1992 PPG Indy Car World Series - Cleveland Grand Prix - video Dailymotion

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00:00:00ESPN, the world's leader in motorsports coverage, presents Speed World.

00:00:12We're at one of the most unusual courses in all of IndyCar racing, the Burke Lakefront

00:00:16Airport on the edge of Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio.

00:00:21Hello and welcome.

00:00:22I'm Paul Page and we're not very far from the center of downtown Cleveland, a truly

00:00:26magnificent rejuvenated city.

00:00:28The IndyCars are set to go again and here at ESPN, we are ready to take you right through

00:00:33the end of the IndyCar season and determine the PPG IndyCar world champion.

00:00:38But this is a very special day here in Cleveland because Mario Andretti is about to set a landmark.

00:00:44When he takes the green flag, he will start his 370th IndyCar race, thereby eclipsing

00:00:51A.J.

00:00:53for career starts, and he adds that to his already career record for laps led and for

00:00:58the number of poles, so congratulations to Mario Andretti.

00:01:02Now as we saw last week at the Michigan 500, there are some new names beginning to appear

00:01:07at the top of the order in this sport, led by Scott Goodyear.

00:01:11Certainly Paul Tracy is there and Raul Boisell is on a comeback.

00:01:15Let's look at the points, though.

00:01:16That name is still the same.

00:01:18That is Bobby Rayhaw, but he is having his points lead nibbled away just a bit.

00:01:23At the front of this field, though, well that's a very traditional front row, Emerson Fittipaldi

00:01:29and Michael Andretti, and Gary Gerald is right there.

00:01:31Paul, it's the second time this year that we've had this scenario with these two men

00:01:35side by side.

00:01:36The first time was at Portland, Emerson on the pole, Michael alongside.

00:01:39Michael got the win, Emerson finished second.

00:01:42You may recall that a year ago here at Cleveland, same situation.

00:01:46Emerson pole, Michael alongside, and in that one, Michael, a winner, over Fittipaldi by

00:01:502.2 seconds.

00:01:52So Emerson obviously wants to break the pattern.

00:01:55He wants his third victory here at Cleveland.

00:01:58Michael, the defending Cleveland champion, needs the win because he needs to keep attacking

00:02:02in the points chase as he battles Bobby Rayhaw.

00:02:06So that's the situation in the front row.

00:02:07Let's check contenders in the row right behind as we go to our pet colleague, Jan Beekes.

00:02:11Well, Gary, there certainly could be some action from the second row.

00:02:15You never want to count out Bobby Rayhaw.

00:02:16He was second quickest this morning and, of course, our current point leader.

00:02:20Over on your right, we have Paul Tracy subbing for Rick Mears, who's at home in Florida watching

00:02:25this broadcast.

00:02:26Certainly be rooting for the Marlboro Penske.

00:02:28But back one row could really be a challenge.

00:02:30We have not only Allenser Jr., which you never want to count out when it comes to race day,

00:02:34but also Raul Boisel.

00:02:36He's hoping for a better day than what he had yesterday.

00:02:39Out between turns seven and eight, he went off the track, across the grass, through cameraman's

00:02:43equipment, there was lenses, cameras flying, through a chain link fence, and into the

00:02:47parking lot.

00:02:48He's hoping for better fortunes today in the Dick Simon Lola.

00:02:51Paul?

00:02:52Jan, more and more drivers with a chance of a win in the IndyCar at the PPG IndyCar World

00:02:57Series.

00:02:58Well, the challenge for all these drivers is the same.

00:03:01Derek Daly, it's the Burke Lakefront Airport.

00:03:04That's right.

00:03:05Since 1982, when IndyCar started racing here, the difficulty is the bumping nature of the

00:03:09race track.

00:03:10Here's a graphic description of that from the IndyCar camera on Allenser Jr.'s car.

00:03:14You can see how it beats his body around, and in particular, how his head rolls around.

00:03:19Well, good teams have a habit of coping with difficult situations, whether it's the race

00:03:23car or the race track.

00:03:24I think you have to remember, this is an airport, so on a day-to-day basis, airplanes go across

00:03:29these taxiways at about 15 or 20 miles an hour.

00:03:33No problem.

00:03:34Then you put an IndyCar across the same taxiways at 150 or 170 miles an hour, that is a completely

00:03:40different proposition.

00:03:41But I think you also have to remember, they have given us their airport to create our

00:03:45racetrack, and there's also a lot of valuable championship points and money to be won here.

00:03:49So the best thing to do is just get on with the job at hand.

00:03:54A record crowd here at the Burke Lakefront Airport, and the whole crowd is going to get

00:03:58together to start the engines, led by the mayor of Cleveland, Michael White.

00:04:02Gentlemen, start your engines.

00:04:10Oh!

00:04:29Well, for the moment, they sit on a taxiway.

00:04:33Very shortly, they'll pull out onto one of the two primary runways here at the Burke

00:04:37Lakefront Airport, and they will be up to speed.

00:04:41A terrific afternoon, bright sun overhead, a lot of boats at the edge of Lake Erie, just

00:04:47a few hundred yards off of the edge of this racetrack here.

00:04:51The IndyCars are now ready to go racing on ESPN.

00:05:00A 2-4 right on the parade lap now for the IndyCars, ready to go racing.

00:05:07At the Burke Lakefront Airport.

00:05:09So let's take a look at the starting field.

00:05:11Here's the Sears diehard starting grid with Emerson Fittipaldi, the two-time Cleveland

00:05:17winner on the pole, breaking his own track record, alongside as Michael Andretti, the

00:05:22defending champion of the Cleveland Budweiser Grand Prix.

00:05:25In row two, it's Bobby Rahal, the current TPG point leader and winner of the inaugural

00:05:29event here, alongside as Paul Tracy, the runner-up in last week's Michigan 500.

00:05:35In row number three to the inside, it's Al Unser, Jr., the winner of this event in 1985,

00:05:40alongside Raul Boisel, a third-place finisher last week in the 500 miler in Michigan.

00:05:45In row number four, Scott Pruitt, who scored his first top-five finish of the year last

00:05:49week, and Mario Andretti, the 1988 Cleveland winner, making his 370th career start.

00:05:56In row five, Stephon Johansson, who finished third in his IndyCar debut in Detroit two

00:06:00months ago, alongside as Danny Sullivan, a three-time winner of this event at Cleveland.

00:06:06In row six, it's Robbie Gordon, who finished eighth three weeks ago at Toronto, and Scott

00:06:10Goodyear coming off that spectacular victory in the Michigan 500.

00:06:14In row seven, it's Scott Brayton, who ran seventh here last year, and John Andretti,

00:06:19who has registered five straight top-ten finishes.

00:06:22The eighth row is Ted Krafves, a sophomore driver out of Los Angeles, and Jimmy Vassar,

00:06:27a freshman driver, making his eighth career IndyCar start.

00:06:30In row number nine, it's Eddie Cheever, back in the pack due to a practice crash on Friday,

00:06:35and Christian Danner, a rookie driver from Germany.

00:06:38In the tenth row, it's Brian Till, a graduate of the Indy Lights ranks, and Ross Cheever,

00:06:42making his third career IndyCar start in A.J. Voigt's car.

00:06:46In the eleventh row, it's Hiro Mashusta, the first start he's had since being injured at

00:06:51Indianapolis, and Eric Batchelor, currently second in the race for Rookie of the Year

00:06:55honors.

00:06:56In the twelfth row, it's Buddy Lazier, a strong run netted him seventh place last week in

00:07:01Michigan, and Jacques Villeneuve, the popular Canadian driver, making his first IndyCar

00:07:06start since 1986.

00:07:08In the final row, it's Canadian Ross Bentley and Taro Palmroth, an eleventh-hour addition

00:07:13to the field.

00:07:14To the field now, single file, still on parade laps, behind the beautiful PPG Pacecars.

00:07:22A magnificent circuit here, very, very interesting because it is an airport, and just under 2.4

00:07:29miles in length.

00:07:30Very, very fast here, lots of room to pass, particularly down in turn one, and we'll watch

00:07:35this particularly under braking.

00:07:37You can run on the ragged edge here, because as you can see from inside Michael's car,

00:07:42just look at the room you have.

00:07:44This is the back straight, they'll reach speeds here of just about 180 miles an hour, so very

00:07:50fast.

00:07:51It's very slippery under braking, right here, see that black surface?

00:07:54Particularly when it gets wet or soggy, as it did in practice, but this can be very slippery,

00:07:59even on a day like today.

00:08:01Through this chicane here, very, very bumpy.

00:08:04This is where Michael Andretti flew off the road yesterday.

00:08:07So that gives you a good idea, too, of how wide this circuit is, a full airport runway.

00:08:13Take a look at that.

00:08:14Now that is the start-finish straight, and they run down this tremendously wide area,

00:08:20and make that right-hand turn, and in doing so, because of the width, the starts here

00:08:25can be incredibly exciting.

00:08:27Absolutely incredible.

00:08:28That's one thing you want to watch, and not just the first couple of rows, but watch way

00:08:32back in the pack, because you can easily run five or six abreast here, but then you come

00:08:38to the apex of the corner.

00:08:40That's when it funnels down and gets very, very tight and difficult.

00:08:44The field begins to form up now.

00:08:47Quaker State's onboard camera on Scott Goodyear's car, as he forms into the field.

00:08:52We also have cameras today on the car of Al Unser, Jr.

00:08:56A nice head-on look at little Al.

00:08:58And then Michael Andretti, you've already seen that camera, right over his right-hand

00:09:03shoulder.

00:09:04And finally, this great view back through the rear suspension on Scott Brayton's car.

00:09:10So those are the onboard cameras that we'll be using throughout the day.

00:09:13What's on the line here?

00:09:1585 laps, 201.3 miles.

00:09:18Michael Andretti, of course, is the defending champion, and the race record at 117 miles

00:09:23an hour.

00:09:24We expect the first stop, and it should be pretty dead-on.

00:09:27If they don't have a yellow period, then we'll have a first pit stop at lap 28.

00:09:34Past winners of this race, Danny Sullivan, a three-time winner here.

00:09:37Bobby Rayall, of course, won his first race here at the Burke Lakefront Airport.

00:09:42So now we are set and ready, and the complexion of the season now changes a little bit that

00:09:47we are off of the Michigan 500 super speedway.

00:09:51And now we have a series of road courses that take us to the end of the season, and that

00:09:57should have a fascinating impact on the points fight.

00:10:00And the fascinating thing I will watch in particular is Michael Andretti as he comes

00:10:05down to take the corner, the first corner, because wherever he is on the racetrack, he

00:10:10likes to make a pass and try and get to the front.

00:10:13All right, the field now begins to form up.

00:10:15They are on the pit straight.

00:10:17That is the approach to the pits themselves, and then turns 9 and 10.

00:10:21A quick little chicane.

00:10:23Derek already pointed out quite a bump in the middle of that section of the race course.

00:10:27A well-formed field, really looking very pretty as they come down in front of the grandstands,

00:10:32just filled with IndyCar fans here in Cleveland.

00:10:35And the field comes through the 9th corner, the 10th corner.

00:10:38Now the pace begins to quicken as they watch for the green flag.

00:10:41Not out yet.

00:10:42Nope.

00:10:43They waved them off.

00:10:44They waved them off.

00:10:45It's a no start.

00:10:46And one car, it looked to be Paul Tracy, seemed to have a problem during that no start.

00:10:52I think Paul Tracy got hit by somebody from behind.

00:10:57This is one of the problems we have on a yellow flag start,

00:11:00particularly coming through a right-left chicane type corner,

00:11:04because remember, the cars in the back cannot see that yellow flag situation.

00:11:09So I think Paul Tracy may have been clipped by somebody.

00:11:12Well, keep an eye on Paul Tracy.

00:11:14They have a very limited distance to get the field off of that last corner

00:11:19and align before the green flag comes out.

00:11:22They have the starters stand down about as far as they can go.

00:11:25At Toronto, Raho complained that Emerson jumped the start.

00:11:28Well, he definitely jumped the start here.

00:11:30But remember, he's the pole sitter, but Michael Andrade did not go with him.

00:11:34He was too far back, so it was deemed as being unfair, hence the yellow flag.

00:11:39Let's go down pit side, Gary Gerald.

00:11:41Well, the crew for Paul Tracy is getting ready to go over the wall.

00:11:44They believe that the car may be stuck in gear.

00:11:46Getting this combination meshed has been a problem.

00:11:49They're trying to get the team used to the way Tracy uses the gearbox.

00:11:52They think that it may be stuck in gear.

00:11:54They're anticipating, I believe, that he's going to be here on pit road in a few moments, Paul.

00:11:59So they'll take a look at that car as the rest of the field lines up once again

00:12:04to try to get the start done properly.

00:12:07No laps have yet been counted from official scoring.

00:12:10And, of course, a transverse gearbox is what we have in that new Penske.

00:12:14It's a new design and definitely seems to be difficult to get fully sorted out,

00:12:18particularly to Paul Tracy's liking.

00:12:20If there is a vulnerable point on the cars at this track,

00:12:24it is very definitely the gearboxes and the constant velocity joints.

00:12:29As Paul Tracy heads in for the pits.

00:12:32Now they are beginning the scoring.

00:12:35Completion of lap one despite the yellow flag.

00:12:38So this is the completion of lap one.

00:12:41As one car spins middle of the straightaway, even though the green flag comes out.

00:12:46And it was Danny Sullivan who spawned, but look at Michael again,

00:12:49down the inside of Emerson, takes the lead.

00:12:53Battle on to the lakeshore straight here.

00:12:57As Danny Sullivan finally gets it under power and gets going.

00:13:00Michael Andretti battles with Emerson Fittipaldi,

00:13:04taking the lead away from Fittipaldi on the start.

00:13:07Look at Rahal and Allen Jr. behind them, side by side, wheel to wheel.

00:13:11Almost contact there, but Michael just stretching out two car lengths over Emerson.

00:13:16Allen Jr. getting an excellent start, jumping up into third place for the start.

00:13:20Battle for the lead here.

00:13:22Michael Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi chasing.

00:13:25This is the east loop, a broad sweeping turn.

00:13:28This brings them back, facing the west and heading back in front of the grandstands.

00:13:33On to the pit straight now.

00:13:35Remainder of the field lining up.

00:13:37There's a good battle now for third place,

00:13:39developing between Allen Jr. and Bobby Rahal.

00:13:42There goes Mario Andretti, making his 370th start, just behind Rahal.

00:13:47You mentioned it earlier, Allen Jr. started on row three, Rahal on row two,

00:13:52but Jr. got the great start.

00:13:53But look at Rahal, has a little look down the inside.

00:13:55But again, that was turn one.

00:13:57Just look how much room there is to make an attempted pass.

00:14:00But Allen Jr. not that happy with this car as the season has gone on.

00:14:04But enjoying a good run in these very early opening laps.

00:14:08He needed a good start.

00:14:09This is the Gallmer chassis.

00:14:10They have been working with this car constantly throughout the season.

00:14:14And it has been troublesome to them.

00:14:16You say, how can you say that when he wins the Indy 500?

00:14:18Well, the deal there, as here, is we're talking very long straightaways.

00:14:22And they are having problems here with this car,

00:14:25trying to get it over some of the rougher parts of the course.

00:14:27But it's looking very strong.

00:14:29There's your points leader, Bobby Rahal.

00:14:32A nice proven combination in that car.

00:14:34Chevrolet power, 92 Lola machine.

00:14:38Let's take a look at this start once again.

00:14:40Should they have stayed yellow on this, Derrick?

00:14:42Well, of course, the difficulty is the flag man, Nick Fornaro,

00:14:45he sees the start line.

00:14:47That's what he watches.

00:14:48He's watching the front row, remember.

00:14:50But Sullivan, as we see, gets on the power too early.

00:14:53Wheel spins, gets away from him.

00:14:55And now he's got to stay stationary.

00:14:57But Michael Andretti.

00:14:59Michael Andretti, as he works under yellow now.

00:15:03Down inside Emerson Fittipaldi.

00:15:06There's the yellow out.

00:15:07This is the start once again.

00:15:10Now we watch Michael heading down into the first corner.

00:15:15And he moves inside Fittipaldi,

00:15:17occupies the line and takes over the lead.

00:15:20And that's what Michael is so good at,

00:15:22being aggressive right after the green flag.

00:15:25We heard the car rub the ground.

00:15:27That was the rubbing strips under braking.

00:15:29Remember, he's full of fuel.

00:15:31But Michael again being aggressive.

00:15:33And whether he starts in the first, second, or third row,

00:15:35he has to have an ability to claw his way to the front very quickly.

00:15:39But look at Emerson.

00:15:40He is shadowing every move still.

00:15:42Fittipaldi very definitely right there.

00:15:44Of course, that's a position he must occupy

00:15:47because if you give Michael any opportunity at all,

00:15:50then he's going to drive away from you.

00:15:52Bobby Rahal has managed to get around.

00:15:54Al Unger, Jr., pick up third place now.

00:15:56In fourth is Little Al.

00:15:58Mario Andretti runs fifth.

00:15:59Raul Boisel, who was fastest in this morning's warm-up session,

00:16:02is now running in sixth place,

00:16:04followed by Scott Pruitt.

00:16:06And car number 14, Ross Cheever, is off course.

00:16:09And the crews go to the assistance of the car.

00:16:12Apparently, they found some sort of small fire.

00:16:14I suspect it's really only turbo oil at the back of the car.

00:16:17That's what happens.

00:16:18Everything gets so hot in there.

00:16:19Air flow keeps it cool.

00:16:21But Ross Cheever slowly out of the car.

00:16:23Mechanical problem day definitely over.

00:16:26Michael Andretti continues his lead.

00:16:28Let's go to Jan Michals.

00:16:29Paul, when we're talking about Danny Sullivan at that start,

00:16:32originally you mentioned maybe he made contact with Paul Tracy.

00:16:35The crew here at Gallus Crankload does not think that that was the case.

00:16:38They think that, in fact, that second restart, he got pinched.

00:16:41That's why he spun.

00:16:42Now, in regards to the start of the race,

00:16:44Wally Dollenbeck, the chief steward,

00:16:46did say because this track is wide,

00:16:48if they're not lined up, they would not go green.

00:16:50So all the drivers knew there was a chance

00:16:52that because of some untidy starts in the last few races,

00:16:54they wouldn't go green unless it was perfect.

00:16:56Paul?

00:16:57Well, it was, in fact, fairly tidy coming down the pit straight.

00:17:00But then when they went through that last combination,

00:17:02they straggled out a bit.

00:17:04And that's very difficult when you're trying to go side by side

00:17:07and go through a narrow section like that.

00:17:09And that accordion effect takes place.

00:17:11Exactly.

00:17:12Of course, you're on cold tires, remember,

00:17:13because you've done so many pace stops.

00:17:15And those 750 horsepower gets unleashed at the start.

00:17:19He can break the rear tires away so easily.

00:17:22Let's go pit side in the Paul Tracy pits.

00:17:25Here's Gary Gerald.

00:17:26Tracy, unfortunately, can only sit and wait.

00:17:28They've just buttoned the bodywork back up.

00:17:30They've freed up the gearbox.

00:17:31He's now four laps down.

00:17:33It's going to be more like four and a half and close to five

00:17:35as we hear the engine now roar to life.

00:17:38And the Canadian, who showed so well last week on the banks of Michigan

00:17:41after a disastrous start, now back on course.

00:17:44Roger Penske watches, radios Paul Tracy

00:17:47and continues to monitor the young Canadian's career

00:17:50as Michael Andretti is continually chased by Emerson Fittipaldi.

00:17:55But Michael, for the ninth straight race, has led the opening laps.

00:18:01Celebrate with Mario Andretti, his 370th start here today.

00:18:06It was on April 19, 1964, when Mario Andretti first climbed into an Indy car,

00:18:12then called a champ car in Trenton, New Jersey.

00:18:14And he and A.J. Voigt have been warriors ever since.

00:18:18But they've honored him here today for his five decades of participation in the Indy cars.

00:18:24Watching the fourth place, Allenser, Jr., and not far back,

00:18:28we should very shortly see, there he is, Mario Andretti.

00:18:32The red rollover bar tells you that that car is distinctly different from his son.

00:18:37And just behind him, Raul Boisel.

00:18:40They've been locked in a pretty good little battle for fifth place the last several laps.

00:18:44And this really is a great battle, because look who's behind Boisel.

00:18:47It's Scott Pruitt, and right behind him, Robbie Gordon,

00:18:50and Stefan Johansen at the end of this freight train.

00:18:53So this is the best battle on the track.

00:18:54Michael Andretti continues to lead Emerson Fittipaldi.

00:18:57Bobby Rahal runs in third. Little Al is fourth.

00:19:00Scott Pruitt in the 10 car there, the true sports machine,

00:19:03was testing at Mid-Ohio this week and had some problem wrecked the race car there.

00:19:08Seemed kind of worried about it, but he says they learned a great deal about the car,

00:19:13and they expect to be more competitive here.

00:19:15We can see he very definitely is.

00:19:17Probably one of the worst things that could have happened to Scott Pruitt,

00:19:20because if ever a driver is suffering from a lack of confidence,

00:19:23I think it's Scott Pruitt, because he has had so many mechanical failures,

00:19:27one that caused serious injury.

00:19:29I think the worst thing you can have is consistent mechanical failures,

00:19:33because it does sap away at driver's confidence.

00:19:36And when you do speeds like you do in Indy cars,

00:19:38you need everything going your way to get the maximum out of yourself.

00:19:42You can see lined up just behind Scott Pruitt is Robbie Gordon,

00:19:46as we take a look at Mario Andretti continuing to be chased by Raul Boisel.

00:19:52This whole battle revolves around this track and five cars involved in it,

00:19:57starting with fifth place Mario Andretti.

00:19:59An interesting situation here now with Michael.

00:20:02Emerson only seems to be one car length, two car lengths behind all the time.

00:20:07Has not made any attempt to pass Michael.

00:20:10It's almost as if he's quite prepared to sit there and size up the situation

00:20:14and see exactly where Michael's weaknesses are.

00:20:18But he's really, I mean look, particularly under braking.

00:20:21See the way he closes up, right up on this long, long double right hander.

00:20:25Remember this is about 120 miles an hour all the way through these corners.

00:20:29It's very, very bumpy. We saw Michael fly off the road here.

00:20:32But look the way Emerson closes up, right there under braking and around the corner.

00:20:36The Indy car safety truck out on the east loop turns seven and eight,

00:20:41as we can watch first and second place.

00:20:44And in doing so, get a wonderful comparison of both chassis and power plants.

00:20:48Fittipaldi in the Penske chassis in the Chevy B engine.

00:20:53And at the same time we're talking in the lead car there,

00:20:57a Lola chassis in Ford power.

00:21:00Lola chassis, Ford power, Penske chassis, Chevrolet power.

00:21:03Developing Chevrolet power.

00:21:05Lots of people talk about whether this is an A, which it's not.

00:21:08A B, a C, a B with C parts on it for development.

00:21:12But basically Chevrolet said there are no C engines,

00:21:15no official C engines will appear until the dyno runs, maybe in November.

00:21:20But I've got to believe Penske must be developing some of the C engine parts already.

00:21:27I think the key word there is official.

00:21:29Once you finally put all of those C parts together and label them C,

00:21:33and then make your announcement at a press conference,

00:21:36suddenly it's a C engine and then wait for your orders to come in.

00:21:40You can see one car under tow behind the Indy car safety vehicle as the leaders come around.

00:21:46And that's Ross Cheever being brought in off the course.

00:21:50As that begins to tighten up the front of the field just a little bit.

00:21:55In car with Michael, he's now about to put a lap on Hiro Machuster.

00:21:59Machuster still suffering from the...

00:22:01Oh, look at Fittipaldi, has a little lock down the inside, doesn't make it.

00:22:04But just look at the room he had.

00:22:06But Michael chopped across, took the line,

00:22:08and in fact Emerson lost a little bit of ground there.

00:22:11And look at Rahal, we just saw him in the picture beginning to come up.

00:22:17So now, Rahal with a bit of an advantage,

00:22:21as he is able to close up on Emerson Fittipaldi.

00:22:25When Fittipaldi drives that maneuver,

00:22:27and that's always the danger it seems on a big open circuit like this.

00:22:31If you make a try and miss, you can fall back quickly.

00:22:34And now we have a real good shot of Rahal.

00:22:36Now he's closing on Fittipaldi.

00:22:38Oh, particularly under braking that long drifting right-hander.

00:22:42Rahal now beginning to size up the situation with Michael.

00:22:45So now, in about one or two corners time,

00:22:49we have these three very, very close together.

00:22:51Now we have a real battle with Rahal joining the back of the train here.

00:22:55That beautiful car number 12, Bobby Rahal at the wheel,

00:22:58running in third place and closing on Fittipaldi.

00:23:01Again, coming to one of the key passing positions.

00:23:04That's turn one on this course, a nice wide runway.

00:23:07But he elects instead to take the sweeping turn into the corner.

00:23:10But continues his pursuit of second place Emerson Fittipaldi.

00:23:13For the moment, Michael Andretti is unchallenged.

00:23:16You can hear from the Goodyear blimp spirit overhead.

00:23:18It gives you an idea of the interval.

00:23:20Look how under braking the cars will close down.

00:23:23And when they come out on this straightaway,

00:23:25you can see the effects of acceleration as they spread back out,

00:23:28remain in the same relative position.

00:23:30Under braking, this is the area we saw Emerson close up earlier on, on Michael.

00:23:35Again, there's the acceleration. Michael pulls away.

00:23:37But in this long double apex right-hander,

00:23:40Emerson seems to have, and you can see it there.

00:23:42Look at that, closes in about two or three car lengths on Michael.

00:23:45Slower traffic just ahead of Michael.

00:23:47As they come down the pit straight,

00:23:49and Emerson Fittipaldi, using some acceleration here,

00:23:52is able to close in.

00:23:54A quick right, then a left as Michael gets bottled up a little bit.

00:23:58Fittipaldi closes in, moves to the inside.

00:24:00He comes alongside Michael Andretti and gets Michael for the lead.

00:24:04As he is able to get around Michael,

00:24:07Bobby Rahal closes up a little bit as well.

00:24:09So, slower traffic, absolutely involved in this situation here,

00:24:14putting Emerson Fittipaldi out in front.

00:24:16And traffic causes a change so many times.

00:24:19Watch Michael now under braking.

00:24:21Now he has to chase.

00:24:23But we saw there, Michael at the critical time,

00:24:25through the little right-left flick in front of the pits,

00:24:27had to get out of the horsepower.

00:24:29Emerson took advantage immediately.

00:24:31That was Jacques Villeneuve in the Team Losi car,

00:24:34backed by Dennis McCormack, run by Dennis McCormack,

00:24:37that actually caused the problem.

00:24:38But Villeneuve, in fairness to himself,

00:24:40is back for the first time in how many years, Paul?

00:24:42Well, since 84.

00:24:43And he admits that, or 86,

00:24:45he admits that he does not have a feel for the cars yet.

00:24:49He has, after all, been racing in the Skidoo Sports Series,

00:24:52Formula 1 snowmobiles, for the last several years.

00:24:55Doing very well there, but let me tell you,

00:24:57there's about, oh, what, 700, 800 horsepower difference?

00:25:00That's right.

00:25:01Now look at Rahal.

00:25:02Now Rahal is about to give Michael all the trouble he needs.

00:25:05And if Michael gets embroiled in a battle with Rahal,

00:25:08what's it going to do?

00:25:09Well, it's going to allow Emerson

00:25:10to actually creep away just a little bit further.

00:25:13So Fittipaldi, now without challenge

00:25:16at the front of the field,

00:25:17and Michael Andretti suddenly finds himself

00:25:19in the position of having to defend second place

00:25:22from Bobby Rahal.

00:25:23And of course, for Rahal, this is a very important battle

00:25:26because if there is a challenger in the points fight,

00:25:29it is very definitely Michael Andretti.

00:25:31So Rahal will leave this race still with the points lead.

00:25:35Fittipaldi is in front, followed by Michael Rahal,

00:25:37Alonzo Jr., and Mario Andretti.

00:25:44Michael Andretti still holding off Bobby Rahal,

00:25:47though you can see as we look at the leaderboard

00:25:50with the intervals noted back from the leader

00:25:52that the interval between Rahal and Michael Andretti

00:25:55is closing down.

00:25:56That minus 2.11 for Rahal, that is back from the leader.

00:26:00The leader, of course, is Emerson Fittipaldi now.

00:26:03After he took the lead away from Michael Andretti,

00:26:05there he is, number 5, and he is leading, by the way,

00:26:08the first lap that he's led since he won

00:26:10in the first race of the season at Australia.

00:26:12Under braking, 170 miles an hour.

00:26:14There's a critical right there.

00:26:16Michael's off the power.

00:26:17He goes to the right, but Emerson's already got a run.

00:26:20Emerson was in gear, on the power, quicker than Michael,

00:26:23and that's all it takes, half a second.

00:26:25Key word here is momentum.

00:26:27As we take a look at it, another angle now.

00:26:30He got bottled up there.

00:26:31Fittipaldi was able to keep the momentum flowing.

00:26:34Michael got around as fast as he could,

00:26:36but by then, just a few revs difference

00:26:39made all the difference at the end of the straight.

00:26:41All the difference, and in fairness to Jacques Villeneuve,

00:26:43he got caught in a very difficult situation there.

00:26:46There was nowhere for him to go.

00:26:48He did go left when he came out of the corner,

00:26:50but unfortunately, the damage had already been done

00:26:53to Michael's lead.

00:26:54And despite the passing speed that you saw,

00:26:56Villeneuve was still running pretty fast there.

00:26:58He had to come off the corner that way.

00:27:00Now let's go pit side, get a couple of updates,

00:27:02starting with Gary Gerald.

00:27:04Well, Michael Andretti, just prior to losing the lead

00:27:06to Fittipaldi when he got bottled in the traffic,

00:27:08the only thing he'd reported to his crew via the radio,

00:27:11very slippery.

00:27:12We kind of expected that with temperatures

00:27:14going up here this afternoon.

00:27:16That seems to confirm it.

00:27:17Will that slipperiness deny him opportunities

00:27:20to challenge Fittipaldi?

00:27:21That's what this crew is now wondering.

00:27:23Let's go to Jan Vekas.

00:27:25Well, Gary, our fourth-place runner, Al Unser Jr.,

00:27:27has called in on the radio to have a little bit of a push.

00:27:30Nothing they can do until the first pit stop.

00:27:32But you know how you can tell they're going to make

00:27:34an adjustment?

00:27:35Just look here in the Velcro.

00:27:36This is Owen Snyder, the crew chief.

00:27:37They actually put the tools in the Velcro of the knee pad.

00:27:39That's how you know they're going to make that wing adjustment.

00:27:42Paul?

00:27:43Eagle Eye, Jan Vekas, keeping track.

00:27:45Now look, this gives you an idea, Derek,

00:27:47of all these different transitions on this track.

00:27:50Physically very difficult on a driver.

00:27:52Interesting, Al Unser Jr. uses the neck brace here.

00:27:55That gives you, again, an idea just how fast this racetrack

00:27:59is because they use the neck strap to counteract

00:28:01the tremendous g-forces on the driver's head.

00:28:04But look at his arms, bob and weave,

00:28:06as he hangs onto the steering wheel.

00:28:08And his head, all he can do is try and hang on.

00:28:11And believe me, I know after the Michigan 500,

00:28:13several drivers had headaches because of the bunts

00:28:15and g-forces.

00:28:17So Al Unser Jr. now on the pit straight.

00:28:19It's a right-hander, that quick little chicane

00:28:21onto the start-finish straight that is next.

00:28:23Already he is through it and taking a look ahead

00:28:26at turn number one.

00:28:27By the way, this is little Al's 150th consecutive start.

00:28:33And that is a modern-day record.

00:28:35150 races without missing one.

00:28:38Back to Paul Tracey now.

00:28:41That's Buddy Lazier right in front of him.

00:28:44And then, of course, Michael and Rahal.

00:28:46Traffic needs to move over or else Michael could be

00:28:49in trouble again.

00:28:50But remember, Paul, you said it earlier on,

00:28:52Tracey is having his own battles and Buddy Lazier

00:28:56cannot afford to back off too much because, remember,

00:28:59he's out there to impress everybody that he's driving

00:29:02on behalf of also.

00:29:03Well, Tracey runs five laps behind the race.

00:29:06And what he needs to do now is just simply keep the car alive,

00:29:10learn something about the race car,

00:29:12and pull a Rick Mears.

00:29:14That is, save the car until the end of the run.

00:29:16So if there's enough attrition, he can be in the fight.

00:29:19Well, you're absolutely right.

00:29:20And in fact, let's face it, it becomes now more of a test

00:29:23session for Roger Penske and for Paul Tracey.

00:29:26Experience under his belt, test some more things on the car,

00:29:29see will the gearbox, in fact, live.

00:29:31However, today, to gather points and a lot of success

00:29:35will be very difficult.

00:29:37And Rahal Boissel.

00:29:39Now, my Schuster, it's been Boissel's car for so long.

00:29:43In fact, they're still so, so alike in their paint jobs.

00:29:46You have to look very, very closely between these two cars

00:29:49to tell the difference.

00:29:50For the number 11, and then realize Hero is back.

00:29:53Though you can see he's still a little stiff,

00:29:56that broken leg from Indianapolis as he climbs over the wall

00:29:59and away from the race car.

00:30:01So Hero Mach-Schuster out of the run.

00:30:03Al Hunter, Jr., look at him fight that steering wheel

00:30:06as he runs on the runways and taxiways

00:30:09at the Burke Lakefront Airport.

00:30:11Emerson Fittipaldi is still the leader.

00:30:13Michael Andretti still chasing.

00:30:16Inland from Lake Erie, the beautiful skyline.

00:30:19It's changed so much recently of downtown Cleveland.

00:30:22A city that truly believes in saving its beautiful old buildings.

00:30:26And they've done a marvelous job.

00:30:28Great city to visit.

00:30:29Michael Andretti visiting here now,

00:30:32but trying desperately to find a car in front of him

00:30:35belonging to Emerson Fittipaldi.

00:30:37Fittipaldi has the lead of this race with 24 laps complete.

00:30:41As we look through the leaderboard here,

00:30:43Emerson Fittipaldi leads it.

00:30:45Michael is second.

00:30:46In third place, it's Bobby Rahal.

00:30:48Followed by Al Hunter, Jr.

00:30:50Then Mario Andretti.

00:30:51And we should be coming up very close to our pit stops.

00:30:55First set of the pit stops of the day.

00:30:58We estimate lap 28 for the first stop.

00:31:00That's when the hair-them-scare-them time starts again

00:31:03because if you can't get the job done on the racetrack,

00:31:05very often your pit crew can make it.

00:31:07But now we have great in-car camera shots there of Michael,

00:31:10but let's go back to Emerson.

00:31:11Tracy moves over, lets Emerson get on his way.

00:31:14Now Michael is a long way back,

00:31:16but in fairness, over the last couple of laps,

00:31:18Michael did not get a good run through some of the traffic

00:31:22he was attempting to pass.

00:31:23Look at Tracy now.

00:31:24Tracy's trying to hang on to the back of Emerson.

00:31:26Seven seconds back is a battle for second place

00:31:29between Michael Andretti and Bobby Rahal,

00:31:32and Rahal's been inching his way forward.

00:31:35A few moments ago,

00:31:36they were revolving around another battle

00:31:38involving Christian Danner and Buddy Lazier,

00:31:41who were both fighting for position,

00:31:43albeit a lap back.

00:31:45And it made for some interesting racing,

00:31:46but now they've broken clear of that,

00:31:48so they have a clean battle to wage for second place.

00:31:51Great shots there of Michael bouncing over

00:31:54the bumps and undulations here as they cross over the taxiways.

00:31:58But you mentioned earlier, Rahal dropped back in traffic.

00:32:01Now he's clawing his way back up.

00:32:03It looks to me as if Rahal has a better handle

00:32:06on the handling situation in his car now than Michael has.

00:32:09But Michael is very difficult to catch one thing,

00:32:12and he's very, very difficult to pass.

00:32:14And look at Allenser Jr. as he runs in fourth place

00:32:17and bounces over some of the transition points

00:32:20on this race course here.

00:32:21As you said at starting,

00:32:22this is an airport that they have loaned to us.

00:32:25Look, too, down at the lower edge of the picture there

00:32:28as Buddy Lazier finds himself in trouble.

00:32:31Buddy Lazier stopped on the race course,

00:32:34and look at Rahal as he challenges Michael Andretti,

00:32:36going into the first corner under very heavy braking.

00:32:39And look what's going on here now.

00:32:41We just said Michael is very difficult to pass.

00:32:43He saw Rahal going to make an attempt to get on the inside,

00:32:46and he moved to the middle of the road,

00:32:49made it very difficult for Rahal.

00:32:51That's defensive driving.

00:32:52He's allowed to do it as long as he doesn't do it too late.

00:32:56Keep an eye on this battle for second place.

00:32:58They work toward the east loop, make this left,

00:33:01and then three successive right-hand turns.

00:33:03And then as they come back along the pit straight,

00:33:05we can take a look at that turn 9-10 complex

00:33:08as they come through it,

00:33:09because it looked to me like we were beginning

00:33:12to see some pebbles developing on the outside of the track

00:33:15that might indicate some of the asphalt is letting go there.

00:33:18Exactly.

00:33:19That can create another problem,

00:33:21because if you go slightly wide,

00:33:22as they're used to going here at Cleveland

00:33:24because there's so much room,

00:33:25if you go wide on those pebbles and marbles,

00:33:27suddenly you're off the road.

00:33:28But interesting, is that Ross Cheever

00:33:30that they're just about to put a lap on?

00:33:32Yes, it is.

00:33:33So Ross Cheever, in fact, we thought he was out for the day.

00:33:35He was able to get back in.

00:33:37Look at Rahal again down the inside.

00:33:38He's got it. He's got it. He's got it.

00:33:40Tommy Rahal takes second place away from Michael Andretti

00:33:44as they revolve around that other battle

00:33:47that they were working with.

00:33:48And look at Rahal as he comes right back,

00:33:50tacks on the back end of Andretti

00:33:52and looks for room to race and room to get past.

00:33:55That's what happens here.

00:33:56Rahal gets down the inside.

00:33:58Oh, he's almost caught trying to go around the outside of them.

00:34:01That was Ross Benzie.

00:34:02But Rahal made the pass down the inside.

00:34:05Andretti came back under him and actually got acceleration,

00:34:08got accelerating away faster.

00:34:09And actually made the move on the inside again of Rahal.

00:34:13So that's what happens here.

00:34:14It loads a racing room.

00:34:15You get a glimpse from time to time

00:34:17in this battle of the number four car

00:34:19that normally is assigned to Rick Mears,

00:34:21who is at home trying to rest that wrist.

00:34:24And it is being driven by Paul Tracy,

00:34:27but because of his problems on the early laps,

00:34:29we've had a problem with him,

00:34:31and he is five backs behind the lead.

00:34:33Now you see cars peeling off to make their first stops

00:34:36as Allendrick Jr. stops.

00:34:38Let's go to Gary.

00:34:39Leader Emerson Fittipaldi getting his first service of the day.

00:34:42They planned two stops.

00:34:44I think I just saw Rahal fly by.

00:34:46I'm not sure.

00:34:47Here's Emil out of here.

00:34:48He was just over 16 seconds, Paul.

00:34:51Good stop for the leader of the race.

00:34:53Rahal did fly by because he had a problem.

00:34:55He couldn't get into his pit lane,

00:34:57so he ran right through.

00:34:58So Rahal lost valuable time.

00:35:01Well, Bobby Rahal,

00:35:02those are the kind of mistakes that you have suggested

00:35:05can end up costing a man a championship.

00:35:09Let's go down to Jan Beekus.

00:35:11We were standing right here, Paul,

00:35:12when that incident happened with Bobby Rahal.

00:35:14What happened was Allendrick Jr. came in

00:35:16at the very same time as Bobby Rahal.

00:35:18They have a new sealant that they put down in the pit lane

00:35:20that was for an air show two years ago.

00:35:22Makes it very, very slick.

00:35:24Rahal could not make his stop.

00:35:25He'll be here shortly.

00:35:26We'll be ready for him.

00:35:28Bobby Rahal still out of the course.

00:35:30Emerson Fittipaldi, of course, has made his stop.

00:35:33We watch Mario Andretti,

00:35:35as he is due for service as well in the Neumann-Haas pits,

00:35:39and watch especially, though, for Rahal.

00:35:42And again, we saw the traffic jam, but Michael is in.

00:35:44Michael led that lap because of Rahal's troubles

00:35:46on Emerson's pit stop,

00:35:47but Michael now in for his stop.

00:35:50So Michael Andretti in the pits.

00:35:51Gary's there.

00:35:52We watch this Neumann-Haas team, Paul.

00:35:54Everything appears to be routine.

00:35:55A lot of smoke as he blips the throttle from the rear.

00:35:58Now they complete the refueling.

00:36:00They've got him at 15.1 seconds on Michael Andretti's first stop.

00:36:04Smoke scared me.

00:36:05Almost looked as if he may have lost the power in the engine there

00:36:09for a moment.

00:36:10Jan Beekus.

00:36:11Bobby Rahal is just getting ready.

00:36:12He's underway.

00:36:13They have now made their pit stop.

00:36:14Four tires.

00:36:15They did make a front wing change.

00:36:16Obviously lost time, though, with that missed pit.

00:36:19So Rahal is back under power as well.

00:36:22A flurry of stops under the green.

00:36:24We've had no major incidents in this race thus far.

00:36:27Most of the stops being made right on schedule on lap 28.

00:36:31Rahal carrying one lap further, though, to lap 29.

00:36:34So the complexion of the race changes slightly with the pit stops.

00:36:38And Bobby Rahal rolls back into the fight.

00:36:41The action continues here at the Burke Lakefront Airport

00:36:45in the Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix.

00:36:49Cleveland Grand Prix is the Goodyear blimp spirit from Akron, Ohio,

00:36:53just a few miles down the road.

00:36:55The Goodyear blimp is sponsored by all of your local Goodyear retailers,

00:36:58their tires, and their excellent service.

00:37:01And you can look down and see what is the challenge today,

00:37:04the Burke Lakefront Airport.

00:37:06Robbie Gordon, by the way, after the pit stops,

00:37:08led the 30th lap of the race.

00:37:10And after the stops, here is the way they came out,

00:37:13with Fittipaldi with an 8.5-second lead

00:37:16and Allenser Jr. and Michael Andretti locked in a battle for 2nd place.

00:37:20Robbie Gordon sitting back in 5th place now.

00:37:22Bobby Rahal still in that points fight.

00:37:25But missing that pit stop cost him dearly

00:37:28and thrust him back into the 4th position.

00:37:31We're back on board now with Allenser Jr.

00:37:33He is having a tremendous fight with Michael Andretti.

00:37:36Al Jr. seems to be very good under braking.

00:37:40He's not quite able to get close enough to Michael.

00:37:43But watch how he closes up under very heavy braking.

00:37:46There is a car, the Galmar, that is admittedly in development

00:37:49and only its first year from a blank piece of paper.

00:37:53And yet you take a driver like this man, the Indy winner Allenser Jr.

00:37:57who can compensate so well for a car

00:38:00that here he is trying to move inside and challenge Michael Andretti.

00:38:03Now Michael's got a challenge in front of him.

00:38:05He's got to work through traffic.

00:38:07Watch little Al try and work the traffic too.

00:38:09Two separate fights going on here.

00:38:11The back markers we saw, the PIG car, Ted Travers,

00:38:14he has his own fight going on.

00:38:16Little Al Jr. trying to take advantage of traffic

00:38:19to try and make a move on Michael

00:38:21and didn't quite accomplish it there.

00:38:25Ted Travers has been fighting rather constantly

00:38:28the last several laps with Danny Sullivan and Jimmy Vassar.

00:38:31We look back from Scott Brayton's car.

00:38:35You look through the rear suspension there

00:38:37and get a glimpse of Michael as he comes alongside in the first turn.

00:38:41Here, no contest though for little Al.

00:38:44He's trying to break the fight off.

00:38:46Now little Al must handle up the Amway car

00:38:48and then he will resume his battle with Michael Andretti.

00:38:51I think in fairness to Scott Brayton,

00:38:53I think he saw Michael come and gave him lots of room.

00:38:55In fact, you see it here again.

00:38:57A good move there by Scott Brayton.

00:38:59He knows that the leaders have caught him

00:39:01and they're running much, much faster.

00:39:03So you're better off to move away from the lead battle.

00:39:05So a nice move by Scott Brayton

00:39:07because he didn't really lose a lot of time.

00:39:09Now we're back with Goodyear and Scott Pruitt.

00:39:13Two Scots battling on this circuit

00:39:15and they battled for 8th place.

00:39:17Pruitt runs in 8th now

00:39:19as he gets his head just a little bit in front of Scott Goodyear.

00:39:23We look from the Quaker State onboard camera on Scott Goodyear's car

00:39:26and Goodyear is forced to drop back behind Scott Pruitt

00:39:29who's having a nice run.

00:39:31Very nice run. Great wheel-to-wheel stuff.

00:39:33We saw out on the right side corner of that camera

00:39:36that's how close these cars run.

00:39:38But when you get down the inside in a high-speed corner like that,

00:39:41it's very difficult for a man to go around the outside.

00:39:44That's why we saw Goodyear move backwards.

00:39:46Now look how close Goodyear is to Michael.

00:39:49As we said earlier, Michael is very, very difficult to pass.

00:39:52The continuing fight for 2nd place,

00:39:54Emerson Fittipaldi is 8.5 seconds in front of this battle,

00:39:58solidly in the lead of this race

00:40:00after the first round of pit stops.

00:40:02Michael Andretti still trying to hold off Al Unser Jr.

00:40:06Let's go down pit side, get an update on Robbie Gordon from Jan Vigas.

00:40:09That's right, Paul. Robbie Gordon has been running very fast.

00:40:12The Chip Ganassi crew is elated how well he's running.

00:40:14Engineer Tom Anderson.

00:40:16But also up here on the pit stand is Michael Kranifis,

00:40:19the top man at Ford, keeping a very watchful eye on Robbie Gordon.

00:40:22He's the man who put him in the seat.

00:40:24Very happy with his performance so far. Paul?

00:40:26Michael Kranifis on the far side of Ken Anderson there.

00:40:30He, of course, is the driving force

00:40:34behind the Ford Special Vehicle Operations Division

00:40:38and has really been one of those people pushing Robbie Gordon forward.

00:40:42Al Unser Jr. now takes his move on Michael Andretti.

00:40:46This time it looks like it's going to stick.

00:40:48It's under very hard braking.

00:40:50He was braking all the way into the corner,

00:40:51but he used up too much energy

00:40:53and Michael Andretti just turned inside him

00:40:55and moved back into 2nd place.

00:40:57So, so difficult to make it stick.

00:41:00He was clearly down the inside.

00:41:02We saw Al Jr. get a little bit sideways under very heavy braking.

00:41:06Michael moved over, turned his car under Al Jr.

00:41:09and got back on the power quick.

00:41:11Oh, look at this! Jr. goes down the inside again.

00:41:13Jr. cuts to the inside, going into the east loop again.

00:41:16Michael comes back.

00:41:17They run out of road pretty quickly there,

00:41:19so Michael Andretti has to stay there.

00:41:21What a shocker that was that it happened so fast.

00:41:24Shot down the inside. I'm sure that one was scary.

00:41:27I'm surprised even Michael.

00:41:28Michael tried to go wheel-to-wheel around the outside,

00:41:31but Al Jr. has been trying to make that move

00:41:34for the last 6 laps.

00:41:35So Al Jr. now runs in a very strong 2nd place.

00:41:39Now let's see, can he handle Emerson?

00:41:41Can he even hit Lee?

00:41:43I'm sure that surprised Michael

00:41:46at how fast Al Unser Jr. was able to come back

00:41:49after their battle in the 1st turn.

00:41:51Let's go inside again, Jerry Carroll.

00:41:56Rick Al is standing alongside.

00:41:58Rick, what kind of a change did you make

00:42:00that seems to be making Al Unser Jr. that much stronger right now?

00:42:02Well, Al was really the quickest car early in the race

00:42:05before the 1st pit stop, so we didn't change much.

00:42:07And he's working pretty good.

00:42:09Now we need to go after Fittipaldi.

00:42:11We'll continue to watch. It's going to be a terrific battle.

00:42:14Well, the battle has been costly,

00:42:16as you heard Gary Gerald talking with Rick Gallis,

00:42:19one of the co-owners of the Gallis-Praco operation.

00:42:22But they benefit went to Fittipaldi

00:42:25because while they were locked in battle,

00:42:27Fittipaldi was able to pull out 3 more seconds on his lead

00:42:30and now run 11 seconds in front of the now 2nd place Al Unser Jr.

00:42:35Already Michael Andretti is closing back in.

00:42:38This battle should resume shortly.

00:42:42...with Al Unser Jr., who currently runs in 2nd.

00:42:44Emerson Fittipaldi, of course, is our leader.

00:42:47And little Al in 3rd place,

00:42:49just a couple of seconds back from little Al,

00:42:51is Michael Andretti.

00:42:53Then Bobby Rahal, followed by Robby Gordon.

00:42:56Gordon is about 4 seconds behind Rahal,

00:42:59so any time now, Robby Gordon may have the best battle yet

00:43:03of his IndyCar career,

00:43:05if he can run up and catch Bobby Rahal, the PPG points leader.

00:43:08And Robby Gordon is, in fact, I believe, in a 91 Lola,

00:43:12as opposed to a 92,

00:43:14so he thinks that may be a disadvantage.

00:43:16However, there are some people that think

00:43:18maybe the 91 Lola is, in fact,

00:43:20a very, very good package match to this Ford engine.

00:43:23Not a battle for position,

00:43:25but maybe some classic study in technique,

00:43:28as Paul Tracy is lined up behind race leader Emerson Fittipaldi.

00:43:32What a great opportunity for the young Tracy

00:43:35to learn from the master in an identical race car.

00:43:38Emerson is so good here at Cleveland.

00:43:40He has been a winner in the past,

00:43:42and it's exactly the situation Tracy could learn from.

00:43:45A coach and a student, both in Marlboro cars,

00:43:48going through a session right now.

00:43:50You almost wonder sometimes if the teams wouldn't be wise

00:43:53to put common radio frequencies from time to time

00:43:56so Emerson could say,

00:43:58hey, look at what I'm doing here.

00:44:00Now watch this going there.

00:44:02Did you tell him the truth?

00:44:04Absolutely not. Not a chance in the world.

00:44:06Not as good as Paul Tracy's been looking.

00:44:08No, the older boys are threatened by the new young stars,

00:44:11like Paul Tracy.

00:44:12I'll tell you what, the performance like we saw last week

00:44:15from Tracy in the wind by fellow Canadian Scott Goodyear

00:44:18has just electrified Canada.

00:44:20I mean, they're very excited about this.

00:44:22Witness the presence of Chuck Milne,

00:44:24all of a sudden another Canadian has an opportunity

00:44:26to get into the fight.

00:44:28As we look at this fight between John Andretti

00:44:30and Scott Goodyear.

00:44:32It is a fight for 9th place.

00:44:34Scott Goodyear again did not qualify very well.

00:44:37They still struggle to get this car set up

00:44:39the way they like it for these road courses.

00:44:42It has a persistent understeer situation

00:44:45that just washes away coming out of corners

00:44:47and loses valuable time.

00:44:49One thing, and I said this before about Scott Goodyear,

00:44:52he's very, very good in racing conditions

00:44:54and very seldom makes a mistake.

00:44:56Quaker State onboard camera view there from Scott Goodyear

00:44:59as there comes Johansson down the inside.

00:45:02He challenges Scott Goodyear.

00:45:04Good battle into the corner, can't get it done.

00:45:06And a risky move.

00:45:07We saw that earlier on in the attempt

00:45:09and it didn't work, but a risky move.

00:45:11But Johansson, who had a bad pit stop,

00:45:13now look what he's going to do,

00:45:15trying to make that attempt down the inside of Goodyear.

00:45:18He has the apex, but now look, Goodyear has the run.

00:45:21Oh, look at Johansson, tries to block him.

00:45:23Ongoing battle for 10th place.

00:45:25Both of them well off the normal run of the course.

00:45:28And Scott Goodyear is able to get into the throttle

00:45:30harder and faster.

00:45:31Now makes that right-hand turn in in front of Johansson

00:45:34as the battle for 10th continues.

00:45:36And Johansson is continuing to stay right on him.

00:45:38You look back from Scott Goodyear's car.

00:45:40Johansson right there.

00:45:41Now a left-hander coming ahead.

00:45:43Johansson darts to the inside.

00:45:44Nope, this is not the place.

00:45:46Now they could do it during the next couple of corners.

00:45:49Look at how the suspension works

00:45:51as they travel over all the bumps here.

00:45:53Here comes Johansson again.

00:45:55Look at that rear suspension.

00:45:57Just the punishment it takes from these bumps.

00:46:00Up and down, bangs.

00:46:01Remember, these are still very stiffly sprung race cars,

00:46:04and yet they still do that.

00:46:06Now look at Johansson.

00:46:07He has a little look down the inside,

00:46:09realizes he can't get it made.

00:46:11Now they're coming on to this pit straight.

00:46:14This is where he made the attempt the last time.

00:46:16Johansson closes up at the back of Goodyear.

00:46:20You see the leader, Emerson Fittipaldi, just behind them.

00:46:23And Goodyear this time protects that line.

00:46:25He saw that stunt before

00:46:27and does not want Johansson down,

00:46:28taking the line away from him.

00:46:30He wasn't close enough to make the attempt,

00:46:32but the last time he tried to get it done,

00:46:34it was spectacular.

00:46:35But Scott Goodyear fought every inch of the way

00:46:38and managed to maintain that position.

00:46:40So Goodyear and Johansson in a great battle here.

00:46:43Two dynamic drivers of the IndyCars.

00:46:45Johansson now going to run down right behind Scott Goodyear

00:46:49as they turn into the East Loop again.

00:46:52And they should stay rather static

00:46:54running through this area of the course.

00:46:56His opportunity won't come for about three more corners.

00:46:59In front, with a full 12-second lead,

00:47:01is Emerson Fittipaldi.

00:47:03Goodyear and Stefan Johansson,

00:47:05they have continued to stay at one another.

00:47:08And now the leader of the race,

00:47:09Emerson Fittipaldi, followed by his teammate Paul Dracy,

00:47:12is right in the fight, too.

00:47:13Here comes Johansson.

00:47:15And it is a great fight.

00:47:16It's under braking.

00:47:17Normally he passes him, but look at this.

00:47:19It was made much easier for him

00:47:20because just in the braking area, he got by him.

00:47:23So Johansson gets around Goodyear.

00:47:25Let's go to Gary Gerald.

00:47:26Part of the problem, Paul, for Scott Goodyear,

00:47:28we understand the second set of tires

00:47:30not working as well as the first.

00:47:32It's affected the balance of the car.

00:47:34Derek Wofford tells us it's just a little bit loose.

00:47:36Consequently, he's having this heated struggle here

00:47:39to protect the position with Johansson.

00:47:41Let's go to Jan Bekus.

00:47:42Well, Gary, one of the drivers

00:47:43that has not been talking on the radio

00:47:45is Emerson Fittipaldi.

00:47:46They keep calling him.

00:47:47The Barbaro crew says,

00:47:48how's the car, how's the car?

00:47:50Just keeps saying very quickly,

00:47:51okay, okay, that's no news, it's good news.

00:47:54Now, speaking of that,

00:47:55we haven't mentioned at all fuel in this race.

00:47:57That's because it's another no news, it's good news.

00:47:59This is one racetrack where they can stand on it.

00:48:01We don't have to talk about fuel this time in the pits.

00:48:04Paul?

00:48:05Emerson Fittipaldi, car number five, leads the race.

00:48:07He calls this car, as he names them all,

00:48:10this is Lady Winner.

00:48:12Will that be true for him today?

00:48:13This is, by the way, the car, the chassis

00:48:16that Rick Mears crashed at the Indianapolis 500.

00:48:19So, they repaired it,

00:48:20and it looks like they may be making a winner out of it.

00:48:23Well, if they do make a winner,

00:48:24that'll be win number three here for Emerson,

00:48:26because he's already been successful twice

00:48:29in the past at Cleveland.

00:48:30Very popular, this racetrack is with him,

00:48:32and he definitely has control of the situation at the moment

00:48:35because, you mentioned earlier,

00:48:37the battle behind him held up Allenson Jr. for a long time.

00:48:41Allenson Jr. in second place is now 13 seconds behind.

00:48:45Another three seconds behind little Al is Michael Andretti,

00:48:49and then Bobby Rahal in fourth.

00:48:51Robbie Gorton still occupies that fifth place.

00:48:54But Fittipaldi now has the job very carefully,

00:48:57lap after lap, threading his way through traffic.

00:49:01Emerson Fittipaldi, John Andretti moves aside.

00:49:04John Andretti, one of the drivers,

00:49:05struggling to get the form that this team started off with.

00:49:08Mind you, how do you recreate winning situations

00:49:11like they did in Australia

00:49:12that made some management changes in this team,

00:49:15but John probably not having the type of success

00:49:18that he would like.

00:49:20Fittipaldi continues to navigate around this airport circuit,

00:49:24looking very, very strong.

00:49:26If he can only hold on, he has completed 49 laps

00:49:30of the 85-lap scheduled distance,

00:49:32210.3 miles.

00:49:34Again, the view down.

00:49:36Runway 24 right from the Goodyear Blimp Spirit overhead.

00:49:41Marvelous display of Fittipaldi's line on this course.

00:49:45And a bit of a disjointed season for Penske this year.

00:49:48I think Rick Muir's accident at Indy

00:49:50and then his problems with his wrist

00:49:52probably can upset most of the momentum

00:49:56that this team has.

00:49:58Emerson has had his fair share of mechanical problems,

00:50:00but remember, he was very strong at Toronto.

00:50:02Look what's happening here today.

00:50:03Perhaps Penske are going to finish off this season

00:50:06with a real flurry.

00:50:08We continue to watch race leader Emerson Fittipaldi.

00:50:11You know, they've announced

00:50:12that we are going to race in downtown New York

00:50:16at the tip of Manhattan Island.

00:50:18One of the guys working with that is Bud Stammer.

00:50:20And right now, he is with Gary Gerald.

00:50:23Indeed, Bud is the organizer, the promoter, you call it.

00:50:26The man is deeply involved in getting this race started.

00:50:29He's deeply involved in getting that street race

00:50:31to become a reality in New York.

00:50:32And Bud, the 93 schedule has yet to be announced.

00:50:35Will that date in 93 again be firm?

00:50:37There's been speculation it might not happen.

00:50:39Yes, we're on the schedule for July 11, 1993

00:50:42for the Marlboro Grand Prix of New York.

00:50:45And that will be on the current schedule when it's released.

00:50:48Now, there's been a lawsuit, we understand,

00:50:50filed by some environmentalist concerns

00:50:52against the city of New York.

00:50:53What kind of impact does that have on your event?

00:50:55Well, we've been advised by our friends

00:50:57at the corporate council in New York City

00:50:59that it really and truly is a lawsuit without much merit.

00:51:03It has to do with the way the city went about

00:51:06granting us the franchise to hold the race.

00:51:09We are told by New York City that it will be resolved

00:51:13in the city's favor in due course.

00:51:15We look forward to seeing you on the streets of Wall Street,

00:51:17the financial district, next summer.

00:51:19Thanks, Gary, very much.

00:51:20Paul?

00:51:21I'll tell you what, last time I was in New York,

00:51:23one of the cab drivers took me right down there and said,

00:51:25here's where the race course is going to be.

00:51:27He was really excited.

00:51:28Later today, here on ESPN, 5.30, of course,

00:51:31the Digital Classic, then SportsCenter,

00:51:34and then baseball tonight, the Mets versus the Cubs.

00:51:38And, of course, we'll wrap the weekend of sports up for you

00:51:41at 11 p.m. Eastern on SportsCenter.

00:51:44Out in front of the Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix

00:51:46is Emerson Fittipaldi,

00:51:48leading with 12.5 seconds over Al Unser Jr.

00:51:53On the course, Al Unser Jr. runs in second place,

00:51:55trying to run down Emerson Fittipaldi.

00:51:58As we look at the race summary at the conclusion of 50 laps,

00:52:01Emerson Fittipaldi and Michael Andretti,

00:52:03the only two that have led this race,

00:52:06and Fittipaldi has led most of it.

00:52:08Average speed, 132 miles an hour,

00:52:11so Fittipaldi is flying around this circuit,

00:52:15looking very, very strong.

00:52:16That caution came on the first lap.

00:52:18It was really a no-start.

00:52:20These are the cars out of the race.

00:52:22Pomroth, Cheever, Hiramashita, Jacques Villeneuve.

00:52:24No contact in any of these.

00:52:26Scott Brayton just fell out, as did Buddy Lazier.

00:52:30So Al Unser Jr., 12.5 seconds back.

00:52:33It's a position that he has maintained,

00:52:35has continued to chase Emerson Fittipaldi,

00:52:38but he can't seem to get him caught.

00:52:41Look at Stefan Johansson as he comes alongside John Andretti.

00:52:44A battle for ninth place, and he takes the position.

00:52:47Johansson still moving forward.

00:52:49Very much on the charge, and particularly good under braking.

00:52:52That car, Amag's car, now run by Tony Bettenhausen.

00:52:56Tony did drive it at the Michigan 500

00:52:58because Johansson was not comfortable running on super speedways,

00:53:02but now he's back on his favorite type of racetrack, road racing circuits.

00:53:06Remember, he's European from Sweden,

00:53:08and his background is totally road racing.

00:53:10I have to tell you something about Tony Bettenhausen.

00:53:13You know, we've been talking that he is becoming more and more an owner,

00:53:16as we watch Al Unser Jr.

00:53:18Don't worry about it too much.

00:53:19There's still a lot of driver in him.

00:53:21I saw him in the paddock yesterday with one of those super water guns,

00:53:25literally running full sprint, chasing other drivers down so he could squirt them.

00:53:29There's still a lot of race driver in Tony Bettenhausen.

00:53:32Lap 56 just turned by the leader, Emerson Fittipaldi,

00:53:36and we are now back in an open window for potential pit stops.

00:53:40Already the Penske organization laying out and waiting for the arrival of this man,

00:53:45car number five, the leader of the race, Emerson Fittipaldi.

00:53:48Rest of the field working their way about.

00:53:51Al Unser Jr. is 13 seconds back.

00:53:54Probably plenty of opportunity to take the lead of the race

00:53:58on the slowdown rollout that Fittipaldi will take when he comes into the stop.

00:54:02But here is where the pit crew makes a world of difference,

00:54:05and in first and second place, we're going to see two of the best.

00:54:08Emerson Fittipaldi is rolling down toward one of those great crews.

00:54:13That's the Penske organization, and Gary Gerald's right there.

00:54:16We watch with the crew, Paul.

00:54:18Now the nose of the car in sight, perfectly on the marks

00:54:21by the former Formula 1 world champion, the former IndyCar champion,

00:54:25looking for his second win of the year.

00:54:27He's had a flawless day thus far.

00:54:29The crack Penske team getting ready to come back over the wall

00:54:32as they complete the fueling now.

00:54:34We've got him at 15 seconds as he leaves, 15.8 on the stop.

00:54:38Let's go to Jan Bekus.

00:54:40Fittipaldi Jr., our second-place runner, Allentor Jr., has been in.

00:54:43He's now underway.

00:54:45Spins those tires, warms them up, and he goes by Ross Bentley.

00:54:48He's underway, no changes whatsoever, Paul.

00:54:50Super little stop, 13.8 seconds.

00:54:53But as both first and second place Fittipaldi and Allentor Jr. stop,

00:54:58Michael Landredi and Bobby Rahal stayed out

00:55:01and flashed past, picking up first and second place.

00:55:04So now those two are poised for a battle of the pits as well.

00:55:08And these outlaps when the cars are full of fuel and on cold tires,

00:55:12you can make up a lot of ground

00:55:14if you're brave enough to push the car to the limit.

00:55:17Allentor Jr. has been about 12 or 13 seconds

00:55:20behind Rahal in racing conditions.

00:55:23But he knows he has to make it off his pit stops

00:55:26if he's not fast enough on the race track on cold tires.

00:55:29Maybe he can make up a couple of valuable seconds.

00:55:32But look at this, the new race leader, Michael Landredi,

00:55:35leading Bobby Rahal by 5.8 seconds, stays out.

00:55:40But Bobby Rahal comes in, Jan Michals.

00:55:42Bobby Rahal brings it to a stop right on the marks,

00:55:44getting a drink of water, very, very humid and hot out here.

00:55:47This is your only chance as a driver.

00:55:49Also look at his hand, he reaches up, he is going to be resetting the fuel.

00:55:53That's one of the things you have to do at the pit stop.

00:55:55The reason they're waiting right now, Paul, is for that last drop of fuel.

00:55:58He's underway in 14 seconds as Scott Pruitt rolls out for his stop.

00:56:02And of course what Jan is talking about, resetting the fuel,

00:56:05as we watch Michael Landredi, he's the leader of the race.

00:56:08You have to push a button to reset the fuel gauges so they can count backwards.

00:56:11You have to re-zero those gauges.

00:56:13Exactly, one of the many computer-controlled areas on these race cars.

00:56:17And we're back inside with Michael Landredi,

00:56:20bouncing his way around the double right-hander at the bottom of the race track.

00:56:24But surely Michael must be about to come into the pit too.

00:56:26Nope, not this lap.

00:56:28So Michael Landredi still leads, still stays out, looking very strong now.

00:56:33There's Robbie Gordon.

00:56:35Boy, you talk about somebody looking strong,

00:56:37runs in fifth place, has had a marvelously smooth, consistent race today.

00:56:41And what a steep learning curve Robbie Gordon absolutely must be going through.

00:56:45Remember, he has almost zero single-seater experience to speak of

00:56:50before Michael Kvanefuss arranged for him to get into this car here with the Ford engine.

00:56:55Robbie Gordon doing a very good job on a steep learning curve.

00:56:58Very nice young man, runs in fifth place right now in one of Chip Ganassi's cars.

00:57:03For the moment, it's Michael Landredi that is leading the run here by 13.5 seconds,

00:57:08but he's due to stop.

00:57:12Just any time now, heads down the pit road.

00:57:15Boy, look at the speed he carries on into the pits.

00:57:18Cousin John just in front of him, now Michael to the Newman-Haas pits,

00:57:22and here's Gary Gerald.

00:57:24We talked about a wing change. I believe they've decided not to.

00:57:27As he comes in and hits that target, Michael had the lead,

00:57:30but of course he stretched it a lap or two further than most of the other teams.

00:57:34Now he flings the water bottle away.

00:57:36More activity on pit road.

00:57:38His final stop, three-time winner this year,

00:57:41trying to challenge Rahoff. He's away in 14.8 seconds.

00:57:45Emerson Pitopaldi flashes past while he was in the pits to take up the lead,

00:57:49but it's going to be a battle for second place

00:57:51as Allenser Jr. is heading for the first turn,

00:57:54as here comes Michael Al,

00:57:56and Allenser Jr. is just ahead of him on the race course.

00:57:59So now it will be a battle for second place

00:58:01with Allenser Jr., Michael Landredi chasing,

00:58:04and Emerson Pitopaldi back in front.

00:58:06And Al Jr. has warm tires. He's already done two or three laps,

00:58:09so the advantage sits with him.

00:58:11However, Michael will try everything he can to get hands on

00:58:15because he's closer now than he was before they made those pit stops.

00:58:19Two time laps now to go to the finish of the run here.

00:58:22For all practical purposes, all fuel should be on board,

00:58:25and it is now a sprint to the end of this race,

00:58:28with Michael Landredi doing his best to score yet another victory this season

00:58:32and pick up some very much needed points.

00:58:35What about that other point contender, Bobby Rahoff?

00:58:38He currently runs in fourth place.

00:58:40If he stays there, he ends this race with 140 points.

00:58:44That's still a lead,

00:58:46but still Michael Landredi and Allenser Jr. are in this fight,

00:58:50and they're continuing to battle very hard for those much needed points.

00:58:54Traffic situation here. Scott Prude is bound to see these leading cars behind him.

00:58:59Remember, Scott Prude can't give up too much.

00:59:02He's in a battle himself, currently running in eighth place,

00:59:05but Michael needs to get, if he can,

00:59:09get Allenser Jr. to get held up by traffic.

00:59:13And there you see Michael Landredi.

00:59:17And here is Bobby Rahoff. He's fourth place.

00:59:21Trying to chase down Michael.

00:59:23He's about 12 seconds behind Michael Landredi right now.

00:59:27There have been seven lead changes today,

00:59:30the most since this race in 1983, when there were a record 11 lead changes.

00:59:36In a slightly uncomfortable situation, I mean uncomfortable physically,

00:59:40as he blew an engine of the Michigan 500,

00:59:42and the boiling water went down into the seat of his race car.

00:59:45He sat in it. You can imagine what happened then.

00:59:48For the bones, and he's been standing up ever since.

00:59:52Bobby Rahoff, by the way, believe it or not, running in fourth place,

00:59:56runs in the worst position he's ever occupied for a finish here.

01:00:00He has never finished lower than third in the last five races here at Cleveland.

01:00:07So, Bobby Rahoff, here's the way the points leaders are.

01:00:10You're looking at Rahoff in fourth place,

01:00:12and you can see that some of the key players are,

01:00:15look at this battle go, look at this battle,

01:00:17as Michael comes down inside of Allenser Jr. and takes the spot.

01:00:22Now talk about seizing the opportunity.

01:00:25Al Jr. leaves the door open, and Michael chomps down the inside.

01:00:29Al Jr. will be absolutely livid with himself.

01:00:32Can he allow that to happen?

01:00:34As they were involved with some slower traffic as they did that,

01:00:37Al got bottled up a little bit.

01:00:39Now he's coming right back at Michael Andretti.

01:00:43Gerard Pruitt was the other car in there.

01:00:45He'd been part of that battle all along.

01:00:47Despite the fact that Scott runs in eighth place,

01:00:49the years suggest that Scott's trying to protect his own position from competition.

01:00:53Exactly. Michael slides down the inside.

01:00:55I think Al Jr. may have got caught just a little bit again,

01:00:57but we heard Rick Allis say earlier on that Al Jr. had the fastest car at the start of the race.

01:01:03Remember, there's new tires on this car.

01:01:05Sometimes that can alter what's happening.

01:01:07This is what happened here. Now look at this.

01:01:09Michael, well, on fair play.

01:01:11I mean, he just slides down the inside in a blinding move and actually gets the job done.

01:01:16Gerard Pruitt wasn't a backer at all.

01:01:17No, he wasn't.

01:01:18He was just a great spectator for that one.

01:01:20Exactly. Now, I just mentioned, sometimes when you change tires,

01:01:24subtle changes, subtle differences can have big effects on the handling of the car.

01:01:29Al Jr., what we can see now, particularly on full tank,

01:01:32is not as comfortable as he was earlier in the race.

01:01:36Emerson Fittipaldi, well out in front of this run.

01:01:40And Mario Andretti runs in sixth place.

01:01:43His 370th IndyCar start, putting him into the lead for all-time starts ahead of A.J. Boyd.

01:01:50I wonder how long E.J.'s going to put up with that, though.

01:01:53Well, I don't know, but I wonder how long Mario's going to put up with driving.

01:01:56I saw a great quote earlier.

01:01:58He said the only thing he'll do is go fishing, except he doesn't know how to fish.

01:02:02So Mario Andretti continues to circle this course in sixth place.

01:02:06Emerson Fittipaldi is the leader.

01:02:10I'm Paul Page with Derek Daly as we continue our coverage of the IndyCars.

01:02:15On ESPN, we'll take you right now through the end of the season and determine the champion.

01:02:20Here is the battle between Stefan Johansson and John Andretti.

01:02:23Got them both in a little bit of trouble.

01:02:25And Stefan, look what happened here.

01:02:27Gets too much wheel spin, and he's actually trying to block John Andretti while he did that.

01:02:33And John Andretti, in fact, we believe, got a black flag.

01:02:36That's a stop-and-go black flag.

01:02:38They wanted to check that car, make sure there wasn't any damage.

01:02:41Look at the nose for a second.

01:02:42No, it's nice and clean.

01:02:44But they did get away with it.

01:02:45Just to continue, Jan Beek has a story on the negative dihedral wing.

01:02:50You can see on John Andretti's car, it's actually a flat, straight wing.

01:02:53The negative dihedral wing is also available from the Lola factory.

01:02:57It cost $20,000.

01:02:59Some of the Chevrolet runners did buy it, but didn't find it very good.

01:03:03So they now sit back in the transporter.

01:03:05No use.

01:03:06However, they are good on the Ford engine cars.

01:03:09On that black flag, let's go down and get an update from Jan Beek.

01:03:12Well, Paul, when you're talking first about the dihedral wing,

01:03:15then about John Andretti when he came in,

01:03:17first of all, when you're talking about those wings sitting in the transporters,

01:03:20it's made in England.

01:03:21They have a law there that says it's called the Trade Description Act,

01:03:24and that is that if something doesn't perform the way they say,

01:03:27you can return it for your money back.

01:03:29That isn't the case, I guess, in racing.

01:03:30John Andretti, however, only has half of his wing,

01:03:32just like Derek Day was talking about.

01:03:34Made that quick stop, they had to pull the top of the wing off.

01:03:37Paul?

01:03:38So John Andretti, a bit of a problem,

01:03:41though I wonder how much it will actually affect the car's performance.

01:03:44Well, it will definitely make the car push,

01:03:46which is an understeer situation.

01:03:48As you look closely, you can see tire marks,

01:03:50which comes from Stephan Johansson's left rear tire.

01:03:53You can just see it there, black tire marks that broke that front wing.

01:03:57However, luckily, John Andretti did not have to change that wing,

01:04:01because that would be a major time loss for him.

01:04:03Emerson Fittipaldi, leading for the first time since his opening race,

01:04:08which he won in Surfers Paradise in Australia.

01:04:10He is now 15.5 seconds ahead of second place Michael Andretti,

01:04:15who is another five seconds ahead of Al Unter, Jr.

01:04:18Fourth is Bobby Rahal.

01:04:20Robbie Gordon, with a great run, is fifth.

01:04:22Mario Andretti is sixth.

01:04:23Raul Boisel up in seventh.

01:04:25Scott Pruitt now up to eighth.

01:04:27Ninth is Stephan Johansson.

01:04:28Then this man, John Andretti.

01:04:30Scott Goodyear runs in 11th.

01:04:32Eddie Cheever is 12th.

01:04:33Ted Krapp is 13th.

01:04:35In 14th place, Jimmy Vassar.

01:04:37Brian Till is 15th.

01:04:38Christian Danner, 16th.

01:04:40Eric Batchelor is 17th.

01:04:42And Paul Tracey is running in 18th position,

01:04:45or all the cars that are currently running on this circuit.

01:04:48And a good Andretti fight here.

01:04:50John Andretti, remember, he only qualified 14th.

01:04:53Very disappointing for him.

01:04:54Now Mario is behind him.

01:04:56John goes way wide to the left-hand side, which is a normal racing line.

01:05:00And look how Mario easily gets down the inside

01:05:03as we pick up Scott Pruitt, having another good run in the true sports car,

01:05:08having had difficulties earlier in the week testing.

01:05:10Eighth place, Pruitt.

01:05:11Here comes Bobby Rahal.

01:05:13Here comes Scott Pruitt.

01:05:15Then Krapp is, as he's now, locked in a battle with Christian Danner.

01:05:20Christian Danner, very successful last weekend,

01:05:23won the 24-hour race at Spa in Belgium.

01:05:26And three weeks ago, he won the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring.

01:05:30He's a factory BMW driver for saloon cars in Germany.

01:05:34Gets on very well, but really wants to make a career out of IndyCar racing.

01:05:38And, of course, running for Euro Motorsports,

01:05:40his car backed by Fendi, AGIP, and Hawaiian Trucking.

01:05:44Giving the car a good ride as he continues his battle with Ted Krappes.

01:05:48Christian Danner looking strong

01:05:50and should have an opportunity in the very near future

01:05:53to move up in the IndyCar.

01:05:55Good performance here today on the airport circuit

01:05:58at the Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland,

01:06:00which, by the way, probably not more than a half an hour after this race is over.

01:06:04I mean, as soon as the checkered flag goes out,

01:06:07they go out and they pull some barriers out of the way,

01:06:09and they open this back up for regular general aviation traffic.

01:06:13I think something else worth mentioning with Christian Danner,

01:06:16remember, he's running one of the Cosworth engines,

01:06:19which we now know is not as powerful as the race,

01:06:21or the engine run by people like Alonso Jr. here.

01:06:25Here is the Valvoline race summary at the conclusion of 70 laps.

01:06:28This is an 85-lap race.

01:06:30Emerson Fittipaldi still a strong dominant lead here

01:06:34and the average speed at 133.2 miles an hour.

01:06:42Cars out of the race after 70 laps.

01:06:45We look down through the order.

01:06:47Emerson Fittipaldi is looking so very strong out here today.

01:06:51No changes, no cars out since the last time we checked.

01:06:54Everybody running fair and very smooth.

01:06:56This is third place.

01:06:59Looking ahead, trying to find second place car of Michael Andretti.

01:07:05But Fittipaldi looking so strong here today.

01:07:07One car got very slow going into the first turn,

01:07:10but was able to get it back under control and get going.

01:07:12In fact, that was Robbie Gordon, got himself in trouble down there.

01:07:15Had many spins during practice here,

01:07:17but his logic is if you don't spin every now and then,

01:07:20you're not trying hard enough.

01:07:22But he got himself in trouble,

01:07:23but he still managed to hang on to that fifth place.

01:07:26But Mario Andretti is the one that's chasing him.

01:07:29So we get a good view of Scott Goodyear,

01:07:31the winner of the Michigan 500.

01:07:34At the front of the field, it is still Emerson Fittipaldi,

01:07:38but now Michael Andretti is closing in.

01:07:42He's setting a touring pace at 133 plus miles an hour.

01:07:46That'll be a strong record over Michael Andretti's 117.

01:07:50Michael Andretti runs in second place.

01:07:52Michael Andretti currently holds the race record set last year.

01:07:55Allenser Jr. is third.

01:07:57In fourth place, it is Bobby Rahal, the current points leader.

01:08:00And Robbie Gordon continues to give the Chip Ganassi car a great run.

01:08:05Emerson is off the road.

01:08:06There's that Paul Tracy.

01:08:08Paul Tracy.

01:08:09Paul Tracy pulls her off.

01:08:10Actually doesn't pull her off.

01:08:11The road pulls him off.

01:08:13Runs off in the east loop there where it's so very easy to drop a wheel off the course.

01:08:17But now he is back under power.

01:08:19Not really a situation that mattered.

01:08:21He was the last car running on the course in the order

01:08:24running in 18th place.

01:08:25Right.

01:08:26You mentioned earlier getting valuable experience in this race on a road course.

01:08:30But I see something.

01:08:31Looks like something leaking out of that left side pod.

01:08:35Maybe it's dirt.

01:08:36Here's Robbie Gordon inside Boesel.

01:08:38The race is going on everywhere here.

01:08:40Gordon and Boesel actually in a battle for sixth place.

01:08:44And now Cheever is team leader.

01:08:45Here comes Eddie.

01:08:46Eddie Cheever, teammate to Robbie Gordon.

01:08:48As he comes flying up through.

01:08:50Not a battle for position itself,

01:08:52but a great fight on this race course.

01:08:54Cheever has had a terrible weekend.

01:08:56He hit the wall on Friday.

01:08:59Lost valuable time.

01:09:00Could not get the car.

01:09:01Oh, look at Boesel trying to slide down the inside.

01:09:04But Cheever could not get the car sorted as he liked it.

01:09:07And started way, way down the grid in 17th place.

01:09:10But Boesel finally finds a way past Robbie Gordon.

01:09:13There's been great racing here throughout the weekend

01:09:16with nine laps to go in the Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix for the IndyCars.

01:09:21Yesterday, for example, a group of celebrities have gotten together

01:09:24and they're putting together a racing series

01:09:26to benefit things like children's hospitals in each individual race area.

01:09:31Perry King, Ricky Schroeder, Kent McCourt, guys like that all involved in racing.

01:09:36And yesterday's winner of the first of that series was Perry King.

01:09:40Gave the car a good run.

01:09:41If he didn't want to act, he could be a race driver.

01:09:43A lot of competition in that race, too, wasn't it, Paul?

01:09:46A lot of big names.

01:09:47A little too much competition back and forth in fifth place.

01:09:50Yes, Jack Arood got ahead of me, I couldn't believe it.

01:09:53But you did finish. You were consistent, but you won't get higher.

01:09:57Emerson, I was trying to get the Rick Mears right, but not even Rick will permit that.

01:10:01Exactly.

01:10:02There's the man who has it for the rest of the year

01:10:04as Al Unser Jr. overhauls Paul Tracy.

01:10:06Again, Paul now just has to get that car to the finish of the race.

01:10:09As we go to the closing laps, setting the order with Fittipaldi 14 seconds

01:10:14ahead of Michael Andretti.

01:10:16And Al Unser Jr. sitting in third place behind Andretti

01:10:19and fighting that car in every corner.

01:10:21And he is fighting that car.

01:10:23That was a great in-car camera picture of Al Jr. grappling with that car

01:10:27as it went into a very vicious sudden oversteer.

01:10:30That car is not handling as well as it was earlier in the race,

01:10:34and it's hampering Al Unser Jr.

01:10:36Right behind is Robbie Thornton.

01:10:38Just behind him is Bobby Rahal

01:10:41trying to catch up to little Al for position.

01:10:43Let's stay with this as Rahal tries to the inside,

01:10:47gets around Gordon, and is now ready to set up Al Unser Jr.

01:10:51For an update though on Robbie Gordon, let's go to Gary Gerald.

01:10:54Well, the rookie in only his fifth IndyCar race

01:10:56trying to get a top-ten finish, had been top five,

01:10:59has got some late-race brake problems.

01:11:01That has contributed to his frustration

01:11:03as he tried to protect and, I guess, lost that position to Raul Boisel.

01:11:07Gordon's still making a great showing, I'd say,

01:11:09thus far this day at Cleveland, Paul.

01:11:11No doubt that he's having a wonderful day

01:11:13and really impressing all of his supporters

01:11:16as well as his many fans here.

01:11:17A very likable young man.

01:11:19Spends a lot of time with the fans.

01:11:21Nice smile, always down by the fence, signing autographs,

01:11:24as most of the IndyCar drivers will do for you on any given day

01:11:27and certainly have here in Cleveland on this magnificent weekend.

01:11:31They were all part of a parade earlier.

01:11:32Really a nice weekend in Cleveland.

01:11:34Now here is the battle.

01:11:36It is a battle for third place,

01:11:37as Bobby Rahal, needing any points that he can get,

01:11:40is trying to get around Al Unser Jr.

01:11:43Doesn't truly need them,

01:11:44but they could make a difference at the end of the season.

01:11:47He will still lead this race with the points he needs.

01:11:50Those points get ever so important as we go to the closing races.

01:11:54Exactly, and Rahal has a habit of getting stronger as the season goes on

01:11:58and oftentimes getting stronger as the race goes on.

01:12:01He is in a better handling car than Al Jr. at the moment,

01:12:05so Al Jr. has a real fight in his hands now

01:12:08to maintain that hard spot for third place in the currency hold.

01:12:12Bobby Rahal sitting up just behind Al Unser Jr.

01:12:16Al Unser Jr., remember, is doing a tremendous job

01:12:19keeping this car operating well, a development car for him.

01:12:23John Andretti is a factor just ahead

01:12:25as this gives Rahal a chance to close in.

01:12:27And little Al is looking for an opportunity to dart around John Andretti

01:12:31because he's slightly slower than the battle for third place

01:12:34that is working around this track.

01:12:36Now here comes Al Unser Jr. darting inside,

01:12:39but Rahal darts as well.

01:12:40They both get around John Andretti.

01:12:42And you see what John Andretti did there.

01:12:44He knew exactly what was happening,

01:12:45but Rahal went off the road.

01:12:47Rahal loses it there, gets off the track.

01:12:50The battle for the moment has ended.

01:12:52He is back on fairly quickly,

01:12:54but that gives Al Unser Jr. a solid hold on third place for the moment.

01:12:58And a rare mistake by Bobby Rahal.

01:13:00He clearly saw John Andretti put his hand out of the cockpit,

01:13:03said to Al Jr., go down the inside.

01:13:06He made it, but Rahal didn't quite have enough room,

01:13:09run off the road, and now he has to claw his way back to Al Jr.

01:13:13I don't know whether there's enough time.

01:13:15Emerson Fittipaldi still well out in front.

01:13:17The battle for third is broken off.

01:13:19Michael Andretti is second.

01:13:23Continuing to celebrate with Mario Andretti,

01:13:25his 51st and most recent IndyCar triumph came on this very course in 1988

01:13:30as he held off then Bobby Rahal and Danny Sullivan

01:13:33in a thrilling three-car finish.

01:13:36Mario Andretti here runs in fifth place.

01:13:39As we're in the closing laps now,

01:13:41with just over three laps to go,

01:13:43Al Unser Jr. is doing his best to close down on Michael Andretti.

01:13:48You can get a glimpse from time to time,

01:13:50just ahead, Michael Andretti in an ongoing battle for second place.

01:13:54And this is a great fight.

01:13:56Al Jr., when the car seems to get lighter,

01:13:59when some of the fuel burns away,

01:14:01Al Jr. gets a little bit faster, or else Michael gets a little bit worse.

01:14:05But now look at this here.

01:14:06That's Eddie Cheever ahead of Michael.

01:14:08That's not a fight for position,

01:14:10but Cheever is in a fight in his own personal race.

01:14:13But look at Al Jr., closer to Michael now than he's been for many laps.

01:14:18Michael Andretti takes the advantage of sliding between Cheever and Scott Goodyear,

01:14:22trying to put any distance that he can at all between himself and a quick-driving Al Unser Jr.

01:14:28We look back from Scott Goodyear's car through the suspension.

01:14:31Michael Andretti still trying to hold off Al Unser Jr. in the fight for second place.

01:14:36Vittipaldi, 17 seconds out in front.

01:14:39Next time by, we see just two laps to go to the finish of this 210-mile run here in Cleveland.

01:14:46That's Michael. He's still behind Scott Goodyear.

01:14:49Very difficult to get by here.

01:14:51He has a little look down the inside, realizes he can't make it.

01:14:54Goodyear still holds him off.

01:14:55I'm sure Goodyear will move over and let him get on with his own race.

01:14:59But Al Jr. is going to be difficult now to close down on Michael.

01:15:03Emerson Vittipaldi just flashed over the start-finish line with just two laps to go.

01:15:08He'll see the white flag next time by.

01:15:10The battle continues for second place.

01:15:12Michael Andretti occupies it at the moment.

01:15:14Look at Al Unser Jr., car number three.

01:15:16Scott Goodyear moves way over to get out of the way.

01:15:19Al Unser Jr. takes the fastest line into the corner, trying to build up momentum if he can.

01:15:24And will try to move to the inside of Scott Goodyear, but Goodyear is very quick as well.

01:15:28He is quick, but Al Jr., if he has any chance to catch Michael, has to get by Goodyear very, very quickly.

01:15:34Let's go to the pits and Gary Gerald.

01:15:36Paul Tracy out of the car.

01:15:38How frustrating that opening moment when things got hung up and he sat for four laps.

01:15:42Well, I just, you know, I got the car set up for the start,

01:15:45and then I went to shift to third gear on the start there,

01:15:48and it got hung up, and then I had to come in and get it fixed.

01:15:50But, you know, all in all, the Marlboro car ran great.

01:15:52I think we had a race-winning car.

01:15:54And, you know, it's disappointing to go out right before the race started.

01:15:58I think we ran a good race during it, though.

01:16:00Thank you, Paul.

01:16:01One Penske driver out, another one looking for a checkered flag, Paul Page.

01:16:05Well, Emerson Fittipaldi just saw the white flag, indicating one more lap to go.

01:16:09The battle continues for second place.

01:16:12Still trying to handle up Scott Goodyear as Fittipaldi is on his last lap.

01:16:16So is this battle for second place now?

01:16:18There's Fittipaldi over on the lake shore straight.

01:16:21He is unchallenged with a full 16-second lead over the second-place battle.

01:16:25But look at this.

01:16:26Now, Allenger Jr. is around Scott Goodyear and in direct competition with Michael Andretti.

01:16:31Michael Andretti's superior acceleration here on the backside,

01:16:34but Allenger Jr. has been able to catch up on the back half of the race course.

01:16:39Michael Andretti in second now, makes that turn in through the first set of chicanes here.

01:16:43Now a short straightaway. A left-hander lies just ahead for Michael.

01:16:47Allenger Jr. trying to close, but is not in contest at this moment.

01:16:50Now they sweep through the east loop.

01:16:53Three right-hand turns in a row.

01:16:56Again, Allenger Jr. is not a factor at this point.

01:16:58Here comes Fittipaldi, heading for the final two turns.

01:17:01He's through that final corner.

01:17:03And Emerson Fittipaldi looks at the checkered flag,

01:17:06picks up the win, his second of this season.

01:17:09Emerson Fittipaldi is the winner of the race here at Cleveland,

01:17:12the Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix.

01:17:14And we look now for Michael Andretti as he comes off the final corner.

01:17:18And Allenger Jr. slows down, and Michael Andretti takes second.

01:17:22Allenger Jr. comes home in third place.

01:17:25In fourth place, it is Bobby Rahal,

01:17:27followed by Mario Andretti, his 370th career start,

01:17:32finishing in fifth place.

01:17:34He is still very racy indeed.

01:17:36But the winner today, Emerson Fittipaldi,

01:17:39a spectacular run, a dominant force here.

01:17:42And we didn't see it all, but a last desperate effort by Allenger Jr.

01:17:46to try and get second place for Michael

01:17:48meant he ran right off the road at the end of the straight,

01:17:51leading onto the pits, through the grass,

01:17:53got it back in control, and didn't quite get the position.

01:17:56Congratulations going around the Penske pit.

01:17:59Rick Reinemann, the crew chief, very happy with that win.

01:18:02In a moment, we'll come back and we'll talk with the winner

01:18:06of the Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix, Emerson Fittipaldi.

1992 PPG Indy Car World Series - Cleveland Grand Prix

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