AUTO RACING : Slowdown at Indy Results in a ‘Best’

Tony George was right all along.

The 32-year-old boss of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway kept saying that there had to be a way to slow the Indy cars down and still keep the Indianapolis 500 a competitive show.

Well, the 77th edition of the Memorial Day weekend event was one of the best ever, despite narrowed-down turns on the 2 1/2-mile oval that had drivers despairing over finding any way to pass and many veteran observers forecasting a disastrous start.

The turns were cut down by removing a 15-foot apron and replacing it with a rumble strip and grass.

But, not only was the start one of the cleanest in years, the race was very competitive, with 24 lead changes among a record 12 leaders. Twenty-four of the 33 starters were running at the end, including 10 on the lead lap and seven within 10 seconds of winner Emerson Fittipaldi.

There were three crashes -- one involving two cars -- and no injuries worse than bruises. Last year’s Indy 500 produced 10 crashes involving 13 cars and six drivers injured badly enough to require hospital treatment.

Sure, traffic was like an interstate on a holiday weekend, but somehow people found ways to move ahead.

“They try to achieve safety and that is what they get,” Fittipaldi said. “I give Tony George and the speedway a lot of credit for what they did. It was not an easy thing to do because people were criticizing them for making the corners so narrow -- saying there would be no passing and would be more dangerous.

“But now we see that it was a great race, with all those cars on the same lap at the end,” the Brazilian added. “They are to be congratulated.”

Al Unser Jr., the 1992 Indy winner, was eighth Sunday after leading late in the race.

“Traffic was real, real bad,” he said. “We had to work real hard to get up front. But the new configuration of the track was great. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

Dominic Dobson, who finished 23rd, seven laps off the pace, was even more emphatic.

“This was one of the most amazing races I have ever been in,” he said. “When has there been this many cars finish? I would have never in my wildest dreams (thought) that 24 cars finished the Indy 500. If they were going into this race to have a slower, safer and competitive Indy 500, then they hit on all three.”

Gary Bettenhausen, who came in 17th, three laps behind Fittipaldi, said, “It was like a Winston Cup stock car race because on every lap you were in traffic with someone.”

As for the 450,000 spectators at the speedway Sunday, it appeared from their roar of approval at the end of the 200-lap event that Tony George’s changes were a hit.

SPEAKING OF Gary Bettenhausen, the longtime racer who has driven just about every kind of car, says Indy car team owner John Menard will provide him with a ride for the inaugural Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in August 1994.

Bettenhausen, who has driven U.S. Auto Club stocks, said, “John and I have talked about it and he would like to see a Glidden Paints car with the same design as our Indy car and me driving for that NASCAR race.”

It is expected that the IndyCar circuit will keep that weekend open so that some of its regulars, including Al Unser Jr., will have a chance to drive in the first stock car event at Indy.

A 600-MILE RACE can be an awful grind. Just ask any of the Winston Cup drivers who were running at the end of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

It has been eight years since a driver has lapped the field in NASCAR’s longest event. The last to do it was Bill Elliott in 1985, the year in which he won 11 superspeedway events and the Winston Million.

That year, “Awesome Bill” wound up a full lap ahead of runnerup Harry Gant.

This year, Dale Earnhardt’s victory over rookie Jeff Gordon came by just 4.1 seconds. By the way, 29 of the 41 starters were running at the end of 600 miles.

A NUMERICAL ODDITY: The second and third years of every decade produce repeat winners in the Coca-Cola 600.

Buddy Baker started it off by winning in 1972 and 1973. Neil Bonnett got it done in 1982 and 1983, and Dale Earnhardt made it work in 1992 and 1993.

IT MAY HAVE BEEN overlooked in the heat of the moment after Dale Earnhardt’s big victory in the Coca-Cola 600, but it meant that nobody can win the Winston Million in 1993.

The $1 million bonus -- won only in its inaugural year of 1985 by Bill Elliott -- goes to a driver winning three of NASCAR’s Big Four events.

With only the Southern 500 in September at Darlington, S.C., remaining, the first three events have gone to three different drivers: Dale Jarrett won the Daytona 500, Ernie Irvan the Winston 500 and Earnhardt the 600. Any of those three winning at Darlington would earn a $100,000 bonus from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.