Luyendyk Gains Pole for Indy 500 With a Masterful Effort

By SHAV GLICK

May 23, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

INDIANAPOLIS —

Arie Luyendyk, motor racing’s Dutch Master, has said all year that the 83rd Indianapolis 500 would be the final race of his Indy car career, and he has said that he wanted to finish on a high note.

The 45-year-old two-time Indy 500 winner took a large step toward that goal by stealing the pole for next Sunday’s 500 away from favorite Greg Ray, who had the fastest car on five of seven practice days, and also the fastest speed of the month.

Luyendyk, who holds the all-time one-lap Indianapolis Motor Speedway record of 236.986 mph made in 1996 when cars were turbocharged, went out early in cool, damp conditions and ran four laps around the 2.5-mile circuit at 225.179 mph in a G Force-Aurora. Although Ray had run an unofficial 227.192 mph in practice, Luyendyk’s speed was the fastest officially since the Indy Racing League switched to normally aspirated engines.

More than an hour later, Ray rolled Team Menard’s Dallara-Aurora onto the track with expectations of taking the pole. For three laps, his average was slightly quicker than Luyendyk’s, but when Ray’s final lap dipped to 224.439, it dropped his average to 225.073, just a tick from winning the pole.

“The car could have been better, but the car was still good enough,” Luyendyk said. “Considering how competitive the IRL is, with so many cars close together, I think track position is very important in the race.”

For the first time in Indy 500 history, an entire field of 33 cars was qualified on the first day. There was an urgency to get in the lineup because heavy rains are predicted for today, which would be bumping day if weather permits.

There were some dramatic late-in-the-day scenarios.

After crashing during his warmup lap in his first attempt, Billy Boat came back late in the day to qualify for the outside of the front row with a 223.469 mph average in one of A.J. Foyt’s Dallaras. The crash was the third of the week for Boat, last year’s pole-sitter.

“After it happens three times, you have to look at yourself in the mirror and ask, ‘What’s going on here?’ ” Boat said. “A.J. and the team told me, ‘Don’t worry about it. We’ll put the car back together and you can go get ‘em.’ I’m very fortunate that A.J. believes in me.”

CART champ car driver Robby Gordon, unable to squeeze more than 219 mph out of his Team Gordon G Force in a qualifying attempt, jumped into the second Menard car--in which Ray had reached 227 in practice--and qualified fourth at 223.066.

“We lost a motor this morning and it put us behind . . . pretty severely,” said Gordon, who will drive next Saturday night in a CART race in Madison, Ill., before returning here for the 500. “We’re very fortunate to be associated with John Menard and Team Menard. Greg Ray had done a good job in setting up the car, so I could get in and just flat-foot it.”

Gordon, the only driver to compete in both CART and IRL this year, said, “There’s not enough room for both of them. They have to get back together.”

Defending 500 champion Eddie Cheever, on the verge of missing the race, needed a third and final attempt to qualify. Twice he waved off 221-plus speeds apparently in hopes of finding front-row speed. When he accepted 221.315 on his third try, it was slower than the 221.4 he waved off earlier.

Winston Cup driver Tony Stewart, the second driver to qualify, ran a disappointing 220.653, which left him on the eighth row, but he could not wave it off because he had to leave for the airport and fly to Charlotte, N.C., for Saturday night’s The Winston at Lowe’s Motor Speedway--a race in which he finished second. Stewart had won one of two Winston Opens on Friday night in Charlotte to qualify for the NASCAR all-star race.

“We wanted to go quicker, obviously,” he said. “But we were flat-out the whole way around. That’s all the car had today. We had such a nice week, running so well in the heat, and then everything changed today.”

Immediately after completing his four laps, Stewart drove the police-escorted van to the airport.

Speeds were dramatically lower than drivers had recorded during the week of practice.

“We’re asking the same question,” 1996 winner Buddy Lazier said when asked what made the difference. He qualified 22nd at 220.721, nearly 4 mph slower than he ran on Thursday. “The track changes every minute.”

Luyendyk, making his 15th Indy 500 start, said he felt his years here gave him an edge in qualifying.

“It’s a matter of experience and a matter of knowing what you want from the car,” he said. “It doesn’t take very much to slow the car down a bunch. There’s a fine line to going fast here.”

By contrast, this was only Ray’s third Indy--and his second straight second-fastest qualifying position.

“Today was my son Winston’s sixth birthday and I wanted to give him the pole as a present,” said Ray, who replaced Stewart as Menard’s driver when Stewart moved to Winston Cup.

“Racing is about winning. Being on the pole is an event in itself, especially at a place like this. If you have a good car on race day, it doesn’t matter where you start. No matter what sport, football, basketball or racing, you’re measuring yourself against the best.”

When Luyendyk’s winning speed was announced, the pole day crowd of an estimated 50,000 gave him a rousing cheer as he brought his car down pit lane to owner Fred Treadway and the crew.

“When I had completed the run, I was really moved by the enthusiastic crowd all around the track,” he said. “And coming into the pits, all of the crews waving and clapping. It just shows this whole racetrack and the Indianapolis 500 is all about the fans and the people who make it happen.

“It’s still very much a people’s sport. It’s a great sport. I will always remember this day, coming into the pits. Of course, it could only be topped by coming in when everybody’s cheering when coming into Victory Lane.”

He already knows that feeling, in 1990 when as a virtual unknown he passed Bobby Rahal late in the race to win, and again in 1997 when he edged Scott Goodyear by .57 second in the third-closest finish in history.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Leading Qualifiers

ROW 1

No. Driver (Car No.)Speed

1. Arie Luyendyk (5): 225.179

2. Greg Ray (2): 225.073

3. Billy Boat (11): 223.469

ROW 2

4. Robby Gordon (32): 223.066

5. Mark Dismore (28): 222.963

6. Scott Sharp (8): 222.771

ROW 3