INDIANAPOLIS 500 / DAILY REPORT : Rahal Makes Contribution From Sidelines

National champion Bobby Rahal won’t be in Sunday’s Indy 500, but one driver who is in--Davy Jones of Lake Tahoe, Nev.--credits Rahal for making it possible.

When Jones hit the wall in the short chute during practice a week ago, his Lola-Chevy was substantially damaged.

“I thought our run was over,” car owner Antonio Ferrari said. “The parts we needed to replace the damaged gearbox and bell housing just aren’t available anywhere in the world. Believe me, we tried. Just when we were about to give up, Bobby and Carl (Hogan, Rahal’s partner) came to our rescue, providing the necessary parts.”

Said Jones: “I can’t say enough good things about the Rahal-Hogan team’s help in getting us back on the track.”

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Paul A. Riley hasn’t been as busy at the speedway as he was last year, thanks to slower speeds and fewer accidents.

Riley is the man who whitewashes the wall every day after a car crashes or even scrapes the concrete barrier around the 2 1/2-mile track. When the new wall was finished last winter, it took about 370 gallons of paint for two coats. Riley said he usually uses about 10 gallons touching up daily blemishes.

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Former 500 winner Tom Sneva led his team to victory in the 35th annual race drivers’ golf tournament at the Eagle Creek course in Indianapolis. Sneva’s fivesome had a 13-under-par 59 in the charity scramble event.

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The speed differential between pole-sitter Arie Luyendyk and Kevin Cogan, the slowest of the 33 qualifiers, is 6.737 m.p.h., the closest since 1970. The closest was 3.130 in 1953.

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Ford Cosworths are the most popular powerplant for the 500 this year. There are 12, including the entire front row. It is the first time for Ford on the pole since Al Unser started there in 1970. There are also 11 Chevrolet C’s, two Chevrolet A’s and eight Buick Menards.

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For the record: There will be 17 foreign-born drivers in Sunday’s race, not 16 as reported earlier. Dominic Dobson of Truckee, Calif., was born in Stuttgart, Germany, when his serviceman father was stationed there in 1959.