Unser Jr. Gets Wish, Sun Smiles : Indy 500: His cool-weather speed of 228.011 m.p.h. on Saturday holds up to win pole as warm temperatures slow Fittipaldi, seven others.

Al Unser Jr. survived the challenges Sunday of former Indy 500 and Formula One world champions Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti to secure the pole position for the 78th Indianapolis 500 on May 29.

Unser drove four laps at 228.011 m.p.h. Saturday in one of Roger Penske’s Mercedes-Benz-powered cars, but had to sweat out qualifying runs by eight drivers who were unable to drive on opening day because of rain delays.

Fittipaldi, the defending champion and Unser’s Mercedes teammate, had been running better than 230 m.p.h. in practice and was expected to take the pole, only to the have the weather change abruptly in Unser’s favor.

“Right before I went out to run,” Fittipaldi said, “Junior tells me, ‘It is beautiful today, lot of sunshine, real nice and warm for you, Emerson.’ ”

Warm sunshine was the last thing Fittipaldi and the others wanted.

The best Fittipaldi could squeeze out of what had been the fastest car most of the month was 227.303 m.p.h. This put him on the outside of the front row, alongside fellow Brazilian Raul Boesel, who had a 227.618 in one of Dick Simon’s Lola-Ford Cosworths on Saturday.

It is the Penske team’s 10th Indy pole. But it not only is Unser’s first Indy pole, it is the first oval race pole of his 12-year career.

“Maybe this will put to rest the stories that I can’t qualify well on an oval,” the 1992 winner said. “Of course, I had to go out there and do my sun dance to keep Emmo (Fittipaldi) off the pole.

“The pole is something special here. It’s worth a lot of money ($100,000 and a $30,000 van), a lot of exposure time for the sponsors and it means an awful lot to Mercedes. It’s the first time they’ve been here since 1915 and they’re starting out in front.”

Unser’s father, four-time winner Al Sr., was on the sidelines watching as Fittipaldi fell short of his son’s speed. “Dad gave me a nod and a wink of his eye,” Al Jr. said. “He said it was really neat. You know Dad, that’s about all you’re ever going to get from him.”

The senior Unser failed in one attempt to qualify for his 28th 500, but expects to try again next weekend when the 33-car field will be filled in two more days of time trials.

Andretti, in his 29th and final Indy appearance, was also frustrated by the warm conditions and took a disappointing 223.503 that put him on the third row in ninth position. Only four times in 26 races has Andretti started farther back.

“Yesterday, when we just missed getting our chance, conditions were absolutely perfect,” Andretti said. “Then, today, it was totally different. You can put the order in, but sometimes no one listens.”

With Andretti ninth and PPG Cup Indy car champion Nigel Mansell seventh, it put the powerful Newman-Haas team with its factory Lola and Ford Cosworth backing behind Simon’s independent team, which has Boesel on the front row and Lyn St. James on the outside of the second row.

Simon, who drove for 17 years without a victory before retiring in 1989, has five drivers in the starting field for the second year in a row. In addition to Boesel, who finished fourth last year, and St. James, he placed Hiro Matsushita and rookies Hideshi Matsuda and Dennis Vitolo among the 30 who qualified during the first weekend.

Paul Tracy, who skipped pole qualifying Saturday while recuperating from head injuries suffered in a crash Friday, returned to the track and qualified the third Penske Mercedes at a rather slow 222.710--considering he had a 229.961 last week.

“What happened to Paul and me today should prove that Penske was not sandbagging,” Fittipaldi said of the rumors that the Mercedes drivers might go in the 235-m.p.h. range.

Tracy was not the fastest second-day qualifier. That honor, and the $25,000 prize, went to Scott Brayton, who had a 223.652 in a year-old Lola-Menard with an engine built in his father’s shop in Coldwater, Mich.

Scott Goodyear, who was runner-up to Unser Jr. in 1992 in the closest finish in Indy 500 history, crashed his Lola-Ford against the inside wall during practice for a qualifying effort.

The Canadian driver was taken to Methodist Hospital for treatment of back pain and a bruised left thigh and was released Sunday evening.

With 30 cars qualified, the average speed of the field, 223.039 m.p.h., was 3.671 faster than last year’s top 30 cars.

Tentative Indy 500 Lineup

The tentative partial lineup for the Indianapolis 500 on May 29. More qualifications will be held next weekend.

Pos Driver Residence/Country No. ROW 1 1. Al Unser Jr. Albuquerque, N.M. 31 2. Raul Boesel Brazil 5 3. Emerson Fittipaldi Brazil 2 ROW 2 4. r-Jacques Villeneuve Canada 12 5. Michael Andretti Nazareth, Pa. 8 6. Lyn St. James Daytona Beach, Fla. 90 ROW 3 7. Nigel Mansell England 1 8. Arie Luyendyk Netherlands 28 9. Mario Andretti Nazareth, Pa. 6 ROW 4 10. John Andretti Indianapolis 33 11. Eddie Cheever Aspen, Colo. 27 12. Dominic Dobson Truckee, Ca. 17 ROW 5 13. Stan Fox Janesville, Wis. 91 14. r-Hideshi Matsuda Japan 99 15. r-Dennis Vitolo Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 79 ROW 6 16. Jimmy Vasser Discovery Bay, Ca. 18 17. r-Scott Sharp East Norwalk, Conn. 71 18. Hiro Matsushita Japan 22 ROW 7 19. Robby Gordon Orange 9T 20. Roberto Guerrero San Juan Capistrano 21 21. r-Brian Till Columbus, Ohio 19 ROW 8 22. r-Bryan Herta Dublin, Ohio 14 23. r-Mauricio Gugelmin Brazil 88 24. Bobby Rahal Hilliard, Ohio 4 ROW 9 25. Mike Groff Worthington, Ohio 10T 26. Scott Brayton Coldwater, Mich. 27T 27. Teo Fabi Italy 11 ROW 10 28. Paul Tracy Canada 31T 29. r-Adrian Fernandez Mexico 7 30. Stefan Johansson Sweden 16

Field average--223.039 (Record 223.479, 1992)

r--rookie

*

Pos Driver Chassis-Engine M.P.H ROW 1 1. Al Unser Jr. 1994 Penske-Mercedes 228.011 2. Raul Boesel 1994 Lola-Ford 227.618 3. Emerson Fittipaldi 1994 Penske-Mercedes 227.303 ROW 2 4. r-Jacques Villeneuve 1994 Reynard-Ford 226.259 5. Michael Andretti 1994 Reynard-Ford 226.205 6. Lyn St. James 1994 Lola-Ford 224.154 ROW 3 7. Nigel Mansell 1994 Lola-Ford 224.041 8. Arie Luyendyk 1994 Lola-Ilmor 223.673 9. Mario Andretti 1994 Lola-Ford 223.503 ROW 4 10. John Andretti 1994 Lola-Ford 223.263 11. Eddie Cheever 1993 Lola-Menard 223.163 12. Dominic Dobson 1994 Lola-Ford 222.970 ROW 5 13. Stan Fox 1994 Reynard-Buick 222.867 14. r-Hideshi Matsuda 1993 Lola-Ford 222.545 15. r-Dennis Vitolo 1993 Lola-Ford 222.439 ROW 6 16. Jimmy Vasser 1994 Reynard-Ford 222.262 17. r-Scott Sharp 1994 Lola-Ford 222.091 18. Hiro Matsushita 1994 Reynard-Ilmor 221.382 ROW 7 19. Robby Gordon 1994 Lola-Ford 221.293 20. Roberto Guerrero 1992 Lola-Buick 221.278 21. r-Brian Till 1993 Lola-Ford 221.107 ROW 8 22. r-Bryan Herta 1994 Lola-Ford 220.992 23. r-Mauricio Gugelmin 1994 Reynard-Ford 220.460 24. Bobby Rahal 1994 Lola-Honda 220.178 ROW 9 25. Mike Groff 1994 Lola-Honda 218.808 26. Scott Brayton 1993 Lola-Menard 223.652 27. Teo Fabi 1994 Reynard-Ilmor 223.394 ROW 10 28. Paul Tracy 1994 Penske-Mercedes 222.710 29. r-Adrian Fernandez 1994 Reynard-Ilmor 222.657 30. Stefan Johansson 1993 Penske-Ilmor 221.518

Field average--223.039 (Record 223.479, 1992)

r--rookie