Penske Draws A Blank Powerful Team Won’t Run Indy 500

The Indianapolis 500 without an Unser, without a defending champ and without powerful Team Penske.

Nobody expected this, least of all Roger Penske, the most successful car owner in Indy history.

In a dramatic final hour of the fourth and last day of time trials for next Sunday’s race, two-time Indy winner Emerson Fittipaldi qualified and was then bumped out of the 33-car lineup. Defending champion Al Unser Jr. was unable to get in at all.

“Obviously, we didn’t come prepared,” said Penske, who has 11 poles, 10 victories and entries in each of the past 26 Indy races. “I’ve got two of the world’s great drivers sitting on my right and left. They gave everything they could give the last two weeks. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the ability to put these two cars in the race.

“It’s happened before to some great teams. It’s a shame these two drivers didn’t make the race, and it’s my responsibility to give them the proper equipment to make the race.”

The elite Penske team was clearly shaken by the time Stefan Johansson of Sweden qualified with a four-lap, 10-mile average of 225.547 mph with just 9 minutes remaining, knocking out Fittipaldi’s 224.907 effort, the last of two bumps.

Penske’s cars have won Indy, the world’s richest and most prestigious race, six of the last 10 years, three of the last four and the last two. But Unser and Fittipaldi, the drivers who won for Penske the past two years, will not be in the race’s 79th running.

“It hurts an awful lot,” said Unser, his face a blank.”We went out and we weren’t able to get the speeds and Roger has absolutely given us the best that can be given. He is the best car owner out there and I definitely don’t want to be driving for anybody but Roger. We as a team came here and we weren’t prepared.”

Unser is a two-time Indy winner. His family will not be represented in the race for the first time since 1962.

Fittipaldi was upset Saturday when Penske raised the yellow flag, wiping out an attempt that would have been in the 225.5 range. That would have put him solidly in the fastest field in Indy history.

On Sunday, moments after Scott Sharp qualified at 225.711, Fittipaldi managed only two laps over 225 on the run that made him the 33rd qualifier, filling the field and leaving him second behind Saturday qualifier Frank Freon (224.432) on the bump list with 50 minutes left.

Minutes later, Davy Jones earned his fourth Indy start and knocked Freon, a rookie from France, from the lineup with an average of 225.135 on his third and last try in that car.

Johansson and Marco Greco followed with attempts that were cut short when they didn’t find enough speed. Unser then went out in one of the two 1995 Lolas that Penske borrowed earlier in the week from Rahal-Hogan Racing after finding his 1995 Penske-Mercedes cars were too slow.

Unser, who called off two slow qualifying efforts Saturday in the Lola, ran the full 10 laps but was far short of bumping his teammate, averaging 224.101 with a fast lap of 225.236.

Unser drew a roar from the big crowd as he walked quickly, his hat pulled down over his face, toward the garage area.

Rookie Jeff Ward then came up short at 224.764, Greco ran one lap at 218.691 and rookie Davey Hamilton ran three laps at 220.900 before Johansson, driving for longtime Indy driver and team owner Tony Bettenhausen, ousted Fittipaldi.

There was speculation that Penske, whose team has a budget estimated at more than $10 million, would simply buy his way into the field, paying for a pair of qualified cars and starting Unser and Fittipaldi from the rear of the lineup, as U.S. Auto Club rules allow.

But Penske ended that talk in a hurry.

“No. 1, we’re not going to buy our way into the race,” he said. “We had the opportunity to compete on a level playing field with every other competitor here. We didn’t make the race. We’ll go home and be at Milwaukee (June 4), hopefully, back in stride.”

The field average of 226.912 broke the previous record of 223.479 set in 1992.

Rookie Eliseo Salazar of Chile had a record speed for the slowest qualifier in the field at 225.023. The previous mark was 220.992 by Byran Herta a year ago.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: END OF THE ROAD The record 10 winners in the Indianapolis 500 for car owner Roger Penske:

1972……..Mark Donohue 1979……..Rick Mears 1981……..Bobby Unser 1984……..Rick Mears 1985……..Danny Sullivan 1987……..Al Unser Sr. 1988……..Rick Mears 1991……..Rick Mears 1993……..Emerson Fittipaldi 1994……..Al Unser Jr.