Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 15, 1995 TAG: 9505160034
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Long
Scott Brayton secured the pole position for the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, while the elite Team Penske was shut out for the first time in the opening weekend of qualifying.
Al Unser Jr., the winner of last year's pole and race, and Penske teammate Emerson Fittipaldi, like Unser a two-time Indy winner, didn't make a qualifying attempt as the interrupted opening round of time trials and the second round were completed on a warm, sunny Sunday.
Both were in line to qualify late in the first round, but were pulled at the last moment, apparently still unable to get the speed that had eluded them all week in practice.
In a total of more than 150 laps of practice in four team cars, neither of the Penske drivers was able to hit 220 on Sunday as the team's Penske-Mercedes cars continued to experience severe handling problems in the corners.
``I don't want to risk going out there and making a mistake,'' Penske said. ``It can happen too easily. At this point in time, we felt we'd wait and work on the setups for the rest of the week.
``If I knew what was wrong, we'd have fixed it,'' he said. ``That's as frank as I can be.''
He said the team would test a 1994 Penske chassis today, as well as continuing to work with the new cars.
Addressing a widespread rumor that he was going to buy new Lolas to use in place of his team-built Penske chassis, Penske said: ``I've had three or four car owners come up to me and say, `Look, if you need a car, you've got one.' We are looking at those options. I'd be less than honest if I didn't say we might have those types of opportunities, and we're going to be looking at those as we go into the next few days.
``But again, we've got some things we're going to change on our existing cars. ... We've got plenty of time.''
Penske said he was surprised by the team's problems after winning the past two races - Unser in Long Beach, Calif., and Fittipaldi in Nazareth, Pa.
``That's why it's great to come here and run,'' he said. ``You can't hide. You have to produce. I can say this: The amount of pressure on our people to stay on the top ... everyone has kept their chin up. The big situation is we have to get a combination that will get into the race.''
Twenty-five of the 33 starting spots for the May 28 race were filled by the end of the second of four days of time trials, with rookie Eliseo Salazar of Chile the slowest qualifier at 225.023 mph.
Last year, Penske's team dominated the month with a specially built Mercedes-Benz engine that was rendered obsolete by changes in the rules. Penske drivers have won the 500 a record 10 times and have started from the pole 11 times since the team first ran here in 1969.
There was no immediate word from the Penske team about its plans for the second week of practice and qualifying.
Brayton, who barely beat teammate Arie Luyendyk in Saturday's rain-shortened session that allowed 11 drivers to qualify, wound up on the pole - the first of his Indy-car career.
The best previous start at Indy for the 36-year-old from Coldwater, Mich., was second in 1985. Brayton will be starting his 14th Indy, the most of any driver entered.
Brayton's four-lap, 10-mile average was 231.604 mph. Luyendyk, who won the 1990 race and the 1993 pole, put his Menard V-6-powered Lola in the middle of the first of 11 three-car rows with a speed of 231.031.
The Menard drivers each led a day of practice since the track opened May 6.
``It's just a credit to this team to start out 1-2 and finish 1-2 in qualifying,'' Brayton said. ``Now we just have to do it on race day. I just couldn't be happier with the way things have worked.''
The weather was almost perfect leading to the first of four days of qualifications. Both Menard drivers practiced at speeds above 234 mph, unofficial record laps at the speedway, but were slowed considerably on the wet, gloomy Saturday by oppressive humidity.
It was warmer temperatures, with highs in the low 80s, and wind that slowed the cars Sunday.
Asked what he and Brayton would have been able to do if all the first-round qualifying had been Sunday, Luyendyk said, ``We wouldn't have done 234s, but we'd have done 232s and we'd still be quickest.''
Scott Goodyear, the 1992 runner-up to Unser, was the fastest of nine drivers who qualified Sunday in what still was considered first-round trials. He took the outside of the front row from Michael Andretti with a 230.759 run.
Andretti had run at 229.294 mph in the closing moments of Saturday's session.
Other drivers who qualified in Sunday's portion of the opening round were 1994 runner-up and rookie of the year Jacques Villeneuve at 228.397, Robby Gordon at 227.531, series points leader Scott Pruett at 227.403, Jimmy Vasser at 227.350, Hiro Matsushita at 226.867, rookie Andre Ribeiro at 226.495 and former pole-winners Roberto Guerrero and Teo Fabi at 226.402 and 225.911.
Qualifying will resume Saturday. Once the field is full, faster drivers can bump the slowest of those already qualified until the end of time trials May 21 at 7 p.m..
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB