
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 11, 1990                   TAG: 9005110802
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS                                LENGTH: Medium

INDY 500 RULE WILL STAY

Teams struggling to make the Indianapolis 500 with pre-1990 cars have been told they are going to have to make do with the current rules.

The U.S. Auto Club turned down an appeal by a group of car owners and drivers with 1989 and older cars to allow them to remove an aerodynamic device they say is making their cars unpredictable and unstable.

The request was made Wednesday after Johnny Rutherford, a three-time Indy 500 winner, became the fifth driver in a 1989 or older car to crash since practice opened Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Rutherford was diagnosed with a concussion and spent the night in Methodist Hospital. He was released on Thursday.

Roger McCluskey, vice president and competition director of USAC, told the owners and drivers on Thursday that their appeal for relief had been denied.

"The request was that USAC allow them to remove tunnel exit restrictors in older cars based on the fact they couldn't get the cars stable," he said. "But there are quite a few other people around here with the same restrictors in the tunnels and they feel comfortable with those cars and don't have a problem. That is what our decision was based on.

"The people that are having a problem with the cars just need to do more homework to get their cars comfortable for the drivers."

McCluskey, a former Indy-car driver, said, "I can't say I haven't been in the same predicament myself. You have to just keep working on it until you get your car predictable and stable. But I have had times when I've left here in June with the same problems."

Rules adopted for the 1990 season by both USAC and Championship Auto Racing Teams, which sanctions the rest of the 16-race Indy-car series, cut the allowable space at the exit of the aerodynamic tunnels beneath the cars by two inches. The change was intended to cut the downforce on the cars and thus force the drivers to slow down in the turns.

The 1990 cars were built to those specifications and some teams with pre-1990 cars rebuilt the tunnels to meet the new rule. The other teams were forced to bolt two-inch diffuser boxes into the tunnels, a situation which they insist is dangerous for the driver.

The group asking for relief from the diffuser rule was led by team owners Vince Granatelli and Jonathan Byrd.

Even before USAC's decision was announced, Granatelli said, "I don't believe the problem is technical expertise. A lot of these guys drove 1988 and 1989 cars last year and they were perfectly fine. These are the same cars, but the balance has been changed. They (diffusers) are the only real difference, so they must be the problem."

Keywords:
AUTO RACING

by CNB