LONG BEACH GRAND PRIX : Unser Jr. Is a Winning Team Player : Auto racing: After mates Tracy and Fittipaldi run into trouble, he takes over.

Three-car racing teams have rarely proved successful in the past, but the wisdom of Roger Penske in adding Al Unser Jr. to his already potent Indy car pair of Emerson Fittipaldi and Paul Tracy paid big dividends Sunday.

After pole-sitter Tracy spun out while leading and then Fittipaldi lost power while leading, Unser took the third red and white Marlboro Penske-Ilmor to an easy victory in the 20th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. It was Unser’s fifth victory in Long Beach, but his first for Penske.

Unser won four years in a row, from 1988 to ’91.

“Chris Pook changed the track on me after ’91 and it took me several years to figure out the new configuration,” Unser said, laughing.

Nigel Mansell, hampered by a blown tire in mid-race, finished second and local favorite Robby Gordon of Orange was third--the only drivers on the same lap with Unser at the finish.

A crowd of about 84,000 watched the rather uneventful race under cool, cloudy conditions. The three-day attendance of 204,500 was the largest in race history, largely because of the record 46,500 on hand Friday.

For 105 laps around the 1.59-mile circuit along the shoreline streets of Long Beach, Penske cars led all but two laps. Gordon had his Valvoline Lola-Ford Cosworth in front briefly when Unser was pitting.

“Uncle Bobby and my dad (four-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser) both drove for Roger Penske and both of them told me if I ever got the chance to drive for him, to take it,” Al Jr. said. “His teams set the standard for Indy car racing, and I’m fortunate to be a part of it.”

Early in the going, however, Unser wasn’t so sure.

“When I saw Paul pulling away from me, and Emmo (Fittipaldi) closing in my mirrors, I thought, ‘Uh, oh, they have better cars than I do,’ ” Unser said. “Then I saw Paul getting loose under braking and I felt better, I knew I had a car as good as the others.”

Tracy, who set a qualifying record of 108.491 m.p.h. Saturday, led the first 20 laps before he spun in the first turn and knocked himself and Mike Groff’s car out of contention.

“When downshifting, my car would get hung up in the corners and start axle-hopping,” Tracy said. “That’s what caused the spins.”

Tracy dropped six laps while getting his car restarted, but his problem never ended. The Canadian driver spun three more times before calling it a day when his gearbox gave up.

Gearbox problems also put Fittipaldi out, but not until he had led 22 laps and taken the lead when Unser was assessed a stop-and-go penalty for speeding in the pits during his first stop.

“My car was flying,” Fittipaldi said. “It was easy driving and I was expecting to have my first win at Long Beach. Then I had a problem with fourth gear. Then I lost third gear and second and finally fifth. I told Roger (Penske) to tell Junior to be careful.”

Once Fittipaldi was grounded, and Mansell had fallen back with his flat tire, Unser put the Penske in cruise control and breezed home 39 seconds ahead of Mansell.

Mansell was close to the pace on lap 67 when his right rear tire exploded as he was going down the front straightaway, forcing him to make a complete lap on a flat and shredded tire before he could pit.

“It was a big wake-up call when it blew,” Mansell said. “It can be pretty dicey when you’re going 180 to 190 m.p.h. and suddenly you’re on three wheels. I almost spun, but I caught it, but it was pretty exciting trying to brake the rear wheels when I only had one tire.”

Surprisingly, Mansell never led a lap even though he was running second a good deal of the time. He had a logical reason: “You’ve got to be in front to lead.”

Unser’s only problem came when he exceeded the 60-m.p.h. limit in the pits during his first stop.

“I got so excited when I came in ahead and the crew did such a good job (18.5 seconds for four tires and fuel) that I forgot I had sequential shifting and when I pulled out and hit the accelerator, the car just shot off,” Unser said. “I knew I was going too quick and I tried to slow down, but the traffic cops got me.”

Mario, who is retiring, won the Andretti family race over son Michael, who is returning to Indy car racing after a year in Formula One. After running with one another most of the race, Mario moved past Michael to finish fifth. Michael was sixth.

“Dad was able to get by me on a restart (after a yellow caution flag) because I was in second gear when I should have been in first,” Michael said. “His car was better than mine, so he would have passed me anyway.”

Fourteen of the 30 starters were running at the end of the 1-hour 40-minute 53-second race as broken transmissions and a number of bumping incidents took their toll. Unser averaged 99.283 m.p.h. for the 166.95 mile race.

Although neither driver was hurt, the day’s most spectacular crash occurred when Mark Smith tangled with Jimmy Vasser and Smith’s Lola-Ford was sent sailing about 50 feet.

The victory put Unser in a tie with Fittipaldi for the PPG Cup lead with 37 points each after three races. Fittipaldi finished second at Surfers Paradise, Australia, and won last week in Phoenix. Unser was second in Phoenix. Mansell is third with 35.