Indianapolis 500

1992

By Jeff Majeske

Logansport Pharos-Tribune Sports Editor

INDIANAPOLIS- If you're a fan of the Unsers, the Andrettis or the Indianpolis 500 in general, the scene was a familiar one.

But this time, the second generation drivers took center stage.

In 1987, Mario Andretti dominated the race, leading 170 laps before falling back with mechanical problems. With Andretti sputtering, Al Unser Sr. went on to win.

Five years later, Michael Andretti was the man to beat. He led 161 of the first 189 laps, then saw it all disappear.

And who was there to collect the chips? An Unser, of course. The younger one.

"I didn't even think of winning until I saw Michael sitting on the wall in the north chute," Al Unser Jr. said after winning the 76th Indianapolis 500 Sunday.

Not that Unser didn't earn his first 500 victory. Scott Goodyear made sure of that.

"Scott Goodyear was right on my exhaust," he said.

But Unser, who had passed Goodyear a handful of laps earlier to move into second place, was not going to be denied in the final 10 circuits.

Time and again, Goodyear put pressure on Unser, searching for a way around him. But Little Al swerved around and kept Goodyear from getting a shot at him.

Goodyear's last good chance was coming off the fourth turn on the final lap, and by then it was too late.

Almost.

"I was running hard those last five laps," Unser said. "My car got a little loose and I lifted a little in turn four and I thought 'Oh no, I'm going to blow it.'"

But Unser, who lost a heartbreaker to Emerson Fittipaldi in 1989, managed to hold off Goodyear and cross the finish line ahead of him by just .043 seconds (video). That was the closest 1-2 finish ever, topping the margin of .16 seconds set in 1982 when Gordon Johncock beat Rick Mears.

Goodyear didn't have any complaints with the way Unser drove the closing laps, "I wouldn't call it blocking; I would call it using all the race track, and I would have done the same thing," Goodyear said. "We were flat out, and he had to get off the throttle coming off four, and I thought there was a possibility (he could catch him). We were catching him in three and four, and he was getting us in one and two. I just got ready to slip underneath him. I just wish the start-finish line was another 100 yards down the straightaway, that's all."

For Unser, It's a good thing it wasn't.

"I couldn't take my mind off Scott; he was doing a heckuva job," Unser said. "The car was working well coming off two, then as we were exiting three and four, Scott seemed quicker than I was- I was a little bit loose.”

"He gave me a heckuva scare. I thought he was going to take it away from me right there. I came off four and he was all in my mirrors, so I was going to try to make that race car as wide as I could make it."

Unser turned his final lap at 2.22.668 mph. Goodyear was quicker, 2.24.020, but not fast enough. Still, it was an amazing charge for Goodyear, who was bumped out, then took over a car Mike Groff had qualified and started 33rd.

But the 32-year-old Canadian climbed to seventh by lap 20, then fell behind a lap at the halfway mark before charging back up front.

Andretti did most of the charging, but just didn't have the reliability to notch his first win.

"It can't get much worse than this," he said. "This place is cruel, so cruel."

Fittingly, Andretti placed 13th, and the race was more cruel than usual to the Andrettis on this race day. Mario and Jeff Andretti were both injured in accidents. Mario suffered injuries to both feet, including some broken toes, after he spun coming out of turn four and hit the outside wall on lap 83.

Jeff suffered a concussion and multiple injuries in both ankles after losing a wheel and crashing in turn two.

Michael Andretti said both incidents weighed heavily in his mind. "I knew I still had a job to do, but it was hard to concentrate," he said. "I thought I was getting the job done. The car was perfect. I've never had a car so perfect. It looks like a fuel pump, but we're not sure yet.”

"Man, losing after what happened to dad and Jeff is really hard to take."

The tone of the accident-marred race was set on the parade lap when pole-sitter Roberto Guerrero spun on the backstretch and damaged the right rear suspension.

"I hoped it was a dream or a nightmare," Guerrero said. "Obviously, with the cold weather, I was just trying to warm up the tires. I just gave it a little too much and it swapped ends."

Cold tires probably contributed to six of the eight crashes that eliminated 11 cars. Accidents that took out Tom Sneva, Phillipe Cache, Emerson Fittipaldi, Jim Crawford, Rick Mears, Mario Andretti, Jimmy Vasser and Brian Bonner came within a lap after the track went back to green after a caution period. None of the injuries suffered were life-threatening, although Vasser suffered a fractured right thigh.

With cars dropping out left and right, veteran Al Unser Sr. found himself running his race. The four time winner led four laps and finished third on the same lap as the leaders.

Danny Sullivan and pre-race favorite Bobby Rahal weren't factors for the win, but did end up fourth and fifth. Lyn St. James was the highest-placing rookie, and the only one to finish, with an 11th place effort.

After Guerrero's mishap, Michael Andretti jumped to the lead and headed the field for the first 13 laps. Fellow Ford-Cosworth drivers Eddie Cheever and Arie Luyendyk also found their way up front. A Chevrolet didn't lead until Unser Jr. led for two circuits on laps 108 and 109.

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