First Indy Ends Quickly For Unser

Johnny Unser’s first Indy 500 ended without the 37-year-old completing a lap. The only Unser in the race from a family that has produced nine victories at Indianapolis had a problem in his gearbox.

“It popped out of gear on the parade lap,” he said. “We tried to get it fixed, but nothing worked.”

“I don’t know how to express how I feel. This race means so much to our family. You work all month, and then this happens.”

Unser’s father died while practicing for the Indianapolis 500 in 1959. His uncle, Al Sr., won the race four times. His other uncle, Bobby, also finished last as a rookie in 1963 before winning the race three times. His cousin, Al Jr., who was racing in the U.S. 500 due to the split between the Indy Racing League and Championship Auto Racing Teams, has two Indianapolis victories.

Teammates salute Brayton

Scott Brayton, killed in practice earlier in the month, was remembered by other members of his Menard team. Pole sitter Tony Stewart, Danny Ongais and Eddie Cheever each had decals on their car that read, “For Scotty, We Love Ya!”

Ongais started in last position in the car that Brayton qualified. He finished seventh.

Pop-off valve sidelines Stewart

Pole-sitter Tony Stewart, who had sought to become the first rookie winner at Indianapolis in 30 years, was knocked out by a faulty pressure-relief valve before the race was halfway over.

“What a pain. We had the car going well and then we’re out of the race for something that wasn’t our fault,” he said. “It was one of those lousy USAC pop-off valves. Thank God that next year the IRL will be running with normally aspirated engines.”

Indy jinx follows Andretti

It wasn’t the Indianapolis 500, but the Indy jinx followed Michael Andretti to Michigan.

He was forced out on lap 68 of the inaugural U.S. 500 because of a faulty CV joint after he’d successfully maneuvered through a pace-lap crash of 12 cars, dodging flying tires as he went.

“It was a mess. A tire went right over me. It was like driving in a video game and dodging things,” he said.

Michael has never won the Indianapolis 500 and his father, Mario, was plagued by several fluke mishaps after his only victory there in 1969.

Familiar faces at U.S. 500

There’s Dave and Paul and Sweetness.

Dave Letterman and Paul Newman and Walter Payton, all car owners, were at the Michigan International Speedway for the U.S. 500.

The Payton-Coyne team had the most success as Roberto Moreno took third and Hiro Matsushita was 14th.

Late night star Letterman is a partner with Bobby Rahal, and neither of Team Rahal’s cars finished the race. The best finish for the Newman-Haas team was a 12th for Christian Fittipaldi. Newman drove the pace car to start the race.

Panther invasion

Charlotte Motor Speedway is proving to be a popular hangout for the new kids on the city’s professional sports scene, the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.

Coach Dom Capers was hanging out with Kenny Wallace’s race team. Capers got his first taste of NASCAR racing last May when he served as grand marshal of the Red Dog 300.

This year, the 300’s grand marshal was Panthers defensive end Mike Fox.

He was one of six Panthers in the pits for the first round of Winston Cup time trials. Also on hand were Kerry Collins, Greg Skrepenak, Sean Love, Mark Thomas and Jeff Zgonina.

Comeback kid

Gary Bettenhausen, who at age 54 was racing for the first time in three years, lasted 79 laps before hitting a wall - literally.

Bettenhausen, whose arms were paralyzed after surgery for a pinched nerve in January 1995, was in his first race since the 1993 Indianapolis 500. He hit the wall coming out of turn four and ended up on the front stretch. He was not seriously injured.

Greetings, Earthlings

The command for the Coca-Cola 600 drivers to start their engines came from the space shuttle Endeavour, which was orbiting about 180 miles above Earth.

Making the call were Endeavour’s pilot, Curt Brown, and commander, John Casper.