European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 18, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 32 the stars and stripes sports tuesday May 18,1993 Bodine wins with bumpy last Lap by William Schiffmann Sonoma Calif. A Geoff Bod  Sears Point International race Way with a Victory some crumpled Sheet Metal and a warm feeling in his heart. Bodine bumped and bashed his Ford . Chevrolet s of Ernie Irvan and Ricky Rudd on the last Lap of sunday s Lascar a vhf Mart 300, but managed to hold the Lead. He then ran his Victory Lap in reverse in Honor of Alan Kulwicki. The 1992 Winston cup Champion who died in a plane crash april 1, Bodine had Pur chased Kulwicki s team a few Days ear Lier. I can t describe How that Felt he said. It was perfect timing. It could t be any better. I wanted to show my respect for Alan by doing that.". Bodine led for 30 of the 74 laps including the final 22, at the 11-Turri, 232 mile course. But it was slaying in front on the last Lap that took some doing. The last Lap got a Little rough but i expected it he said. Was ready for that la map Challenge. I was t hit to where i was spun off the track. I just reached Back to my old dirt Rac ing Days put my foot Down and away we went. Ricky had Geoff when he got out of shape on that last Lap and he let him go. I guess Ricky did t want to win the race by taking him  Rudd had another perspective on that last Lap. If i could have read the direction Geoff was going i could have stood on the Gas and got by he said. But he looked like he lost it one Way and Gath ered it up the other Way. If i had kept driving by i would have been in a wreck. We both would have  Irvan finished second and Rudd third. Ken Schrader was fourth in a Chevrolet followed by Kyle Petty in a Pontiac. Bodine who won the Hanes 500 last month and finished third in the season opening Daytona 500, was leading when Dorsey Schroeder. Spun on Lap 72, bring ing the last of five yellow flags the race went to Green with just one Lap left recalling the end of the Winston 500 May 2. At that time the race went Green with two laps to go triggering a sprint and a crash in which Rusty Wallace crossed the finish line in sixth place while his Pontia rolled and tumbled off the track. Sunday s. Race was clean through 50 laps with just one two Lap caution. But on Lap 50, Jeff Davis spun in turn 7, forc ing a three Lap delay. It was the first of four caution res in the final 24 laps. Bodine s Victory moved him into fifth place in the Winston cup standings a jump of two places. Earnhardt who led much of the race before a late collision with Tommy Ken Dall dropped him to sixth at the finish moved into first place in the Winston cup race ahead of Rusty Wallace who was 38th  Allison who finished 15th, remained in third. Petty moved up two spots to fourth. Of. James qualifies easily for her second 500 Scarf by Steve Herman Indianapolis a Lyn St. James shut off her emotions and just drove right into the Indianapolis 500  Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the year in 1992, admittedly jittery let her teammate test her car sunday. Once she saw it was Safe to go fast she easily qualified for the May 30 race. I can t Tell you How i Felt because i think i shut Down and quit feeling she said. Part of the problem is that you Start thinking and Start analysing and that s what sometimes gets you screwed up and slows you . James struggled for a week in practice never get Ting above 217 Mph. Then she turned her car Over to teammate Raul Boesel and within minutes was up to 222."i was like going through a Wall in a Way she said. " 1 just drove out and kind of shut Down my feelings be cause i knew i did t have to come in and Tell them what the car was doing. I just had to go out and drive. I could t Tell you what Turbocharger boost we had. I did t look at the dash i just drove the race car. I think that s a Good indication. What kind of a performance you can  she delivered a four Lap average of 218.042 Mph to earn her second Start tentatively on the inside of the eighth  a new Ford co Worth powered Lola St. James lost some of her newfound Speed As tempera Tures climbed in the afternoon but still put herself solidly in the  s a big difference she said. The team really pulled together and with the help of Raul and some real Strong Effort from the team we got the Speed and actually had fun for the first  St. James 46, last year became the oldest Rookie qualifier in indy history and Only the second woman in the race the first since Janet Guthrie drove for the third time in 1979. She was the Only one of seven rookies still running at the end completing 193 of the 200 laps for Lith place. This year her problems stemmed from a Lack of con  the changes that have been made to the rules the cars Are safer the cars Are slower but they re not necessarily As comfortable to drive she said. I was looking for the Comfort that i had last year to give me the Confidence and we weren t Able to get that. So i was being More conservative. But with Raul going out and saying the car is Good and going fast i knew i had to drive through that. I d rather do that with a known Factor than to try it and have it not work. So i got my Confidence. You know Confidence is what this game s  if you re hesitant out on the race track you Don t belong out there and i know  Boesel was the third fastest qualifier on saturday at 222.379 Mph. He took eight laps in St. James car and had a top Speed of 221.915. Sixteen minutes later St. James had her fast Lap of 222.074. Her first qualification Lap was a cautious 215.182, then she improved to 219.587, 219.293 and closed at 218.161. The. Temperature just came up a Little bit. It s Amaz ing what a difference it makes she said. So the track changes a lot with just a Little Cloud cover. We were a Little late on the curve but the main thing is we got there when it counted and we re in the Field. I wish we could have gone a Little quicker but that s All i could get out of it at that particular time. The main thing is we re  Lyn St. James chats with car owner Dick Simon right and an unidentified Man after qualifying sunday at indy. Unser earns crack at fifth indy Crown by Scott Horner Indianapolis up Al Unser has an Opportunity to become the first five time Indianapolis 500 Champion but hell have his work Cut out for him. The 53 year old Unser earned a spot in his 27th indy 500 sunday qualifying for the eighth Row of the May 30 race. He stands As the Only Active four time indy Champion in the Wake of . Foyt s announcement sat urday that he is retiring from racing. Four time Winner Rick Mears retired from indy car racing after last season. Unset who waved off a qualifying at tempt saturday drove his Lola Chevrolet to a four Lap average of 217.453 Mph Dur ing the second qualifying session at the Indianapolis motor Speedway. Rookie Stephan Gregoire of France had sunday s Best qualifying Effort of 220.851 Mph in a 1992 Lola Buick. His Speed is the sixth Best Overall and the Best among five qualified newcomers including 1992 for Mula one Champ Nigel Mansell and three time Al Champ Nelson Piquet. Nine other Drivers put machines in the 33-car Grid sunday bringing the total of qualifiers to 26. Time trials resume May 22. Arie Luyendyk the 1990 indy Champ earned the pole position saturday with a 223.967 Mph run in a Lola Ford co Worth. Unser who won Here in 1970, 71, 78 and 87, said he will miss competing against Foyt and Mears it kind of gives you an empty feeling because they Are very very Good race Drivers he said. Unser did t like his sunday run which left him in the Back half of the starting Grid for the third straight year. During the run if the car s not totally comfortable to you it s hard to extend yourself. To hit the Fence is easier than to take the Check ered Flag he said. Unser earned his fourth indy Crown in 1987 after coming to the Speedway with out a ride and qualifying in the 20th spot on the second weekend. For the first time in three years Unser had a ride coming into the month with the team owned by drag racer Kenny Bernstein. However the Speedway s All time Leader in laps led 629 had trouble getting to a competitive Speed during the first practice week. Jeff Andretti who suffered severe leg injuries in last year s indy 500, made the race with a 220.572 Mph average in a 1992 Lola Buick. The son of front Row qualifier Mario Andretti earned a spot in his first race since last year s indy when both his legs were shattered in an Acci Dent on the 109th Lap. Andretti 29.waved off a qualifying at tempt saturday after averaging nearly 218 Mph for three laps. Bobby Rahal 40, the 1986 indy Winner made the ninth Row averaging 217.140 Mph in his 1992 Rahal Hogan Chevrolet. He will be Mak ing his worst indy Start in 12 races. I can t believe How quickly the track can change. This morning the car Felt very Good and we ran 221 Mph pretty easily said Andretti. But the car seems to be extremely sensitive to the  Lyn St. James 46, who last year be came the second woman to earn an indy Start put her Lola Ford co Worth in the Field with a 218.042 Mph qualifying run. Joining Gregoire and Andretti in the sixth Row is italian Teo Fabi the 1983 pole Winner As a Rookie who took his Lola Chevy 220.514 Mph. Gary Bettenhausen is on the inside of the seventh Row averaging 220.380 Mph in a Lola Menard. He is joined by Jimmy Yasser who averaged 218.867 Mph in his final attempt in a 1992 Lola Chevy and Stan Fox 40, who averaged 218.765 Mph in a 1991 Lola Buick. St. James Tony Bettenhausen of Indi Anapolis who drove a Penske Chevy to a 218.034 Mph average and Unser Are in the eighth Row. Rahal and Mark Smith who qualified a 1992 Penske Chevy at 214.356 Mph Are in the ninth Row