An Empty Feeling in Victory Circle : Auto racing: Michael Andretti wins at Laguna Seca but loses Indy car series championship to Rahal.

Michael Andretti did all he could Sunday at Laguna Seca Raceway, but he didn’t get the help he needed to overtake Bobby Rahal and repeat as PPG Cup Indy car champion in perhaps his final race as an Indy car driver.

Andretti started from the pole in his Lola-Ford and led every lap for the second consecutive year to win the Toyota Monterey Grand Prix, the season’s final race. But Rahal finished third in a Lola-Chevy to win his third championship and the $1-million bonus.

Michael’s father, Mario, finished second--the fourth time the Andrettis have finished one-two in an Indy car race but the first this year. The winner averaged 99.996 m.p.h. for the 186-mile race around the 11-turn, 2.214-mile road circuit.

“This is probably the first time I won a race and didn’t feel ecstatic,” Michael Andretti said. “Obviously, we couldn’t have planned it any better than having me and dad finish one-two, but like I said before the race, I needed some help to overtake Bobby.

“On the other hand, though, to be able to finish off an era this way, me and dad as teammates for the last time, was something special. Our relationship as teammates was very special. There’s no way a two-car team could work as closely as ours. I’ve been spoiled the last four years. The whole experience has been something we’ll cherish all our lives.”

Michael Andretti, last year’s Indy car champion, is leaving American racing next year to drive a McLaren on the Formula One circuit. Nigel Mansell, the 1992 Formula One champion from England, rode in the pace car here Sunday and will replace the younger Andretti next year on the Paul Newman-Carl Haas team.

Rahal, in his first season as a owner-driver, started sixth and was briefly in seventh on the first lap. All of his moves up to third came when misfortune took other drivers out. He moved to sixth when Al Unser Jr. spun in the dirt on the first lap; to fifth when Scott Goodyear dropped out because of a broken header on lap 22; fourth when Emerson Fittipaldi slowed on the course with a broken throttle linkage on lap 33 and to third when Paul Tracy collided with Jimmy Vasser four laps from the finish.

“I knew I was in trouble when I saw Emmo (Fittipaldi) by the wayside,” Andretti said. “That was a big position. Then when Paul (Tracy) had his troubles, I knew any hopes of winning the championship were over.”

Without the tension created by knowing Rahal had to finish fourth or higher to win the title, it would have been a dull race for the estimated 55,000 spectators.

Other than when cars were sidelined by spins or mechanical failure, there was only one pass at speed among the six leaders. That occurred when Rahal took advantage of slower traffic to move past Mario Andretti early in the race. However, Rahal lost the position back to Andretti a few minutes later during a pit stop, when Andretti got out ahead of Rahal.

“After I clicked off the spots I gained when Goodyear and Fittipaldi went out, I decided to take fourth and be satisfied,” Rahal said. “I knew Eddie (Cheever) couldn’t catch me, and I didn’t want to take a chance on passing Mario again, so I ran just hard enough not to lose concentration. All I wanted to do was take it to the finish line.

“By the time Tracy went out, it didn’t matter to me if I was fourth or third. I knew I was about to finish what was probably the most rewarding year in my career. It was a lot of hard work and a lot of headaches, but I think we made our budget today.”

Rahal and co-owner Carl Hogan will receive $1 million tonight at the CART banquet in San Francisco. Michael Andretti will get $500,000 for finishing four points behind Rahal, 196-192. Al Unser Jr., the Indianapolis 500 winner who is still rumored to be moving to Formula One, finished third with 169 points.

This is the fourth time in the last seven years that Rahal and Andretti have finished one-two in the standings. Rahal won in 1986 and 1987 and Andretti won last year.

Two Los Angeles drivers, Robbie Groff and Bryan Herta, finished one-two, respectively, in the Firestone Indy Lights race of 34 laps.