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Monday, May 27
Other Indy 500 controversies
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS -- Controversy is as much a part of the
Indianapolis 500 as a swig of milk by the winning driver.
Here are some other past controversies at the Brickyard:
Roger Penske also was involved in a disputed finish in 1981 when Bobby
Unser was penalized one lap for illegally passing cars during a
yellow caution.
In those days, the standings were not official until the
following morning. Although Unser had taken the checkered flag for
the apparent victory the day of the race, Mario Andretti was
declared the winner when the official results were posted.
Penske, who was Unser's car owner, immediately appealed the
decision, and a special U.S. Auto Club panel conducted a series of
hearings that lasted into the summer. Then in October, 4½ months
after the race, USAC finally overturned the penalty, ruling it
should have been assessed at the time of the infraction, not a day
later, in order to give Unser a chance to regain the lost lap on
the track.
Team Penske was fined $40,000, but Unser's third victory at
Indianapolis was restored. He retired from racing after that.
In 1995, Scott Goodyear ignored a black flag summons to the pits
for passing the pace car on a restart and was not scored for the
final five laps, falling from an apparent first place finish to
14th. Jacques Villeneuve, who got the victory in 1995, made up an
earlier two-lap penalty for passing the pace car under yellow.
Another dispute involving Bobby Unser -- although with a
different car owner -- changed the outcome of second place in 1972,
when Mark Donohue gave Penske his first victory at Indy. Jerry Grant was the apparent runner-up to Donohue, but USAC
ruled Grant had illegally taken on fuel from Unser's tank in an
adjacent pit with 12 laps to go. Grant completed all 200 laps but
was penalized the final 12 laps and wound up 12th.
In 1992, two teams filed protests alleging the engine used in
Gordon Johncock's car in qualifications was the same engine used by
Lazier a week earlier. The engine apparently was sent back to the
manufacturer for rebuilding and inadvertently wound up in
Johncock's car, but chief steward Tom Binford said there was no
specific rule against it. A rule to prohibit the use of an engine
that already was used in another car was put in effect the
following year.
In 1991, USAC mandated symmetrical suspension on both sides of
the cars, a rule enforced with a rigid brace that caused some
modifications on the Lola race cars, the most popular chassis. CART
allowed a three-quarters inch offset of the suspension arm on one
side for better handling through the corners. USAC allowed the cars
to practice with the asymmetrical suspension but withheld its final
inspection sticker until the change was made.
In 1990, a new rule reduced downforce by narrowing the exit
area of the tunnels beneath the cars by two inches. The design was
built into new cars, but the 1989 and older cars were made to
conform either through a $30,000 tunnel reconstruction or a special
diffuser sleeve available from USAC. Nine crashes in practice
involved 1987, 1988 or 1989 Lolas, and all of them were cars using
the diffuser. Some car owners petitioned USAC to allow them to
remove the diffuser, but USAC refused on the grounds that some of
the similarly affected teams did not have the same problem.
Also in 1990, some drivers said blisters on their tires had
forced unscheduled pit stops, and they blamed Goodyear, the tire
manufacturer. Others, including winner Arie Luyendyk, weren't
bothered at all, so there was no way to tell.
In 1989, following a repaving of the track, about 15 extra
feet of potential racing surface below the white line was declared
off-limits except for warmups and emergencies. A nearly unanimous
protest by drivers brought a quick modification, with penalties
only for flagrant violations.
Other scandals in the 1970s and '80s included the illegal use
of nitrous oxide, a super coolant which can cause sudden bursts of
speed when introduced into the fuel injection system; the insertion
of washers in exhaust pipes to override the USAC limit on manifold
pressure boost; and the placing of bolts into pop-off, or
pressure-relief, valves to produce added horsepower.
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