THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 1977
Page 15
Defending champ A. J. Foyt returns
Texas 500 held Sunday
By BO GRIFFIN
Staff Writer
Sunday, June 5 at Texas World
Speedway is the date for the hottest
race in Texas, the Fifth Annual
Texas 500.
Forty-two stock cars have been
entered for the time trials at the
two-mile College Station oval.
These 42 entrants will begin practic
ing Friday afternoon, June 3. Time
trials to determine the 33 starting
positions for the Texas 500 will take
place Saturday, June 4. Fans with
Texas 500 tickets will be admitted
free to the grandstands on Saturday
to take pictures of the cars and driv
ers.
Eight drivers and 10 cars from
Texas have entered the fifth annual
race.
A. J. Foyt heads the list of drivers
and is the defending Texas 500 win
ner from last year. A. J. could very
well make it two-in-a-row after his
unprecedented fourth Indy 500
victory last Sunday.
Other Texans vying for a starting
position are H. B. Bailey, John
Haver, Tim Duke, and Ricky Otts of
Houston, Joe Sturdivant and Keith
Green of Waco and Ken Jai of
Beaumont.
In addition, two Texas cars, one
owned by Joni Jai of Beaumont and
the other owned by JoAnn Bailey of
Houston will be driven by two out-
of-staters.
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Foyt’s fourth Indy victory
helped along by Lady Luck
A. J. Foyt, who won an unprecedented fourth
Indy 500 last weekend, peers ominously from
his Indy car before a race at Texas World
Battalion Photo by Jim Crawley
Speedway. Foyt, the defending champion and
42 other drivers will vie for the purse of the
fifth Texas 500 this Sunday.
United Press International
INDIANAPOLIS — Win by luck
and lose by luck. A. J. Foyt won an
unprecedented fourth victory in the
annual Indianapolis 500 mile auto
race Sunday, but it was not the re
sult of devastating driving.
Foyt won because Gordon
Johncock, trying for a second
triumph and his first over 500 miles
jin the event, had the misfortune to
blow an engine with 15 laps to go.
Johncock sat dejectedly in the in
field as Foyt roared by and then let
up on the throttle to win the 61st
Speedway championship, and some
$275,000, coasting home about 28
seconds ahead of Tom Sneva.
Foyt was clocked unofficially at 3
hours and 5 minutes 57.70 seconds
for the 500 miles for an average
speed of 161.331 miles per hour.
Johncock had the race wrapped
up, barring misfortune, which oc
curred. Foyt and Johncock were the
leaders most of the way, and
Johncock took over from the 97th
lap until the 179th when he pitted
and Foyt went in front, boosting his
lead to 24 seconds.
At 182 laps, Foyt pitted and
Johncock went ahead. He led by six
seconds before misfortune struck
with 16 laps to go. Then Foyt
scooted to victory.
Never before has a driver won the
500 four times. Wilbur Shaw and
Louie Meyer won three. Tommy
Milton, Mauri Rose, Al Unser,
Bobby Unser and Johnny Ruther
ford won two.
It was one of the best races in the
61-year history of the event. It was
also one of the safest. The yellow
caution light, slowing the field to 80
miles per hour, was on five times,
for 36 minutes 58 seconds.
That was enough to ruin the rec
ord chance. Al Unser was at record
speed after 10 laps and Johncock
and Foyt after 20 and 30 laps. Then
Lloyd Ruby hit the wall, the caution
light came out, and the speed of the
field dropped under 150 mph.
Only 30 seconds .
Janet Guthrie learned quickly what separates boys, girls
United Press International
INDIANAPOLIS — Less than 30
seconds after starting out in her first
Indianapolis 500 and three hours
before A. J. Foyt won his fourth
one, Janet Guthrie found out first
hand what it is about the race that
separates the men from the boys,
i" 5 and the boys from the girls.
It happened in the very first turn
where one of the boys played a little
rough, rougher than Guthrie felt
gentlemen should.
Janet Guthrie’s place in auto rac
ing history already is assured. The
fact she was the first woman ever to
compete in the race Sunday guaran
tees her some share of immortality.
She did everything in her power
to finish the race, but finally had to
drop out after 27 laps because her
mechanics couldn’t fix the ignition
trouble in the white-and-green
Bryant Heating and Cooling Special
she was driving.
Seven times she was forced to
stop in the pits. Ultimately, there
was nothing else to do but with
draw.
She got out of the car and peeled
off her gloves. The crowd gave her a
tremendous ovation for the extraor
dinary patience and persistance she
had shown roaring back out on the
track after each lengthy delay in the
pits.
The 39-year-old physicist listened
to the cheers and for a moment or so
it seemed as if she might cry, but
she didn’t. She took off her helmet,
set her lips in a tight little line and
then suddenly broke into a smile as
the people in the stands continued
showing their appreciation for her
efforts.
“Atta’ girl, Janet,” some of them
called out to her. “You did the best
you could. You have nothing to be
ashamed of.”
She looked up at them, still smil
ing-
“Next year,” she said. “I’ll be
back again.”
When she returned to her garage.
there was only one thing she
wanted.
“I’d like for some way to get a
shower because my skin is killing
me,” she said to Rolla Vollstedt,
manager of the Bryant Racing team
and the man who made it possible
for her to drive in the 500.
Finding a shower for Guthrie
presented a problem.
The only shower in the area al
ways was used before only by men
and no provision was made so that a
female could shower. So what Guth
rie’s crew did was guard the en
trance and close off the shower
so she could use it.
“In the process of changing a fit
ting on the car, we had a big alcohol
spill,” Vollstedt explained. “It spil
led all over Janet, methanol they
call it, and it can be terribly uncom
fortable.”
When she finished showering,
Guthrie came out in a blue blouse,
gray slacks and black sandals.
“I’m very disappointed we were
unable to finish,” she said. “I’m cer
tain everything possible that could
be done to try and correct what was
wrong, was done.”
Guthrie said her chief mechanic,
Phil Casey, and his assistant. Chuck
Looper, were two of the best
around but actually they appeared
baffled from the start. Each time
they’d make some correction, she’d
go out again and then limp back in
the pit after going around the track
once, the trouble still uncorrected.
She was more than 50 laps behind
at one point, hopelessly out of con
tention, yet when someone asked
her how she felt about continuing
she said, “Well, if they fix the car,
I’ll get back in the race and run like
I never was out of it.”
“There was a lot of monkey busi
ness going on in turn one,” Guthrie
said. “Some guy dodged right in
front of me, got inside and slammed
on his brakes. I thought there was
going to be trouble.”
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Only one record came thereaf
ter, at nearly 163.5 mph by John
cock at 150 laps. Foyt’s speed at
the finish was more than 1.6 mph
slower than Mark Donohue’s 1972
record.
Foyt’s victory, the 58th in the
career of the Houston star in USAC
championship events, did not in
duce the 42-year-old veteran to con
template retirement.
“I’ll be back to try for No. 5,” he
said.
Tom Harrington of Cincinnati^
Ohio will wheel the second Bailed
entry while Indiana’s Dave Day toil
will drive the other Joni Jai Chev
rolet.
“The large number of Texas
entries is a good indication of the
growth and importance of auto rack
ing in the state of Texas,” said R. C-:
Conole, President of Texas World,
Speedway. “This is a big increase
over the number of Texas entrants
in last year’s Texas 500 and repre
sents 25 per cent of those cars trying
for the 33 starting positions. We are
pleased to see more Texans ehal^
lenging the world’s greatest drivr
ers.” V
Other driving greats expected tqr
race in this the biggest event of the
year for these United States Auto ,-
Club (USAC) stock cars are Kevin
Housby, Ramo Stott, Sal Tovella'»;
Bay Darnell, Charlie Glotzbachjv
Ron Hutcherson, Jerry Sifford anal
Roger McCluskey.
“We have a great field of competi-Tr
tive cars and drivers and we expect»
this to be a very competitive andZ
exciting race,” said Conole.
Tickets for the fifth running of theC*
Texas 500 will be $15 and $20 foe-
general admission and $25 for re-1-
serve seats and can be obtained atl
all major ticket outlets and at the--
Texas World Speedway ticket office-*
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1803 Greenfield Plaza
(Next to Bryan High)
413 Texas Ave. S.