MOTOR RACING : Brayton, Fabi Need Sun to Erase Rain of Bad Luck at Indy

INDIANAPOLIS —  Al Unser Jr., Danny Sullivan and 12 others still have a chance to bump Emerson Fittipaldi off the pole and make the 33-car field for the May 27 Indianapolis 500 when time trials resume Saturday, but Scott Brayton and Teo Fabi are even more eager for good weather to return.

Fittipaldi, the defending 500 champion from Brazil, set track records of 225.575 m.p.h. for one lap and 225.301 m.p.h. for four laps Sunday when race officials managed to get 15 drivers qualified despite nearly two days of rain.

Although Unser & Co. are guaranteed a chance at pole qualifying because they were left waiting in line when the Indianapolis Motor Speedway closed at 6 p.m., Brayton and Fabi are not. They have already had their “guaranteed” chance and must wait until after the complete round of qualifying is over before they can try again to make the field.

If the weekend is a washout, as it almost was last week, they could wind up watching the 500, victims of heartbreaking luck.

Brayton, an exceptional qualifier who sat on the front row in 1985, is a prime candidate for the 1990 Jigger Sirois Award, which annually goes to the driver who makes the biggest goof, or has the worst luck leading up to the race. Brayton, who ran a 221-m.p.h. practice lap an hour before Sunday’s qualifying--which would have been fast enough for the second row--was the victim of a lapse by his crew chief.

After his warmup lap, Brayton was coming down to take the green flag for his four-lap time trial, but he never got it. Gilbert Lage, crew chief for the Dick Simon-owned Lola-Cosworth, forgot to signal the starter that his driver was ready to start his qualifying attempt.

“I came down hard past the start-finish line and noticed the starter didn’t wave the flag,” Brayton said. “I went on through (Turn) 1 until I saw the yellow (caution) light was still on. I thought maybe there was some debris on the track.”

Before each driver reaches the start-finish line on his last warm-up lap, a member of his crew must display a green flag or the clock will not be started.

Fabi missed his chance when the engine in his Porsche-powered March failed during Sunday’s practice and could not be replaced in time for him to attempt to qualify.

In 1983, when Fabi was a rookie, the first weekend of qualifying was rained out, and he returned the second week to take the pole.

“I was praying for rain this time, too,” Fabi said. “No such luck twice in a row.”

Gary Bettenhausen, on the other hand, made the most of a last-minute opportunity. Without a ride until last week, the 48-year-old veteran of 17 Indy 500s was selected by John Menard to drive one of his year-old Lola Buicks. Menard’s original driver, Steve Barclay of Orange, dropped out when he crashed and broke his arm, wrist and collarbone during rookie orientation last month.

Bettenhausen, who was working on his sprint car in nearby Monrovia, Ind., when the call came from Menard, responded with a 217.264-m.p.h. qualifying effort, more than two miles faster than he had ever driven at Indy.

Several drivers, including three-time winner Johnny Rutherford, Jim Crawford and rookie Jeff Andretti, who hopes to become the fourth member of his family to qualify for the 500, have welcomed the second week in hopes that their wrecked cars can be repaired in time to give them a chance at making the field. None of them made an attempt last week.

While mechanics worked frantically in Gasoline Alley to get the cars ready, there has been no chance to test them, as rain kept the track closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

Racing Notes

STOCK CARS--The Winston West, NASCAR’s premier regional series, will open Sunday at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, winding up a 675-lap weekend of racing on the half-mile banked oval. The Spears Manufacturing 400, a 200-mile race, will feature three former series winners--defending champion Bill Schmitt, Roy Smith and Hershel McGriff. Smith and McGriff have won the last five Winston West races at Mesa Marin, but all were at 100 miles. Schmitt will be in a Chevrolet, Smith a Ford and McGriff a Pontiac. . . . Also on the Mesa Marin program will be a 75-lap U.S. Auto Club Sports 2,000 race. . . . NASCAR’s Southwest Tour for All-American Challenge late model stock cars will run 200 laps Saturday night.

John Cran, who won his first sportsman main event last week at Saugus Speedway, will try to prove it was no fluke Saturday night on the same track. Defending series champion Will Harper leads the Saugus standings after five events.

The Winston Racing Series for pro stocks, bomber oval and Figure 8s will continue Sunday night at Ascot Park. . . . Sportsman cars will be featured Saturday night at Cajon Speedway, with street stocks racing tonight at Ventura Raceway.

DRAG BOATS--Ron Braaksma of Downey, the International Hot Boat Assn. top fuel champion, will try to become the first driver to break the five-second barrier in a boat when the IHBA holds its Chief Auto Parks Nationals this weekend at Castaic Lake, near Magic Mountain. Braaksma set the record of 5.07 seconds in his Madness last November at Firebird Lake, near Phoenix, and equaled it last month at Puddingstone Lake in a 220-m.p.h. run.

Final eliminations begin at 8 a.m. Sunday.

SPRINT CARS--After a dreary, rain- and snow-marred trip through the Midwest, the California Racing Assn. returns home Saturday night at Ascot Park for a 30-lap main event. Five of the nine races during a two-week tour were either rained out or snowed out.

The bright note for the CRA was the return of veteran Bubby Jones to the winners’ circle for the first time since 1987. Jones won at Vermillion County Raceway in his hometown of Danville, Ill.

MOTORCYCLES--The Continental Motosports Club’s Spring Classic motocross series will conclude Sunday at Barona Oaks, near Ramona. . . . The American Road Racing Assn. will hold Formula One sprint races Sunday at Willow Springs Raceway.

Speedway bikes will run tonight at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, Saturday night at Victorville, Sunday at the Earl Warren Fairgrounds in Santa Barbara.

DRAG RACING--Top-fuel driver Darrell Gwynn, who was seriously injured in an accident on April 15 in England, will return home Sunday to Miami, where he will be a patient at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Gwynn, whose left arm was amputated below the elbow, has no feeling below his chest, although he can move his right arm and hand.