AUTO RACING : Andretti’s Win One for the Ages

The victory by Mario Andretti last Sunday at Phoenix was one for the ages.

Not only did it end a winless streak that had lasted nearly five years, but the win made Andretti, at 53 years, 34 days, the oldest ever to win an Indy-car race.

Asked how old he felt after taking the checkered flag for the 52nd time in his 30-year Indy-car career, Andretti said, “How old are you supposed to feel when you feel good? I feel fantastic.”

The victory broke the record set by Johnny Rutherford, whose last win came in the 1986 Michigan 500 when he was 48 years, 144 days.

In NASCAR’s Winston Cup series, Harry Gant is the oldest winner. He was 52 years, 219 days, when he won at Michigan last August.

Ironically, the oldest known winner of a major, nationally-sanctioned event in the United States is Paul Newman, co-owner of Andretti’s Newman-Haas Racing team. He was 61 years, 7 months, when he won an SCCA Trans-Am event at Lime Rock, Conn., in August 1986.

The victory by Andretti made him the first to win professional races in five decades, as well as the first to win Indy-car events in four decades.

In the final year of a two-year contract, Andretti has hinted that this might be the end of his long and illustrious racing career. But after Sunday’s victory, when asked if the win might effect his thinking about retirement, Andretti said, “Oh yeah! In a big way. You might have to deal with me for maybe a little longer.”

MOST AMERICAN racing fans are aware of the Winston Cup rookie race among Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Kenny Wallace.

All three are graduates of NASCAR’s Busch Grand National series--the Triple-A circuit of stock car racing.

This year’s rookie battle in Grand National racing should be almost as interesting--and even more wide open--than the one in Winston Cup. Ten drivers have announced their intention to run for the rookie title.

They include Joe Bessey, Nathan Buttke, Tim Fedewa, Tom Hessert, Jason Keller, Roy Payne, Michael Ritch, Lonnie Rush Jr., Alan Russell and Hermie Sadler.

Buttke, a 17-year-old high school junior from Richard Petty’s hometown of Randleman, N.C., is the youngest, while sports car veteran Hessert, 41 and the 1988 IMSA Camel Lights champion, is the oldest and the most experienced racer. Ages and experience levels for the other eight run the gamut in between.

The rookie standings are determined by the best 15 finishes that the candidates post, no matter how many of the 28 scheduled events they compete in.

AL UNSER JR., who will defend his Indianapolis 500 title next month, says winning the world’s richest and most prestigious race, a goal throughout his racing career, has not changed his life dramatically.

“My life hasn’t changed a whole bunch,” he said. “I had always been Al Unser’s son, which automatically drew the press to me.

“After winning the 500, I was just talking about a different subject.”

There has been one difference in his life, though.

“I’ve been congratulated everywhere I’ve gone,” Unser said. “It’s like winning a beauty pageant. It lasts a whole year, and it’s wonderful.”

THE INDIANAPOLIS Motor Speedway has changed a bit since last May.

Not only is there a new championship golf course--four holes of which are located inside the 2 1/2-mile oval--but the track also has new, higher outside walls, new pit road entrance and exit lanes, and rumble strips at the lower edges in the turns.

Snow has kept testing on the track to a minimum this year, but one of the first to get out and see the new setup from closeup was Gary Bettenhausen, a veteran of 20 Indy 500 starts.

Bettenhausen told the Indianapolis Star, “The groove used to be about 20 feet wide. Now it’s only six feet. You’ve got to thread the needle getting into the corners.”

“You could be a little sloppy before, but now there’s no room for mistakes,” he said. “A guy has to be a lot more careful because if you get in too low, you’re in trouble.”

Bettenhausen was particularly put off by the rumble strips.

“I never got on them running fast,” he said. “I think I was doing about 170 and it made the car twitch bad. I didn’t want to try it at 220. It’s been two grooves for the last few years, and now there’s only one. I just hope it doesn’t screw up the racing.”

BETTENHAUSEN WILL again drive in this year’s Indy 500 for John Menard, and, as speculated, Nelson Piquet will be back as his teammate, along with Geoff Brabham.

Piquet was nearly crippled in a devastating crash while practicing last May for what would have been his first Indy, as well as his first oval race.

The determined Brazilian, a three-time Formula One champion, has made a remarkable recovery from his crushing foot and leg injuries and is ready to give Indy another go.

“I want to finish something that I started and could not complete,” he said. “Indianapolis has always attracted me because I like speed and fast corners, and during the last year I had so much support from people everywhere in the U.S., that I think that coming back to race at the Indy 500 is the best way that I have to thank them all for what they did for me.”

Asked if he is ready for the grind, Piquet said, “Physically, I am recovered. I have been doing a lot of go-kart racing in the last two months. Mentally, you will see that nothing has changed in the way I drive.”