Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 24, 1993 TAG: 9305240052
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Medium
Cheever, who started from the middle of the front row last May, was bumped from the tentative lineup Saturday and faced the possibility of a rainout on Sunday that would have left him out of the 33-car field.
Instead, he and car owner John Turley came up with an 11th-hour deal with John Menard, who already had put cars driven by Gary Bettenhausen, Nelson Piquet and Geoff Brabham into the field.
Even that arrangement appeared to go sour when, with less than 45 minutes remaining on the last of four days of time trials, Cheever's crew unexpectedly aborted a four-lap, 10-mile qualifying run that would have put him solidly into the field for the May 30 race.
Cheever had run three laps on the 2 1/2-mile oval at more than 217 mph and came up with a final lap that was flashed onto the timing screens at 217.797, which would have given him an average of 217.483.
That was fast enough to bump Rahal, the 1986 Indy winner and the defending Indy-car driving champion, who started the day on the bubble as the slowest qualifier at 217.140.
Rain delayed the start of the session and, by the time the track was dry, the wind was gusting 30 mph and the heat and humidity were at their most intense. Drivers did go onto the track to practice, but nobody took a shot at qualifying until Cheever went out at 6:17 p.m. EDT.
When Cheever's crew waved off the qualifying attempt, Rahal jumped off his perch atop a pile of tires and hugged his wife.
"We had [the last lap] under 218 and we decided if the last lap wasn't a 218, it wasn't quite fast enough, so we pulled the yellow," Menard said.
Didier Theys of Belgium and Scott Pruett waved off attempts that were not quick enough, then John Paul Jr. blew his engine on the third lap of his final attempt.
Rookie Eric Bachelart was under 210 for one lap and came in, sending Cheever, who had waited impatiently at the back of the qualifying line, back onto the track with 15 minutes remaining.
"Eddie said there was a push in the car on that first attempt, so we made a couple of small changes," said Bettenhausen, who helped Cheever get comfortable in the 1992 Lola-Menard V6.
Giving the car a wild ride in which he twice barely missed the turn 4 wall, Cheever turned laps of 218.569, 218.325, 217.475 and 216.045 for an average of 217.599 mph.
"It's been the longest month of my life," Cheever said. "I'm glad the car ran well. If Menard hadn't offered us the car, we wouldn't be in the show. I've only run it an hour and a half, but Gary helped me a lot and it was exciting.
"A race driver's job is easy. All you have to do is get in and go as fast as you can. I didn't have anything to think about. I had four laps I had to put together."
By the time Cheever has completed the first lap, Rahal was donning helmet and gloves and heading for his backup car. With the time flying by, Buddy Lazier called off a slow run after one lap. Then Theys, a two-time Indy starter, bumped rookie Mark Smith's 217.150 run with a 217.752 run that included a best lap of 219.378, faster than any he had driven this month.
As Theys took the checkered flag, Rahal drove onto the track to the cheers of more than 100,000 spectators. The gun signifying the end of time trials sounded moments before Rahal took the green flag, making him the last driver with a chance to break into the lineup for the 77th Indy 500.
Kevin Cogan was the man to beat at 217.230. Rahal's first lap was quick enough at 217.360, but his next two were 216.820 and 214.782. Even picking it up to 216.424 on the final lap left him far short at 216.342.
PIQUET'S OFF-TRACK CRASH: Three-time Formula One champion Nelson Piquet of Brazil and his wife, who escaped injury in a non-racing car crash, were happy to be spectators Sunday. "It was really scary," Piquet said of the accident Saturday outside the speedway. "It was not their fault; somebody waved them. There were two lanes [of traffic], one lane was stopped and the line I was in was running. She [the driver of the other car] was waved in, and she went right through." The two women in the other car, who weren't identified, were slightly hurt, authorities said.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB