INDIANAPOLIS 500 / DAILY REPORT : Andretti Is a Winner--in Practice

Mario Andretti closed out the prerace routine of his last Indy 500 Thursday by running the fastest lap on Carburetion Day. Andretti reached 223.708 m.p.h. during an 18-lap shakedown of his Lola-Ford Cosworth.

All 33 starters in Sunday’s 78th annual race appeared briefly for final shakedown tests. No cars will be allowed on the track until the start of the race.

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As expected, car owner Kenny Bernstein put team driver Scott Goodyear into the car qualified by Davy Jones. The planned move was delayed until the end of Carburetion Day, in case another car was damaged beyond repair. If that had happened, Goodyear would have been the first alternate and both Bernstein cars would have been in the race. There were no incidents during the two-hour test.

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The chances of Bernstein getting both cars in the race was a longshot. Only three times in 77 races has an alternate started the 500.

In 1929, Billy Landau started in place of Phil Pardee, who had wrecked his car during practice the day before the race. In 1984, Chris Kniefel started in place of Jacques Villeneuve, who withdrew after suffering a head injury in practice. In 1986, Dick Simon started in place of Dennis Firestone, who had demolished his qualified car on Carburetion Day.

Villeneuve is the uncle of the Jacques Villeneuve, who is in Sunday’s race.