Indianapolis 500 Will Be Without Two Big Wheels : Motor racing: Absence of Unser and Fittipaldi throws the race wide open and gives Andretti a good chance to end his jinx.

The absence of defending champion Al Unser Jr. and Emerson Fittipaldi makes today’s 79th Indianapolis 500 one of the most unusual in history.

The Penske pair, winners of the last three 500s and the last two Indy car races this season, failed to qualify. It is the first time since 1962 that an Unser has not been on the starting grid, the first time since 1969 that Penske has not had a favorite in the field.

“We’ll all be looking in our mirrors for the red and white cars; it’s just second nature,” Michael Andretti said. “It’s going to be strange out there without them.”

Without them, the race is wide open.

Scott Brayton, the elder statesman of the field making his 14th appearance in the 500, will start from the pole. The speed differential between his Menard-powered Lola to the Lola-Ford of Eliseo Salazar, the slowest qualifier, is 4.5 seconds for 10 miles.

Bobby Rahal, one of only three former winners in the race, says as many as 15 cars, nearly half the field of 33, have a solid chance at victory.

If there is a favorite, it should be Andretti. Michael, hoping to erase the jinx that haunted his father Mario and seems to be haunting him, will benefit most from the absence of Unser.

“Little Al has won two 500s, but one of them was mine,” Andretti said, referring to the 1992 race when he led 160 laps before losing his fuel pressure and watching Unser sweep past to victory. It was the ninth victory for the Unser family. The Andrettis have only one, Mario’s in 1969.

Andretti is the only driver who has led all five of this season’s Indy car races, but he has not yet won. He will start today on the inside of the second row, behind what former 500 winner Arie Luyendyk calls the “Unemployment Line.”

The three front-row starters, pole-sitter Brayton, Luyendyk and Scott Goodyear, are not full-time Indy car drivers this year, and all were hired to drive only the Indianapolis 500. All are in cars powered by unconventional engines--Brayton and Luyendyk by Menards, a Buick derivative built in Indianapolis, and Goodyear by a Honda, the first time a Japanese engine will start in the Indianapolis 500.

Although Brayton qualified at 231.604 m.p.h. and Luyendyk a tick slower at 231.031, most experts discount their chances at winning because the engine has never gone 500 miles, even in testing.

“It wouldn’t last 200 miles at our qualifying speeds, but I expect the race pace to be closer to 212 to 218, with maybe a fast lap around 224,” Brayton said. “I don’t think Arie or I will be the rabbit, but we’ll be in the chase.”

Goodyear, who started 33rd and finished second to Unser Jr. in 1992 in the closest finish in 500 history, was hired only a month ago by Steve Horne’s Tasman team to drive a Honda-powered Reynard with Firestone tires.

“The cars [Goodyear’s and rookie Andre Ribeiro’s] have run flawlessly, which is the product of preparation,” said Horne, who masterminded Rahal’s 500 victory in 1986. “I think we have answered a lot of questions about the motor and the tires. We’re confident.”

Ribeiro is the fastest of six rookies in the race.

Firestone is returning to Indy car racing after an absence of 21 years, and the Japanese-owned Bridgestone firm has nine cars in the field.

“This has been a wonderful month for us,” said Al Speyer, Bridgestone/Firestone motor sports manager. “We never could have imagined we would come back after so long and have Firestone tires on the front row.”

Pit stops will be more critical than at most races because passing is so difficult on the rectangular-shaped 2 1/2-mile track.

“Track position will be all important, especially toward the end of the race,” Andretti said. “If you want to have a chance [at winning], you’ve got to be in the lead or close to it after the final pit stop. You can’t count on coming from very far back because there is no place to pass.”

That would favor Jacques Villeneuve, the youngest driver in the race, who finished second to Unser last year. The French-Canadian’s Team Green crew was credited with his winning the Indy car season opener at Miami, and last Thursday the same group won the annual Indy pit crew contest.

“We’re going to try to do something similar to last year,” Villeneuve said. “We’re going to try to start easy, study the situation to see how the other cars run and be ready to fight in the last 50 laps.”

With all the speculation as to the winner of today’s race, nearly every conversation in this racing capital centers around the incredible absence of Unser, Fittipaldi and Penske. They are all here, but only as spectators, entertaining corporate sponsors.

“This would be a tough race to win, whether the Penskes were in it or not,” Andretti said. “This is a tough place. It can bite you when you least expect it. Even Roger Penske.”

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Indianapolis 500 Lineup

A look at the qualifiers for today’s Indianapolis 500:

Pos. Driver No. Chassis-Engine M.P.H Residence/Country ROW 1 1. Scott Brayton 60 1995 Lola-Menard 231.604 Coldwater, Mich. 2. Arie Luyendyk 40 1995 Lola-Menard 231.031 Netherlands 3. Scott Goodyear 24 1995 Reynard-Honda 230.759 Canada ROW 2 4. Michael Andretti 6 1995 Lola-Ford 229.294 Nazareth, Pa. 5. Jacques Villeneuve 27 1995 Reynard-Ford 228.397 Canada 6. Mauricio Gugelmin 18 1995 Reynard-Ford 227.923 Brazil ROW 3 7. Robby Gordon 5 1995 Reynard-Ford 227.531 Orange 8. Scott Pruett 20 1995 Lola-Ford 227.403 Granite Bay, Calif. 9. Jimmy Vasser 12 1995 Reynard-Ford 227.350 Discovery Bay, Calif. ROW 4 10. Hiro Matsushita 25 1995 Reynard-Ford 226.867 Japan 11. Stan Fox 91 1995 Reynard-Ford 226.588 Janesville, Wis. 12. r-Andre Ribeiro 31 1995 Reynard-Ford 226.495 Brazil ROW 5 13. Roberto Guerrero 21 1994 Reynard-Mercedes 226.402 San Juan Capistrano 14. Eddie Cheever 14 1995 Lola-Ford 226.314 Aspen, Colo. 15. Teo Fabi 33 1995 Reynard-Ford 225.911 Italy ROW 6 16. Paul Tracy 3 1995 Lola-Ford 225.795 Canada 17. r-Alessandro Zampedri 34 1994 Lola-Ford 225.753 Italy 18. Danny Sullivan 17 1995 Reynard-Ford 225.496 Aspen, Colo. ROW 7 19. r-Gil de Ferran 8 1995 Reynard-Mercedes 225.437 Brazil 20. Hideshi Matsuda 54 1994 Lola-Ford 227.818 Japan 21. Bobby Rahal 9 1995 Lola-Mercedes 227.081 Hilliard, Ohio ROW 8 22. Raul Boesel 11 1995 Lola-Mercedes 226.028 Brazil 23. Buddy Lazier 80 1995 Lola-Menard 226.017 Vail, Colo. 24. r-Eliseo Salazar 7 1995 Lola-Ford 225.023 Chile ROW 9 25. Adrian Fernandez 10 1995 Lola-Mercedes 227.803 Mexico 26. Eric Bachelart 19 1994 Lola-Ford 226.875 Belgium 27. r-Christian Fittipaldi 15 1995 Reynard-Ford 226.375 Brazil ROW 10 28. Lyn St. James 90 1995 Lola-Ford 225.346 Daytona Beach, Fla. 29. r-Carlos Guerrero 22 1995 Lola-Ford 225.831 Mexico 30. Scott Sharp 41 1995 Lola-Ford 225.711 East Norwalk, Conn. ROW 11 31. Stefan Johansson 16 1994 Reynard-Ford 225.547 Sweden 31. Davy Jones 77 1995 Lola-Ford 225.135 Lake Tahoe, Nev. 33. Bryan Herta 4 1995 Reynard-Ford 225.551 Valencia

* Field average--226.912 (Record, previous record--223.479, 1992)

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