Needing a Buddy, Indy Gets One . . .

INDIANAPOLIS —  Tony George got about all he could have asked for in the first Indianapolis 500 put on by his Indy Racing League.

Buddy Lazier, a personable young American driver who came back from crippling injuries two months ago in Phoenix, won the 80th running of the 500 on Sunday after a tense five-car finish that had the 350,000 or so fans on their feet the last 20 laps. Davy Jones was 0.695 of a second behind in the third-closest finish in Indy 500 history.

Tony Stewart, the darling of the IRL and the rookie driver that George’s henchmen used as their point man, started from the pole and raced to record early speeds before his Menard-powered engine gave out.

Ron Hemelgarn, a Toledo businessman who has been bringing cars and drivers to the Indy 500 for 19 years with minimal success, finally got his first trip to Victory Circle with Lazier.

The 17 rookies--more than half the field--around whom so much controversy swirled in the days before the race, performed admirably and safely. The day’s only serious accident, which occurred as Lazier took the checkered flag, involved veteran drivers.

And, while he perhaps didn’t wish ill will on the Indy car drivers who choose to race at Brooklyn, Mich., instead of in his race, George probably couldn’t help but smile at the pace-lap chaos that occurred there--chaos that CART spokesmen had continuously predicted would occur at Indianapolis.

“When you do things for greed or spite, it comes back to haunt you,” Hemelgarn said. “This is the greatest race in the world and always will be, whether they run go-karts or stock cars or whatever. Anybody who would say this wasn’t a good race and wasn’t a competitive race is an ass.”

Lazier, 28, a second-generation Indy 500 driver from Vail, Colo., took the lead from Jones with eight laps remaining and quickly pulled away. A caution flag on Lap 196 enabled Jones and Richie Hearn to pull close to Lazier, but in a one-lap drag race to the finish line, Lazier won, with Hearn--the first rookie finisher--third.

“Those last two laps were risky as I ever wanna be,” Lazier said.

It was the first time American drivers had finished in the first three positions since 1986, when Bobby Rahal, Kevin Cogan and Rick Mears were 1-2-3. Jones is from Lake Tahoe and Hearn from Canyon Country.

A terrifying accident in the fourth turn involved the next three finishers, Alessandro Zampedri, Roberto Guerrero and Eliseo Salazar. As they raced for the finish line, Guerrero spun into the wall near the pit entrance. When Zampedri couldn’t avoid the spinning car, he became airborne and, after landing, was hit by Salazar.

Zampedri broke both ankles, both feet and his left leg. He was operated on at Methodist Hospital. Salazar, who was making his first start since a suspension piece went through his leg during practice last January in Orlando, Fla., bruised his right knee.

Guerrero was not injured.

Although the flush of victory helped ease the pain, Lazier may have hurt more than anyone. While practicing for the Phoenix 200 last March he tangled with Lyn St. James’ car, smacked the wall and suffered back injuries.

“The doctors said it was like a hard-boiled egg had been dropped,” Lazier said. “For awhile after the accident, I couldn’t feel my arms or legs. There were 16 fractures and my bones were like taffy. If it weren’t for the special chair Brock Walker built, I don’t think I could have raced here.”

The race started both fast and slow.

Fast because Stewart, the precocious rookie from nearby Rushville, Ind., sped off as if he planned to run away and hide. Slow because the pace was blunted five times in the first 75 laps by caution situations, generated by debris on the track, a couple of spin outs and a blown radiator.

Stewart, in becoming only the third rookie to lead the first lap of a 500, also had the fastest first lap in history at 215.064 mph, nearly five miles per hour faster than Michael Andretti’s 1992 record 210.339. On his 10th lap, Stewart had the fastest lead lap of the race 234.412.

Before his engine began to sputter and finally expire, the U.S. Auto Club’s triple champion led for 44 laps, the most by a rookie since 1947, when second-place finisher Bill Holland led 143.

“It’s disappointing, sure, to have our day end like that, but just being in the race was a dream come true,” Stewart said. “To be out in front in the 500 and lead 44 laps is more than I ever expected. I’ve got a lot of 500s left in front of me. . . .

“I think what happened [to the engine] was the pop-off valve. It blew off in my ear three times and every time it did, it had to hurt the car.”

Once Stewart was out, the race became a high-speed chase among Guerrero, Jones, Lazier and Zampedri. All took turns leading--Guerrero for 47 laps, Jones for 46, Lazier for 43 and Zampedri for 20.

“I think the key moment for us was the first time we led and I realized we were able to run away from anyone,” Lazier said. “Every pit stop, we were adjusting, adjusting, adjusting, until we were in really good shape.”

Jones might have challenged more had he not been squeezed into the inside wall by Salazar while leading on a restart on Lap 179.

“It was probably a mistake on my part because he was a lap down and I didn’t need to pass him, but on the other hand I wanted to get out front in clean air and put some distance between second place,” Jones said. “I don’t know what he was thinking. You don’t need to use some sort of blocking tactics and stuff people into the wall, but that’s what he did.

“It knocked the balance out of the car just a little bit and that hurt. Even with all that, I might have caught Lazier on the last lap if I could have gotten by Michel Jourdain [who was three laps behind] on the front straightaway. But as it was, I didn’t get clear until the third turn. Perhaps if there had been one more lap, things could have been different.”

Danny Ongais, who started 33rd as a replacement for Scott Brayton, the pole qualifier who died after crashing in practice on May 17, finished seventh. It was Ongais’ first Indy car race in 10 years.

“It was a great race,” he said. “The rookies moved over and gave you room when you needed it. I had no problems whatsoever.”

Which could probably be said for Tony George and his IRL too.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Indianapolis 500 Results

Results of the Indianapolis 500, with finishing position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown or country, car number, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (all cars 1995 models unless noted otherwise; r-rookie):

1. (5) Buddy Lazier, Vail, Colo., No. 91, Reynard-Ford, 200 laps, 147.956.

2. (2) Davy Jones, Lake Tahoe, Nev., No. 70, Lola-Mercedes, 200 laps.

3. (15) r-Richie Hearn, Canyon Country, Calif., No. 4, Reynard-Ford, 200 laps.

4. (7) Alessandro Zampedri, Italy, No. 8, Lola-Ford, 199 laps, crash.

5. (6) Roberto Guerrero, San Juan Capistrano, No. 21, Reynard-Ford, 198 laps, crash.

6. (3) Eliseo Salazar, Chile, No. 7, Lola-Ford, 197 laps, crash.

7. (33) Danny Ongais, Long Beach, No. 32, Lola-Menard, 197 laps.

8. (30) Hideshi Matsuda, Japan, No. 52, 1994 Lola-Ford, 197 laps.

9. (23) r-Robbie Buhl, Grosse Pointe, Mich., No. 54, 1994 Lola-Ford, 197 laps.

10. (21) Scott Sharp, Danville, Calif., No. 11, Lola-Ford, 194 laps, crash.

11. (4) Eddie Cheever, Aspen, Colo., No. 3, Lola-Menard, 189 laps, engine.

12. (10) r-Davey Hamilton, Boise, Idaho, No. 14, Lola-Ford, 181 laps.

13. (8) r-Michel Jourdain Jr., Mexico, No. 22, Lola-Ford, 177 laps.

14. (18) Lyn St. James, Daytona Beach, Fla., No. 45, 1994 Lola-Ford, 153 laps, crash.

15. (32) r-Scott Harrington, Indianapolis, No. 44, Reynard-Ford, 150 laps, crash.

16. (20) Arie Luyendyk, Netherlands, No. 5, Reynard-Ford, 149 laps, crash.

17. (9) r-Buzz Calkins, Denver, Colo., No. 12, Reynard-Ford, 148 laps, brakes.

18. (19) r-Jim Guthrie, Albuquerque, N.M., No. 27, 1993 Lola-Menard, 144 laps, engine.

19. (14) r-Mark Dismore, Greenfield, Ind., No. 30, Lola-Menard, 129 laps, engine.

20. (11) Mike Groff, Palm Desert, No. 60, Reynard-Ford, 122 laps, fire.

21. (28) r-Fermin Velez, Spain, No. 34, Lola-Ford, 107 laps, fire.

22. (31) r-Joe Gosek, Oswego, N.Y., No. 43, 1994 Lola-Ford, 106 laps, radiator.

23. (26) r-Brad Murphey, Tucson, Ariz. No. 10, 1994 Reynard-Ford, 91 laps, suspension.

24. (1) r-Tony Stewart, Rushville, Ind., No. 20, Lola-Menard, 82 laps, engine.

25. (25) r-Racin Gardner, Buellton, Calif., No. 90, 1994 Lola-Ford, 76 laps, suspension.

26. (22) Marco Greco, Brazil, No. 41, 1994 Lola-Ford, 64 laps, engine.

27. (13) Stephan Gregoire, France, No. 9, Reynard-Ford, 59 laps, fire.

28. (27) Johnny Parsons, Indianapolis, No. 16, 1993 Lola-Menard, 48 laps, radiator.

29. (29) r-Johnny O’Connell, Chandler, Ariz., No. 75, Reynard-Ford, 47 laps, fuel pickup.

30. (12) r-Michele Alboreto, Italy, No. 33, Reynard-Ford, 43 laps, gearbox.

31. (17) John Paul Jr., West Palm Beach, Fla., No. 18, 1993 Lola-Menard, 10 laps, ignition.

32. (24) r-Paul Durant, Manteca, Calif, No. 96, 1992 Lola-Buick, 9 laps, engine.

33. (16) r-Johnny Unser, Sun Valley, Idaho, No. 64, Reynard-Ford, 0 laps, transmission.

RACE STATISTICS

* Time of Race: 3 hours, 22 minutes, 45.753 seconds.

* Winner’s average speed: 147.956 mph.

* Yellow Lights: 10 for 59 laps (1:49:36)

* Lap leaders: Tony Stewart 1-31, Roberto Guerrero 32-37, Buddy Lazier 38-41, Stewart 42-54, Roberto Guerrero 55-70, Davy Jones 71-86, Lazier 87-97, Jones 98-120, Lazier 121-133, Guerrero 134-158, Jones 159-160, Lazier 161-167, Jones 168-169, Alessandro Zampedri 170-189, Jones 190-192, Lazier 193-200.