LONG BEACH GRAND PRIX : Great Expectations Become Prophecy : Auto racing: Canadian Paul Tracy gets his first Indy car victory in record-setting time.

Paul Tracy was elated, Bobby Rahal rewarded, Nigel Mansell and Scott Goodyear confused and most of the other drivers in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach were griping about the opposition.

Tracy, the young Canadian tabbed by car owner Roger Penske to replace the retired Rick Mears, fulfilled Penske’s expectations with the first victory of his Indy car career over the 1.59-mile street course. The victory also fulfilled expectations of those who saw him lap the field twice at Phoenix before crashing into the wall two weeks ago with the race in hand.

Tracy led 81 of the 105 laps and averaged a record 93.089 m.p.h. to win by 12.658 seconds over Rahal, the defending PPG Cup Indy car champion. A crowd announced as 85,000 watched the tense race under a sunny sky that gave the event a touch of Monte Carlo with the Long Beach Marina and the Queen Mary as a backdrop.

“I had a couple of tires cut down by debris and another one blistered, but I came out after the third one and just kept driving the pace I was on earlier in the race. And everybody else had to stop and we were all right,” the bespectacled Tracy said.

Tracy had graduated from the Indy Lights program to the Penske team, and Long Beach has been prominent in his career. It was here in 1990 that he won an Indy Lights race, and in 1991 he drove in his first Indy car race at Long Beach.

Rahal, who left a winning combination this year to develop his own American chassis, finished second in the new car’s best showing.

“This was very rewarding because it was in our own car,” he said. “It’s been a tough start to the year so far, trying to develop it and produce a reliable car. I’m proud of Don Halliday. He’s a hell of a car designer, and I hope this gives him the accolades that he deserves.”

Mansell, who led what laps Tracy didn’t, finished third but found Indy car pit stops confusing after a career of running Formula One cars without stops for fuel.

“I have never done a race where I got so confused,” Mansell said. “Early on, I was leading, and then I got shuffled back and then I was ahead again, and then I was back to fifth. My wife said she lost track of the whole thing after 20 laps.”

The tempo for the race was established before it even started when Stephan Johansson, last year’s Indy car rookie of the year, slammed into the wall on the pace lap. He was fifth on the starting grid, alongside Mario Andretti. The two cars made contact as they exited the hairpin turn at the top of Shoreline Drive and headed for the start-finish line.

“It’s a 105-lap race, so there was no reason for him to try to gain there before they dropped the green flag,” said an irate Johansson after climbing from his battered car and throwing his steering wheel across the track.

“It’s very tight at the hairpin. . . . I don’t know what he had to gain by trying to pass me there.”

Johansson was later fined $500 for crossing pit lane on foot during the race.

Andretti’s comment was predictable: “I’m sure as hell not taking the blame for that one.”

Later, Andretti squeezed past Mansell, his Newman-Haas teammate, at the time for second place with a daring maneuver coming out of the pits. Mansell refrained from criticizing his fellow former Formula One champion, but with typical British understatement and a lifting of his eyebrows, he said: “It was interesting being overtaken by my teammate in the pits. I have never had that happen before.”

Andretti, who won at Phoenix, was running second 10 laps from the finish when his car quit with electrical problems.

Mansell came in for some serious criticism from Al Unser Jr. after an incident in mid-race that knocked Unser out of the race.

“I’ve never seen anybody block me as bad as Nigel blocked me today,” said Unser, a four-time Long Beach winner. “He knew exactly where I was when I was behind him. Then, as soon as I got beside him, he had no idea where I was. He parked me against the wall. What goes around comes around.”

Mansell saw Unser as the needless aggressor.

“I didn’t see what happened, but I felt it,” Mansell said. “That was a bit courageous of him. There isn’t any room to pass down there on that part of the circuit. I was disappointed that he couldn’t finish.”

What went around apparently came around in a series of incidents involving Eddie Cheever and Robby Gordon.

On Lap 61, Gordon said he was hit from behind by Cheever, flattening a tire. Gordon climbed from his car and waved his fist at Cheever his next time around.

“I passed Eddie clean on the front side, and there on the back side in Turn 3, I was totally committed to the corner and he ran into me and gave me a flat tire,” Gordon said.

Gordon, after receiving a tow and a new tire, returned to the track and again collided with Cheever, along with Arie Luyendyk. Gordon was the loser because his car was knocked out of the race, and Cheever and Luyendyk restarted and resumed running.

“In all of the years I’ve raced, I’ve never seen another driver so blatantly wait for another car and then hit him,” Cheever complained. “What a chicken move. This is like having an argument with someone, then hitting them in the head with a pole after they turn their back. Unbelievable.”

Gordon, somewhat subdued, would only say that, “It was unfortunate the two of us got hooked up again. Once it’s all said and done, it’s a shame.”

Chief steward Wally Dallenbach did have something to say. He disqualified Gordon, fined him $5,000 and put him on probation for one year for unsportsmanlike conduct and driving. Cheever received six months probation for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Goodyear, Canada’s other promising young driver, didn’t tangle with anyone but he did get his hands slapped by Indy car officials three times for speeding through the pits.

Goodyear and Danny Sullivan were also fined $5,000 each for unsportsmanlike conduct for an earlier incident, and Luyendyk was fined $5,000 and put on a one-year probation for unsportsmanlike conduct and driving for an incident involving rookie Mark Smith.

The Top Five

The top five finishers and their countries:

1. Paul Tracy, Canada

2. Bobby Rahal, U.S.

3. Nigel Mansell, England

4. Teo Fabi, Italy

5. Roberto Guerrero, U.S.

Complete results: C17