first Indy car victory was in 1965 in the Hoosier Grand Prix at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

At 52 and still hurting from an accident during last May’s Indy 500, he is often asked about retirement.

“I have every intention of going to the end of my contract, to the end of 1993,” he said. “Beyond that, I do not know. By this time next year, I’ll be assessing that. The motivation (to keep racing) is that I enjoy what I’m doing. I feel good about the team I’m with, about driving for Carl Haas and Paul Newman, and I feel good about the car I’m driving. But I’ll admit, I’d be a hell of a lot happier if I won.

“Getting that pole at Michigan was special. In a way, it was like winning a particular event. It was good to have the taste of being No. 1 again. Now I want it at the end of a race. It has been very special to me as a father watching Michael winning races, but one of these times I want to slip in ahead of him.”

Michael Andretti, 29, is the defending PPG Indy car champion and winner of three races this season.

When reminded that at 52 he became the oldest driver to win the pole for an Indy car race, Mario Andretti smiled and said: “It’s no shame to grow old, as long as you do it gracefully.

Worse than his own foot injuries at Indianapolis, which forced him to miss one race, were foot and ankle injuries suffered by his other son, Jeff, in the same race. The younger Andretti, who has undergone three major operations since the May 24 accident, is expected to attend the race in Wisconsin this weekend and then return to Indianapolis for more treatment.

“It has had a negative impact, no doubt about it,” Mario Andretti said. “Jeff is on my mind every day. It’s a disturbing situation, but in this business you have to go on. When I’m in the race car, I have to block some of that out for a few hours, but it’s never going to be business as usual until I see Jeff sitting across from my desk.

“Jeff has shown me a lot of strength, a lot of resolve. His attitude should be an example for a lot of people on how to look on the positive side even when handed a bad situation. Because of his attitude--which has never been, ‘Why me?’--he is progressing ahead of schedule. He is already planning on getting back in a race car.”

Motor Racing Notes

STOCK CARS--Sportsman and street stocks of the Winston Racing Series will headline Saturday night programs at Saugus Speedway and Cajon Speedway. Defending sportsman champion Lance Hooper will be going for his sixth consecutive victory at Saugus. . . . The California Late Model Series will be at Santa Maria Speedway Saturday night. . . . The Coors Silver Bullet series, plus IMCA modifieds and a destruction derby, will be at Ventura Raceway Friday night as part of the county fair.

SPEEDWAY BIKES--Lake Perris Raceway will hold the fourth round of the national championship qualifying series tonight. Steve Lucero, the 1988 national champion, who missed the first two rounds because of a broken foot, will return to action in an attempt to qualify for the Oct. 3 championships at Costa Mesa. . . . Sam Ermolenko of Cypress and Rick Miller of Reseda both advanced to the World Final in last week’s semifinal round in Austria. Ermolenko qualified for his sixth final round with a second place behind Gerd Handberg of Denmark. Miller finished fourth. The 16-rider field, which also will include Ron Correy of Fullerton, will ride for the world title Aug. 29 at Warsaw.

MIDGETS--The full midgets of the U.S. Auto Club’s western regional series return to Southern California after three weeks off for a 30-lap main event Saturday night at Ventura Raceway. Defending champion Sleepy Tripp, winner of 10 of the last 14 regional races, will be out to pad his 134-point lead over Wally Pankratz. Also on the program will be a 20-lap three-quarter midget feature with Rick Hendrix, Walt Johnson and Jay Drake resuming their battle for the championship. Hendrix holds a 57-point lead over Johnson, with Drake another 21 back.

SPRINT CARS--After three weeks off, the California Racing Assn. will resume action Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway in Oildale. During the layoff, Lealand McSpadden, CRA points leader, won $10,000 in the Belleville Midget Nationals in Kansas against 50 of the best midget racers in the country. It was the Tempe, Ariz., driver’s first appearance on the high banks at Belleville, but he made the most of it by winning Thursday night’s main event, as well as the 40-lap nationals two nights later. McSpadden will miss the Oildale race to drive a dirt car in the USAC Silver Crown series in Springfield, Ill., but will return to the CRA next week.

VINTAGE CARS--The fourth and final round of the American Nostalgia Racing Assn. series will take place Saturday at the Los Angeles County Raceway in Palmdale. More than 150 cars--all built before 1975--are expected to compete for $45,000 in purse and point-fund money. . . . Sprint cars and midgets of the Western Racing Assn. will be on display Saturday night at the Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino. . . . Jaguar will be the featured marque this weekend in the Monterey Historic Automobile Races at Laguna Seca, where makes such as Ferrari, Porsche, Allard, and Mercedes-Benz also will be represented. Additionally, Mazda will be honored on the 25th anniversary of its rotary engine. MISCELLANY--The Southern California Timing Assn. will conclude its annual Bonneville Speed Week this weekend on the Utah salt flats. . . . The International Karting Federation will conduct a series of road races this weekend at Willow Springs Raceway. . . . Ventura Raceway will hold a combination motocross and off-road program Sunday at 4 p.m.