Al Unser Stands Alone in Quest : Indianapolis 500: He qualifies on Row 8. After retirement of Foyt and Mears, he is only four-time winner in the race.

Al Unser, the only active four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, kept alive his hopes of becoming the first five-time winner when he was among 11 drivers who qualified Sunday for the May 30 race.

Unser, who won 500s in 1970, 1971, 1978 and 1987, was not happy with his four-lap run of 217.628 m.p.h., but it was enough to put him in the outside of the eighth row after two days of qualifying.

Seven positions in the 33-car field remain vacant. They will be determined in time trials next Saturday and Sunday.

“We gambled to get in the show,” Unser said. “Now we have to go back and see what’s missing. Over the years I keep thinking it will get easier, but it never does.”

Unser, 54 the day before the 500, became the only active four-time winner when Rick Mears retired last December and A.J. Foyt called it a career on Saturday. “To be truthful, I’d rather have them here, because when you beat guys like Mears and A.J., you know you’ve accomplished a lot,” Unser said.

What would it mean to win No. 5?

“Well, it would make the bank account look a lot better,” he said. “I’m here because I want to race, and racers want to win. So, winning a fifth time at Indy would mean a lot. It’s going to be hard getting another win here, but that’s nothing new. It was hard back in 1987, too.”

That was the year he came to the speedway without a ride, but when Danny Ongais was injured, Unser stepped into a year-old March-Cosworth that had been used as a show car by the Roger Penske team.

Unser qualified 20th on the second week and won by passing Roberto Guerrero--who was stalled in the pits--18 laps from the finish.

On Sunday, rookie Stephan Gregoire, a Formula 3 driver from France, got off the line in a Lola-Buick at 5:59 p.m.--40 seconds before closing time--and made the most of his opportunity. When he qualified at 220.851, he edged Jeff Andretti (220.572) as the fastest qualifier of the day and Sweden’s Stefan Johansson (220.824 on Saturday) as the fastest rookie qualifier.

“I was little frightened, but I had to do it and I did it,” said the 23-year-old Frenchman, who had never driven a car with more than 175 horsepower. The Buick puts out about 750.

Gregoire’s late entry into the field also gave car owner Dick Simon five drivers in the 500. Raul Boesel and Scott Brayton qualified Saturday and Lyn St. James, Jimmy Vasser and Gregoire on Sunday in Simon cars.

“I thought we would get all five in on the first weekend, but after what happened to Gregoire’s car today I wasn’t so sure,” Simon said. “He blew an engine in the morning practice, and when the crew put a new one in, he went out and a clutch broke. We had a crash program to get the car pieced back together for his run.” Rookies were the fastest and slowest Saturday. Mark Smith of McMinnville, Ore., driving for Frank Arciero, took a speed of 214.356 m.p.h., gambling that weather conditions next weekend would enable him to remain in the field.

St. James, who had been having trouble finding speed in her car all week, qualified solidly at 218.042 after Boesel shook down the car and showed her what it could do.

“My confidence level rose, obviously, a bunch after Raul took it out,” St. James said. “That was what I needed--to be shown what it could do.”

Partial Indianapolis 500 Lineup

The tentative, partial lineup for Indianapolis 500 on May 30, listing the car number, driver, hometown or country, chassis-engine, and four-lap qualification average speed in m.p.h. Qualifying continues Saturday and Sunday:

FIRST ROW

No.Driver Home Car-Engine Speed 10. Arie Luyendyk Netherlands Lola-Ford Cosworth 223.967 6. Mario Andretti Nazareth, Pa. Lola-Ford Cosworth 223.414 9. Raul Boesel Brazil Lola-Ford Cosworth 222.379 SECOND ROW 2. Scott Goodyear Canada Lola-Ford Cosworth 222.344 3. Al Unser Jr. Albuquerque Lola-Chevy 221.773 16. *Stefan Johansson Sweden Penske-Chevy 220.824 THIRD ROW 12. Paul Tracy Canada Penske-Chevy 220.298 5. *Nigel Mansell England Lola-Ford Cosworth 220.255 4. Emerson Fittipaldi Brazil Penske-Chevy 220.150 FOURTH ROW 40. Roberto Guerrero San Juan Capistrano Lola-Chevy 219.645 22. Scott Brayton Coldwater, Mich. Lola-Ford Cosworth 219.637 7. Danny Sullivan Aspen, Colo. Lola-Chevy 219.428 FIFTH ROW 77. *Nelson Piquet Brazil Lola-Menard 217.949 11. Kevin Cogan Palos Verdes Estates Lola-Chevy 217.230 45. Scott Pruett Crystal Bay, Nev. Lola-Chevy 216.794 SIXTH ROW 36. *Stephan Gregoire France Lola-Buick 220.851 21. Jeff Andretti Nazareth, Pa. Lola-Buick 220.572 8. Teo Fabi Italy Lola-Chevy 220.514 SEVENTH ROW 51. Gary Bettenhausen Monrovia, Ind. Lola-Menard 220.380 18. Jimmy Vasser Discovery Bay, Ca. Lola-Chevy 218.967 91. Stan Fox Janesville, Wis. Lola-Buick 218.765 EIGHTH ROW 90. Lyn St. James Daytona Beach Lola-Ford Cosworth 218.042 76. Tony Bettenhausen Indianapolis Penske-Chevy 218.034 80. Al Unser Sr. Albuquerque Lola-Chevy 217.453 NINTH ROW 1. Bobby Rahal Hilliard, Ohio Rahal-Hogan-Chevy 217.140 25. *Mark Smith McMinnville, Ore. Penske-Chevy 214.356

* Rookie. Field average--219.639 m.p.h.