Either Feast or Famine : Not Even Winning the Indy 500 in ’90 Made Things Easy for Arie Luyendyk

Arie Luyendyk, the pole-sitter for next Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, likens his racing career to a roller coaster. More appropriate might be an express elevator--a fast one.

The Dutchman, whose shoulder-length hair and good looks make him a striking figure among the Indy car set, seems to find himself either at the top of his trade or in the depths.

There apparently is no middle ground for the 39-year-old driver who moved from Rosmalen, the Netherlands, to the United States in 1984 and now lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., with his wife, Meike, and two children--soon be four as Meike is expecting twins in August.

In 1990, Luyendyk won the Indy 500 for Doug Shierson’s Domino’s Pizza team, a victory that should have projected him into superstardom. Instead, the sponsor quit racing, Shierson sold the team and all the planned lucrative commercials dried up.

A year later, Luyendyk finished third at Indy, and it took him nearly two years and a lawsuit before he collected his share of the purse from car owner Bob Tezak.

Last year, Luyendyk was a man without a team when Vince Granatelli, who tried to pick up the pieces of a partnership with Tezak, could land no sponsorship. Luyendyk drove in only two Indy car races, trying to keep his skills sharp by running in the International Race of Champions and three sports car races in a Jaguar.

“When I won that lawsuit and got paid three months ago, I figured it was a good omen,” Luyendyk said. “It started 1993 off on a good note. Then we tested more than 1,400 miles before the first race. That was important for a guy who hadn’t tested for a couple of years.”

Taking the pole from Mario Andretti in a dramatic late-in-the-day qualifying attempt last week projected him back into the spotlight. Luyendyk and car owner Chip Ganassi waved off a morning attempt to qualify, gambling that several hours’ work on the car and cooler weather later in the afternoon would produce faster laps.

It worked. Luyendyk, who could muster only 215 m.p.h. on his first lap in the morning, returned and ran four laps at 223.967 m.p.h., nipping Andretti, who had averaged 223.414 in the morning.

Like so many racers, Luyendyk is a second-generation driver. His father, Jaap, drove a Lotus 7. Arie saw his first race when he was 9 and his father was racing in South Africa. When he was 17, his brother-in-law was racing, so Arie joined him and they shared the car.

“Holland is such a small country,” Luyendyk said between practice runs at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “You could fit it four times in Wisconsin. There is a lot of money there, but not much interest in racing. If I had not been fortunate enough to come to the United States, I would probably be working in a garage somewhere in Holland.

“In 1979, when I was already 26, I was ready to quit. I had won the European Super Vee championship, but I had run out of money and out of sponsors. I was at a dead end.

“Then the top five finishers in Europe were invited to race in Phoenix. I was the only one who accepted, and I finished sixth. It was my first oval race. I went home and thought perhaps I should get a job when I got a call from Wilbur Bunce, who said he wanted me to drive for him in the American Super Vee series.

“It turned my career around, although there were times I wasn’t sure about my future. In 1982, again, I was in the depths, driving a 5-year-old car back in Europe. Then came another call from America, to run the Super Vee series again in 1982.”

Luyendyk won the Super Vee series in 1984 and made his Indy car debut at Elkhart Lake, Wis., where he finished eighth.

“The minute I got in my first Indy car, I knew that was what I wanted,” he said. “I love to drive fast in cars with big engines, and Indy was the answer.”

Luyendyk’s hallmark has been speed.

His victory at Indy in 1990 was the fastest in history, 185.981 m.p.h. In 1991, the year he finished third to Rick Mears and Michael Andretti, he had the day’s fastest lap, 222.178, on Lap 109. Last year he set one- and four-lap qualifying records of 229.305 and 229.127 before they were broken later in the day by Roberto Guerrero.

It turned out that although he has a road-racing background, Luyendyk is a natural on ovals.

His first Super Vee victory was on an oval, all three of his Indy car victories have been on ovals--Indy in 1990, Phoenix and Nazareth, Pa., in 1991--and this is his first Indy car pole.

“Getting the pole was our objective from the day we unloaded the cars,” he said. “For two reasons.

“For one, the way the track has been changed, with no apron down low in the corners, it is critical to get through the first turn with no problems. Before, you could have a sloppy start, drop low and get through OK. No more. You have to be precise, and that means getting through single file, so I plan to go for the lead from the start.

“For two, the team needed a morale boost. We suffered a bit at Long Beach and we needed a shot of confidence coming to the 500. We were pleased with our finish (fifth) at Australia, but then we were lucky to finish sixth at Phoenix and never got going at Long Beach, so getting the pole here became important to us.

“When Chip went about telling the (sponsors at Target) that we were going to get the pole, it really put the pressure on me and the team. And getting it was a team effort, not just the driver.”

The unexpected retirement of A.J. Foyt, along with trying to find a new line through the corners, made this year’s qualifying day more confusing than usual, but Luyendyk said external matters had not affected him.

“None of those things crossed my mind, honestly,” he said. “I was so focused on getting the car right that nothing else mattered. I didn’t give A.J. a thought until someone asked me about it when the day was over.

“We really worked our tails off to change the way the car handled in the morning. We changed so many things, it was incredible. I had to talk myself to not go into the corners too quickly. It definitely was not a joy ride, but it was good enough.”

Although Luyendyk says he gave no thought to Foyt, he did acknowledge feelings about Andretti losing the pole.

“I’ve always been a fan of Mario’s,” he said. “Way down inside, I mean way, way down, I felt a little sorry for him. I know what he’s been through and it would have been nice for him to sit on the pole.

“It’s his lifetime goal to come back and win again. I’m the same way. There’s no comparison between winning here and anywhere else. I won at Phoenix and Nazareth, and it was nice, but compared to Indy, it was like winning club races.”