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00:00:00North America, and we're not far away at Canada's Exhibition Place.
00:00:04Hello and welcome to Toronto, I'm Paul Page, and the third straight week of racing for the IndyCars.
00:00:09The machines are tired, the men are tired, but it should make for a most exciting day here on a very difficult circuit.
00:00:16Now, as we come here, Bobby Rahal has a 30-point advantage over his nearest competitor, but there's still a whale of a points fight underway.
00:00:24Now, Derek Daly, we've talked about how nice this circuit is, it's very challenging.
00:00:28That's right, this could be the finest street racing facility that IndyCars use.
00:00:32On the back straight, they do 175 miles an hour.
00:00:35It leads to the lowest speed corner on the racetrack, a first or second gear right-hander, about 40 miles an hour.
00:00:40But it's also got one of the most spectacular corners in all of road racing, and it's right in front of the pit lane.
00:00:46So it really gives the team owners and mechanics a rare treat, as they've seen all weekend,
00:00:50the drivers fight for control of their cars and really earn their money.
00:00:56Now, starting outside on the front row is Emerson Fittipaldi.
00:00:59He's had some interesting problems lately, and Gary Gerald has an update on that situation.
00:01:04Paul, this is the fifth straight race where Emerson has started in the front row,
00:01:07but in the last couple of events, he's been plagued by some problems with the clutch.
00:01:11The crew has thoroughly taken it apart.
00:01:13They think they've located and pinpointed the problem this week, and they've made the appropriate changes.
00:01:17They were tearing seals protecting the clutch.
00:01:20They think that's not going to happen today.
00:01:22They're hoping that Emerson can win his set.
00:01:24Now, a bit further up Pit Road, our colleague in the pits today is Jan Beekes.
00:01:28Thank you, Gary.
00:01:29Bobby Rahal may have a commanding lead in the points, but he hasn't qualified higher than his.
00:01:34His Gallus-Craco team, however, led by Jim Prescott, in the last four races, has improved positions in the pits.
00:01:41They're all fired up here, hoping to keep that streak alive.
00:01:43Paul?
00:01:44Well, 23 IndyCars have now rolled away and have begun the parade laps.
00:01:49We're ready for the start here in Toronto of what should be a terrific afternoon.
00:01:53The stage is set in Toronto for round number 10 of the PPG IndyCar World Series as the fight for the championship continues.
00:02:02Welcome to our worldwide audience for the Carts Molson Indy Toronto Grand Prix on a hot and hazy day.
00:02:08Let's take a look at the starting grid brought to you by the diehard battery.
00:02:12Now, with more power when you need it most, Michael Andretti has the pull with a record speed.
00:02:18He's been the winner of the last three of last five races.
00:02:21Outside Emerson Fittipaldi, he won the 1987 race here.
00:02:25The second row is Al Unser, Jr., the only two-time winner of this race.
00:02:29And his teammate, Bobby Rahal, the 86th winner here in Toronto.
00:02:33In the third row, it is Mario Engels and Rick Mears, who has never been farther up than fifth here.
00:02:39The fourth row on the inside is Scott Pruitt.
00:02:41He finished sixth in his only Toronto start two years ago.
00:02:44And Ari Leyendijk on the outside, looking for his first win on a road course.
00:02:48In the fifth row, Mike Groff and Eddie Cheever, Groff driving for AJ Point.
00:02:53In the sixth row, Scott Goodyear and Danny Sullivan.
00:02:56The seventh row is John Andretti, the winner in Australia, and Scott Brayton.
00:03:01In the eighth row, Jeff Andretti and Tony Bettenhausen.
00:03:04In the ninth row, Didier Thaves and Roberto Guerrero back in the action.
00:03:09The tenth row is John Jones and Buddy Lazier.
00:03:12In the eleventh row, it's Hiro Mashusta and Randy Lewis.
00:03:16And in the twelfth row alone is Ted Krapitz.
00:03:19The weather, well, there is a slight chance of rain.
00:03:22It has drizzled from time to time, but it's also incredibly hot,
00:03:25so that would simply be cellular weather as it comes through here.
00:03:28We hope none of it touches this race.
00:03:30And on the line here today, well, a great deal of money.
00:03:34And the length of the race at 183 miles, those are the fuel stop windows.
00:03:39So some teams seem to think that fuel could be a very serious problem here today.
00:03:43So it's a gigantic crowd, an enormous crowd that comes into Exhibition Place.
00:03:48Johnny Rutherford in the pace car brings the field around.
00:03:51There have been some interesting changes to this circuit.
00:03:55They have made a change in the final turn, taking down a barrier.
00:04:00We'll be talking about that throughout the day
00:04:02because it has certainly helped the drivers.
00:04:04We watch now, Derek Daly, as they begin to come into view and are ready for their start.
00:04:10And the final thoughts.
00:04:11What the drivers do now is they actually imagine the first turn,
00:04:15how it's going to come about, and how they will get into that first turn.
00:04:20Remember, the first turn is ten lanes wide on the way in, but two lanes wide coming out.
00:04:27So as they're aligned in the front row, Michael Andretti with a record brings them down.
00:04:31Fittipaldi to the outside. Nick Funaro takes a good look at the field.
00:04:34The green comes out.
00:04:36Off of that turn, still much of the field stringing off of it.
00:04:39Into the first turn at Prince's Gate, Michael Andretti takes the lead.
00:04:44We saw everybody move down to the inside.
00:04:46How tight the first corner becomes when everybody goes down the inside
00:04:49trying to get by people under braking.
00:04:51But lookit, Emerson Fittipaldi has his mirrors full with Alonzo Jr.
00:04:56Alonzo Jr. comes up right behind Fittipaldi.
00:04:58Now alongside, Bobby Rahal closes behind Fittipaldi as well.
00:05:02And just behind Rahal is Mario Andretti.
00:05:05What happened there was Emerson moved to the inside like he's doing there in Rahal,
00:05:09but Jr. went down the outside.
00:05:13Michael Andretti now with Alonzo Jr. in pursuit, and little Al closing.
00:05:17Fittipaldi drops to third.
00:05:19In fifth place is Bobby Rahal, then Mario Andretti.
00:05:22Lookit, Scott Pruitt with Ari Leindyke just behind him, and then Rick Mears.
00:05:27So the first lap underway here in Toronto.
00:05:31With what should be a very tactical game played here this afternoon.
00:05:34One, on the fuel situation, because some teams say it will in fact be very close.
00:05:39And Michael Andretti turns for the line and flashes across the line.
00:05:43The fifth time in ten races that Michael Andretti has led the opening lap.
00:05:48Michael has quite a gap to close, though, if he is to move ahead
00:05:52in championship points and try to catch Rahal.
00:05:55Rahal's teammate, Alonzo Jr., in the Valvoline car, now closing in.
00:05:59And giving some hot pursuit, making a move to the inside, darting.
00:06:02I think he just wanted to let him know he was there.
00:06:04And lookit, lookit Mario. Mario comes around Rahal, catches the inside, and gets past Rahal.
00:06:09A great run down the inside, typical of what you see on these long straights.
00:06:13Got in behind Rahal's rear wing, and down the inside under braking,
00:06:17takes the line away from Rahal. We're now inside with Rahal,
00:06:20and now he watches the rear of Mario's wing.
00:06:22I know he doesn't like that, but look at Mario as the car understeers
00:06:25through that long third-gear right-hand turn.
00:06:27Quaker State onboard camera with Bobby Rahal as he now chases Mario Andretti.
00:06:31And at the front of the field, it is his teammate that is chasing Michael Andretti.
00:06:36Alonzo Jr. trying to run down young Michael.
00:06:39But Michael seems to be absolutely dominant here on this course.
00:06:43He was in qualifying, breaking the track record not once, but twice before the day ended.
00:06:47There's the Princess Gate just ahead. Very, very scenic course here at the Exhibition Place.
00:06:52And we said in the opening, probably the finest street racing circuit these people run on.
00:06:56It's 175 miles an hour down this straight.
00:07:00Little kink here, they're now in fifth gear,
00:07:02and they come to the slowest corner on the racetrack.
00:07:04All the way down to second, or even first gear.
00:07:0740 miles an hour here. Look at the white strips along the roadway there.
00:07:11They're the repairs they had to make over the course of the weekend,
00:07:13because again, the track surface was breaking up.
00:07:16Kari Leyendijk there, chasing Scott Pruitt with Rick Mears just behind.
00:07:20Back at the front of the field, it is still Michael Andretti trying to hold off Alonzo Jr.
00:07:24But little Al seems content for the moment at least, just to watch Michael's style.
00:07:29You saw those white spots on the course.
00:07:31I asked Lance Schaefer, who puts together this circuit,
00:07:34he said they're not really a critical problem.
00:07:37They were worried about the course after the first night,
00:07:39and the possibility of break-up in the corners,
00:07:41but he said the course is held together very well here.
00:07:44That's surprising, considering how hot it is.
00:07:46Temperature's into the 90s here today.
00:07:48High humidity as well, so it is a warm day.
00:07:52That will take its toll on the drivers and crews as well,
00:07:55and let us not forget this is the third straight week of racing,
00:07:58and that is very difficult for these teams.
00:08:00Alonzo Jr. continues his ride in second place.
00:08:03Fittipaldi is third.
00:08:05And here comes little Al. It's a maneuver under braking,
00:08:08but once again, he just lets Michael know that he's there.
00:08:11He can't get the maneuver done.
00:08:13No, he does. He lets him know in no uncertain terms.
00:08:16See what Michael did? He saw what Al Jr. was doing.
00:08:19Moved to the right a little bit, then moved back.
00:08:21It's very, very difficult to outbrake Michael Andretti.
00:08:25Fittipaldi is third, Mario Andretti fourth,
00:08:27Bobby Rahal fifth, Scott Pruitt is sixth,
00:08:29Lyon Dyke is seventh, Aiton's Rick Mears,
00:08:31Eddie Cheever is ninth, and Mike Brough,
00:08:34driving the AJ Voigt car, runs in 10th place right now.
00:08:38What a terrific ride that has to be for that young man.
00:08:41And the two Lolas, again, in a race condition,
00:08:44running away from these Penskes.
00:08:45The Penske cars are very, very fast,
00:08:48but in a race condition, they just seem to struggle a little bit.
00:08:52They flash across the line as we look at Shelly
00:08:55as we're watching the battle at the front of the field.
00:08:57Four laps are complete in Toronto,
00:08:59and Michael Andretti leads them all.
00:09:04Exhibition Place in Toronto,
00:09:06currently occupied by Bobby Rahal,
00:09:09sorry, Lyon Dyke is right there trying to close,
00:09:11and here's Allenser Jr., boy, look at that maneuver.
00:09:13He slaps the brakes hard, but Derek, as you pointed out,
00:09:16it is awful tough to outbrake an Andretti.
00:09:18Well, I think he's hit the wall with a left-side suspension.
00:09:22Allenser Jr., yes, I think he's in all sorts of trouble.
00:09:24Very definitely.
00:09:25Very definitely.
00:09:26He tapped the wall coming off of that corner,
00:09:28and that got the left front,
00:09:29and that damage will spell the end of Allenser Jr.'s day.
00:09:33That must be terribly frustrating for that young man.
00:09:35Already, Shelly knows it because of the two-way radio connection
00:09:38with the car.
00:09:39He was just trying so hard, he thought he had Michael.
00:09:42The braking maneuver wasn't strong enough.
00:09:44Michael swept across his front end,
00:09:46but that got him in too deep,
00:09:48and the exit to the corner drove him out to the wall.
00:09:50Got him in too deep, and the reason he couldn't stop
00:09:52is because he locked up that right front wheel.
00:09:55We will see it in replay,
00:09:56but Allenser Jr. trying a very difficult maneuver
00:10:00to try and get inside Michael Andretti.
00:10:02We saw him try it earlier on, thought better of it,
00:10:05and now he ends up in the wall as a consequence.
00:10:08You've seen Michael Andretti moving slowly.
00:10:10The reason for that is this double yellow flag,
00:10:12a full course yellow,
00:10:14so that will send out Johnny Rutherford in the PPG pace car
00:10:17as Allenser Jr. climbs out of his machine
00:10:20on a day that he had really hoped for a great deal.
00:10:23He had a frustrating qualifying session,
00:10:25and then at the end of the last qualifying session,
00:10:28he suddenly jumped up with an excellent time,
00:10:30and so the day held much promise, but not now.
00:10:33As he tries to get to the front and can't get the job done,
00:10:36so Allenser Jr. climbs out of his car and out of the race.
00:10:40Still has a smile on his face,
00:10:42but he's going to have an explanation to give to Rick Gallus
00:10:45when he gets back because he threw it away.
00:10:47Now watch what happens here. The right front is locked up.
00:10:49Now he cannot make the corner.
00:10:51Michael Andretti is still on his line,
00:10:52but look what happens here.
00:10:53Al Jr. misses the apex here.
00:10:56Now he drifts wide. He's wider, and watch what happens.
00:11:01The left front now clips the wall because he's too wide.
00:11:07We didn't quite see it there, but he actually clipped the wall
00:11:10with that left front suspension and breaks it.
00:11:13So Allenser Jr. and they look at serious damage to that car,
00:11:17and they'll now get out the safety equipment
00:11:20and with the field slowed, try to get the car back,
00:11:23and Allenser Jr. says you're going to need a wrecker
00:11:26to lift this car up and get it back into the pit area.
00:11:29Actually, back to put on the trailer.
00:11:34We're back at the Molson Indy Toronto Grand Prix.
00:11:37In first place, it's Michael Andretti.
00:11:39Emerson Fittipaldi second, then Mario, then Bobby Rahal.
00:11:42Ari Leyendaig lies in fifth place.
00:11:44Scott Pruitt with Judd Power in sixth,
00:11:46then Rick Mears, Eddie Cheever, John Andretti, and Mike Brough.
00:11:50Now the accident that has brought out this full course yellow,
00:11:53after a hard braking maneuver, watch the second car.
00:11:55That's Allenser Jr. there.
00:11:58Watch those left side wheels.
00:12:00Bang! Hits the wall on the left side,
00:12:02and Allenser Jr. is out of the race.
00:12:05So Allenser Jr.'s car now taken off the course,
00:12:09but we still run under a full course yellow.
00:12:11They had anticipated coming back to green on this particular lap,
00:12:16but apparently the field was strung out just a bit,
00:12:19and as a result of that, Nick Fennaro, the chief starter here,
00:12:22said no, I'll continue to run you under yellow.
00:12:24You must regroup, and then put the cars back in the proper order.
00:12:28Let's get an update on the Gallus-Preco situation,
00:12:31and Allenser Jr. from Jan Vikas.
00:12:33Rick, you were able to see a little bit on the replay.
00:12:35Did you speak with Al on the radio?
00:12:37He just said that something on the front end broke,
00:12:39and he was quite upset, obviously, but what happened,
00:12:43you probably know better than what happened than I did,
00:12:45because I couldn't really see, other than he and Michael
00:12:47were having a go at each other, which was fun for a while.
00:12:50It's really frustrating being here in the pits,
00:12:52when the crew can't get to it, can't make repairs,
00:12:54and that's unfortunately about these street circuits.
00:12:57Earlier, did he talk about, did he think he could catch Michael and get by?
00:13:01Well, Michael was hooked up, so was Al.
00:13:03They were running about the same speed.
00:13:04It looked like Al had him down the straightaway,
00:13:06and Michael was working a little bit better through the corners,
00:13:08but there's going to be some fuel problems today,
00:13:11and we were making our fuel mileage, so I think it was going to be a good day,
00:13:14but you can talk about good days,
00:13:16and it doesn't matter if you're not there at the finish.
00:13:18It was unfortunate, but obviously life has to go on,
00:13:21so we'll do the best we can when we go to Michigan.
00:13:23Thanks, Rick.
00:13:24Paul?
00:13:25Well, that could be devastating to his championship aspirations.
00:13:28He trails now by over 40 points after the completion of today's race.
00:13:32Interesting comment from Al Unser, Jr.
00:13:34He thinks something broke on the front.
00:13:36I wonder, did something break on the right front side of the car,
00:13:40which put him into that precarious position in the first place,
00:13:43which then caused that impact on the left side?
00:13:47That may be a possibility.
00:13:49After they came around the corner, you could see the right front was leaning in as well.
00:13:53Now the green flag comes out once again.
00:13:55Michael Andretti leads Fittipaldi, followed by Mario Andretti,
00:13:59and we're back on lap number 11 of the action.
00:14:01Look at Ari Leyendijk as he comes down, tries Rahal,
00:14:04and gets past Bobby Rahal, a very tight corner, though.
00:14:07You really have to know what you're doing for that maneuver.
00:14:09Now Pruitt comes up behind Rahal as well,
00:14:12so the battle is running Leyendijk, Rahal, then Pruitt,
00:14:15then Rick Mears comes through.
00:14:17It is still Michael Andretti at the front,
00:14:18but Mario Andretti now moves up to challenge Fittipaldi.
00:14:21Oh, a great move by Leyendijk,
00:14:22but look at Rahal trying to protect the position he has now,
00:14:25because Scott Pruitt tried to go down the inside,
00:14:28made Rahal move over to the right side of the road,
00:14:30trying to protect the position, not lose two positions,
00:14:33having lost one to Leyendijk.
00:14:35Quaker State onboard camera with Bobby Rahal.
00:14:37I wonder if he was surprised by that move by Leyendijk.
00:14:40Well, Leyendijk, before the yellow came out, really was hounding Rahal,
00:14:44and now look how far away he has pulled in, what, three or four corners?
00:14:47So Leyendijk now chasing Mario heavily.
00:14:50So Ari Leyendijk begins to truly close in on the back of Mario Andretti,
00:14:54the third-place car.
00:14:55Michael Andretti is still the leader,
00:14:57and Mario is now closing a bit down on Fittipaldi.
00:15:01Scott Pruitt down behind Rahal,
00:15:03and Rick Mears just behind Pruitt.
00:15:05Mears with a little smudge on the front nose of his car.
00:15:08I wonder if he got in contact with somebody's rear wheels.
00:15:10Well, it's so easy to happen here,
00:15:12because you do not have any runoff room at all.
00:15:15Just look at the concrete walls everywhere you turn.
00:15:18You have to be so careful, but to be fast and win,
00:15:21you have to be absolutely on the limit.
00:15:23We talked about Turn 11 here,
00:15:25the final turn just before the start-finish line.
00:15:27What they have done is there used to be a wall
00:15:29right out to the edge of the inside of the race course.
00:15:32So if you're going to apex, you'd apex right on that wall.
00:15:35But they've taken the wall down now, Derek.
00:15:37What have they replaced it with, and how does it help?
00:15:39And it was actually at the request of Mario Andretti
00:15:42to try and see could they take that wall down there.
00:15:44It wasn't a big problem.
00:15:46There was one street light there they had to replace.
00:15:48But now they've put a curbing in,
00:15:50which followed the old contour of the wall.
00:15:52But it really has opened everything up.
00:15:54You can now see around the corner, the pits,
00:15:56the pit people, the mechanics can see around the corner.
00:15:58This is Turn 11 here,
00:16:00the most spectacular corner in road racing.
00:16:02All right, with an update on another situation.
00:16:04Here's Gary Gerald.
00:16:06Paul, we were worried about rain.
00:16:08We're getting our first drops of precipitation all of a sudden.
00:16:11The rain tires are in the pits.
00:16:13In fact, one stack has already gone
00:16:15to Michael and Mario's pit wall.
00:16:17The crews are scrambling now.
00:16:19It's early, of course.
00:16:21The course is not yet wet.
00:16:23We don't know how much it's going to rain.
00:16:25But rain was a factor all last year in the race.
00:16:27And that makes a big difference in the outcome of this one.
00:16:29Mario Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi
00:16:31in a challenge once again.
00:16:33But Fittipaldi, for the moment, holds off.
00:16:35Ari Leyendijk is just behind Mario as well.
00:16:37Mario was right up alongside
00:16:39of the second-place Fittipaldi.
00:16:41Fittipaldi is pushing hard.
00:16:43I think, in fact, in part, he's being pushed
00:16:45by Ari Leyendijk just behind him.
00:16:47He really is.
00:16:49He looks as if he's slightly quicker than Emerson.
00:16:51But, of course, see, he closes up under braking.
00:16:53Of course, when you make a move to pass,
00:16:55if it doesn't come off, he can slow you down.
00:16:57And that's what we saw.
00:16:59Leyendijk suddenly jumps all over Mario.
00:17:01Fittipaldi, for the moment, is able to stretch a bit away
00:17:03from Mario Andretti.
00:17:05But this is an area in which Mario
00:17:07could definitely make a move.
00:17:09Fittipaldi just ahead at the Princess Gate
00:17:11to Exhibition Park. Nope, not here.
00:17:13Now they have a rather high-speed run
00:17:15up toward 175 miles an hour
00:17:17on Lakeshore.
00:17:19And it is down at the end of this
00:17:21where the hardest braking maneuvers can take place.
00:17:23But, for the moment, everybody seems to be stretched out.
00:17:25Let's see if Mario tries the inside.
00:17:27No, he's going to line up just behind Fittipaldi
00:17:29and follow him through.
00:17:31That, of course, is the series of turns right there
00:17:33that led to the disaster for Al Unser Jr.
00:17:35that put him out of the race
00:17:37in the fifth lap of competition here today.
00:17:39The defending champion of this race, Al Unser Jr.,
00:17:41out so very early.
00:17:43A great scrap here.
00:17:45We have a great picture of Ari Leyendijk
00:17:47understeers, car pushes, front end
00:17:49pushing through that long third gear
00:17:51right-hander. That's turn six.
00:17:53But he's now lost contact a little bit
00:17:55with Mario. Second, third, and
00:17:57fourth.
00:17:59That's Fittipaldi followed by Mario
00:18:01followed by Leyendijk.
00:18:03Rahal is just behind them, and you're back on board
00:18:05with the leader, Michael Andretti.
00:18:07Here, just ahead
00:18:09of him is John
00:18:11Andretti in the number four car,
00:18:13and just ahead of John is Eddie Cheever.
00:18:15Now, Cheever currently occupies
00:18:17eighth place, but both Scott
00:18:19and John Andretti are climbing
00:18:21on the back end of Cheever's car
00:18:23and really have kicked up a fight here.
00:18:25At the front of the field, it remains
00:18:27Michael Andretti two and a half seconds out
00:18:29over Emerson Fittipaldi, but
00:18:31Fittipaldi, at the same time, is trying to hold on.
00:18:33You can see just behind
00:18:35Scott Goodyear, that's Danny Sullivan
00:18:37in the alpha-powered car as he closes
00:18:39in on this fight.
00:18:41And there is a team, by the way, when we talk about
00:18:43you'll see him coming up. There he is.
00:18:45Danny Sullivan.
00:18:47That's a team that has some decision-making
00:18:49to do because Pat Patrick is now
00:18:51caught with, well, what do I do? Do I stay with this power plant
00:18:53for next year? Can I
00:18:55win races? Can I satisfy sponsorships?
00:18:57Or do I go over to a Chevrolet power plant?
00:18:59That's a very tough decision. Look at this.
00:19:01Look at this. Emerson has a
00:19:03problem, and around goes Mario
00:19:05Andretti, right in front of all the
00:19:07pits, and it came on very quickly.
00:19:09Fittipaldi just pulled to the inside.
00:19:11Mario moved past and
00:19:13picked up the position, and I wonder what's
00:19:15wrong with Fittipaldi.
00:19:17Something serious broken in
00:19:19Emerson's car. He was fast, but
00:19:21just not, just not having
00:19:23reliability. Still under power, so obviously
00:19:25on his way to the pit lane, but now
00:19:27now it looks as if he's actually up to speed again.
00:19:29It certainly does. The two Fenske cars
00:19:31are right together. No, he pulls out of the line and gives
00:19:33the line to his teammate Rick Mears,
00:19:35but he's still moving at a pretty good clip.
00:19:39Nothing obvious on the car as it comes
00:19:41through the corners. It looked like it almost
00:19:43popped out of gear or something. Maybe a gear
00:19:45because, look, he's under power here.
00:19:47Suddenly he loses the drive. Mario
00:19:49ducks out, runs away from him, but then
00:19:51look, he still doesn't get it back
00:19:53under full power and loses two or three more positions.
00:19:55And it doesn't look like
00:19:57he's running at full chat as he moves around this
00:19:59course now. That's his teammate, of course, Rick
00:20:01Mears. Rick, who runs in
00:20:03seventh place. And there
00:20:05is Fittipaldi just behind Rick.
00:20:07And that interval, now that's
00:20:09that's not Fittipaldi running as hot as he can.
00:20:11There it is, in the pit lane.
00:20:13Emerson. So Fittipaldi
00:20:15with something very quick onset
00:20:17of a problem on the pit straight.
00:20:19A terrible place to have it happen because he meant
00:20:21that it had to complete a full lap with
00:20:23that problem. Now Gary Gerald is down there.
00:20:25And, Paul, we see the nose of Emerson
00:20:27Fittipaldi's car, and you can see he's shaking his head.
00:20:29He's now shut the engine down. He came
00:20:31in under full power. The visor comes up.
00:20:33Rick Reinemann and the crew there.
00:20:35And everybody, frankly, is wondering
00:20:37what are we going to do? But the look in Emerson's eyes
00:20:39from our viewpoint says this is not encouraging.
00:20:41Fires the engine, continues to shake
00:20:43the head. It's killed again. And Rick
00:20:45Mears has a problem. Rick Mears runs
00:20:47off the course. And, boy,
00:20:49that is a lot of fluid at the back. It
00:20:51looks like he's had some sort of
00:20:53failure in the turbocharger.
00:20:55Certainly in the engine compartment.
00:20:57A lot of smoke coming out each side of
00:20:59the car. I tell you, that looks
00:21:01like a $25,000, $35,000
00:21:03puke to me.
00:21:05Boy, how quickly can disaster strike the
00:21:07Penske team? Here was Rick Mears
00:21:09just seconds ago. We were watching
00:21:11his teammate, Emerson Fittipaldi, in the pits.
00:21:13Now watch
00:21:15at the back of the car. See if we can tell.
00:21:17It just starts to display a little. And Mears
00:21:19drives it off the
00:21:21course on his own. So whatever it was,
00:21:23he saw it. Now,
00:21:25let's speculate a little bit.
00:21:27We have two problems. Both of them
00:21:29appear to be engine-related, almost
00:21:31simultaneous. On the same lap.
00:21:33I don't
00:21:35think it's the same, because Emerson
00:21:37pulled in. When he turns the engine off,
00:21:39it's usually a sign that there's something electrical
00:21:41misfiring. You've got to shut it down
00:21:43before they can get to work on it. Rick's
00:21:45looked like something mechanical actually broke
00:21:47inside that engine. And when
00:21:49something breaks inside those engines, believe me,
00:21:51it's like a hand grenade goes off inside it.
00:21:53That's why you see all the coolant
00:21:55come out onto the racetrack. Roger
00:21:57Penske, how long has it been?
00:21:59Gary Gerald, you have an update? Radio
00:22:01communication from Mears, he told the
00:22:03crew it was motor. He didn't say any more
00:22:05than that, but that's what they believe, is all
00:22:07the helmets come off the fuelers, and the crew now
00:22:09starts coming away from the wall.
00:22:11Obviously, his day is complete.
00:22:13Rick's radio comment was engine
00:22:15or motor. Gary, any speculation
00:22:17on the Fittipaldi problem? No,
00:22:19Paul, I really don't. We ran from Emerson's
00:22:21pit as best we could to get next door to
00:22:23check on Mears. Emerson is still in
00:22:25the car. We can see from our vantage point
00:22:27that he's still in the car, and the crew is
00:22:29back over the wall. They're not working on the car,
00:22:31so we have nothing we can add at this moment.
00:22:33Well, back at the front of the field,
00:22:35it's now named Andretti. Michael leads
00:22:37it. Three and a half seconds back
00:22:39is his father, Mario Andretti, and then
00:22:41Ari Leyendijk. So, here
00:22:43very early on in the race, with only
00:22:4521 laps complete, the complexion
00:22:47of this race changes drastically,
00:22:49with what appears to be, for the moment,
00:22:51the elimination of the Penske team. Most
00:22:53certainly, Rick Mears and Fittipaldi's
00:22:55position is in question. The car
00:22:57is silent in the pits, and
00:22:59if they are going to try to get it out, it
00:23:01appears like it's going to be a very lengthy effort.
00:23:03We saw a tremendous
00:23:05battle at Meadowlands last week, between
00:23:07Mario and his dad, Michael, when they
00:23:09had a really good scrap
00:23:11for about third, fourth, and fifth position.
00:23:13Mario is actually closing
00:23:15ever so slightly. There he is at the top of our
00:23:17screen. He's actually closing a little bit on
00:23:19Michael. Actually, he's closed the full second
00:23:21in the last lap and a half. He's now down
00:23:23to two and a half seconds
00:23:25behind Michael Andretti. The last
00:23:27time both Penske cars
00:23:29fell out of a race,
00:23:31the entire team eliminated before the end
00:23:33was in last year's
00:23:35Michigan 500, and they are facing
00:23:37that again here today.
00:23:39Well, Michael has been spectacular. Every
00:23:41time he was on the racetrack here, every
00:23:43day, Friday and Saturday, he moves over
00:23:45to make a pass on John Jones
00:23:47in the Buick Arciero car, but Michael has been
00:23:49so spectacular. But, his
00:23:51dad is a really
00:23:53hell of a scrap if he gets anywhere near him.
00:23:55And already eliminated, too, is the number
00:23:5739 car of Buddy Lazear. They
00:23:59just pushed that car behind the pit wall.
00:24:01So Mario Andretti
00:24:03is now chasing his son,
00:24:05with Ari Leyendijk sitting in a most
00:24:07excellent position.
00:24:11♪♪
00:24:13♪♪
00:24:15♪♪
00:24:17This track fact is brought to you
00:24:19by Quaker State. The Big Q
00:24:21is one tough motor oil.
00:24:23Here's Jan Vekas. During the
00:24:25in-car camera footage, you may have noticed
00:24:27these number boards around the track.
00:24:29These number signs are placed in the braking
00:24:31zones of racetracks to give a
00:24:33driver a frame of reference. In other words,
00:24:35how many hundred of feet it is until
00:24:37the upcoming turn. A driver's
00:24:39objective is to get down the straightaway
00:24:41as quickly as possible, wait until the last
00:24:43possible second to climb onto the brakes,
00:24:45just in time to be able to make the upcoming
00:24:47turn. Now, believe it or not, a few
00:24:49feet one direction or the other
00:24:51can make that difference between making
00:24:53that turn or overshooting.
00:24:55Now, here at the end of Lakeshore, it not only
00:24:57is the fastest part of Toronto,
00:24:59it also is a very good place
00:25:01to pass. But when you pass, you must
00:25:03move over here to the middle of the circuit,
00:25:05and you'll tend to lose that point of reference.
00:25:07The only thing you have to cue off is
00:25:09the other car, and you tend to kind of just use
00:25:11the seat of your pants. An overtaking
00:25:13maneuver here tends to be just a battle
00:25:15of the wheels between the drivers as to who
00:25:17can brake the latest and still make that
00:25:19turn. Now, a
00:25:21driver who drives this daily has
00:25:23something in common with an IndyCar driver.
00:25:25When you come down here in your road car at 50 or 60
00:25:27miles an hour, you would brake about here
00:25:29to slow down for that turn. But an
00:25:31IndyCar driver does it at 175
00:25:33miles an hour.
00:25:35On board, Michael
00:25:37Andretti is on board camera.
00:25:39He is the leader of the race, and here's
00:25:41a good chance to look at some of those braking maneuvers.
00:25:43Reference points are so important
00:25:45on street races, and reference points
00:25:47can be anything. It can be those street
00:25:49signs on the right side. It could be
00:25:51trees. It could be a building away
00:25:53in the distance. It could be that Goodyear sign that we
00:25:55just passed. But you'll see the boards on the
00:25:57left side here.
00:25:59He goes by them so fast, it's hard to pick out
00:26:01the reference point. But that's the area that
00:26:03undid that braking point. And you see how
00:26:05critical it can be, because we saw Al Jr.
00:26:07earlier try to outbrake Michael,
00:26:09but he didn't quite make it.
00:26:11It's interesting to me that some
00:26:13drivers say, yes, I always look
00:26:15for a mark on the track, for the sign,
00:26:17for a little crack in the wall, and I make
00:26:19that my braking point. And other
00:26:21drivers will just say they just feel it. They
00:26:23know where it ought to be.
00:26:25Yeah, well, they feel it sometimes.
00:26:27You know, the
00:26:29actual marks can be on the racetrack,
00:26:31and if you lose concentration
00:26:33and get a bit out of sync for a while,
00:26:35the easiest thing to do is to begin to talk yourself
00:26:37into your reference points again.
00:26:39There's my braking point, there's my turning
00:26:41point, and very soon, within a couple of
00:26:43corners, you're back in the rhythm again,
00:26:45back in the swing of things.
00:26:47Denny Sullivan trying to catch up and pass
00:26:49Eddie Cheever in a battle for 7th place.
00:26:53And it looks like Hiroma Shusta has a
00:26:55problem with his car. Another
00:26:57problem with the car, of course, is Emerson
00:26:59and Fittipaldi. Let's get an update from
00:27:01Gary Gerald. Well, as it turned out, he
00:27:03lost fuel pressure when he came in. They
00:27:05re-fired the engine once, but it wouldn't sustain
00:27:07anything. The crew raced to the backup
00:27:09car, took a pressure relief valve
00:27:11from the backup car. They're in the process
00:27:13of trying to install it now on the
00:27:15primary car. Emerson has stayed
00:27:17in the cockpit the entire time. Of course,
00:27:19it's been a long, long time, but
00:27:21it appears that he's hopeful of still somehow
00:27:23getting back into this competition
00:27:25in the hopes that maybe he can salvage a couple
00:27:27from the afternoon. Now, Fittipaldi
00:27:29approaching his 10th minute
00:27:31in the pits, but that would explain the sudden
00:27:33jump off line if the pop-off valve
00:27:35was going on him. He just would suddenly lose
00:27:37pressure quickly.
00:27:39Good, and I haven't seen a problem
00:27:41that serious happen during a race
00:27:43with a pop-off valve. Usually, you can adjust
00:27:45it because the driver has a
00:27:47pop-off adjuster in the car.
00:27:49If it begins to blow off, he can turn it down
00:27:51just a little bit, but obviously, whatever happened
00:27:53here is a lot more serious than
00:27:55Emerson can fix from inside the car.
00:27:57And Ari Leyendijk at the edge of the course
00:27:59and stopped. Now, that is
00:28:01right at the pit entrance. It looked like
00:28:03he was heading in for the pits when he
00:28:05brought the car to a stop there, but
00:28:07no indication as to why
00:28:09he would be coming there because this would be
00:28:11plenty early for any routine
00:28:13pit stop, so Leyendijk must have recognized
00:28:15some sort of a problem, and that's
00:28:17taken him out of a great fight.
00:28:19He was up in the front of the order, running as high as
00:28:21third. Now, he sits silent right
00:28:23on the entrance to the pits, and the Granatelli
00:28:25team is going to have to go down and deal
00:28:27with Ari Leyendijk's problem as well.
00:28:29Now, let's get an update. A further situation
00:28:31here is Jan Vekas. Well, Paul,
00:28:33we're not very far away from scheduled pit stops.
00:28:35Down here in the True Sports pit, they're
00:28:37very concerned about fuel economy. They've been shifting
00:28:39at 11,300 RPM,
00:28:41which is 700 RPM less than
00:28:43usual to try and save fuel, yet you'll see
00:28:45Scott Pruitt here in one or two laps
00:28:47all ready to get a fuel stop. Paul?
00:28:49Well, if it's critical there, I would assume,
00:28:51Derek Daly, it's got to be critical all up and down
00:28:53even though the Scott Pruitt organization,
00:28:55True Sports, that's a jot engine
00:28:57which still everybody has to be thinking about.
00:28:59And so often we see this fuel
00:29:01problem. You must be able to do
00:29:031.8 miles to the gallon.
00:29:05We've said this before, it takes
00:29:07fuel to make power.
00:29:09You can have more power, but you use more
00:29:11fuel. Hiro Matsushita,
00:29:13Matshusta, we see him go by minus
00:29:15that left front wing. Obviously, he knocked that off,
00:29:17so that car must be understeering.
00:29:19At the front of the field, it remains
00:29:21the Newman-Haas organization. Michael
00:29:23Andretti and then Mario, they run first
00:29:25and second as we pass over the 30th lap.
00:29:27You see Bobby Rahal,
00:29:29his flow gauge is saying, as soon as you
00:29:31get to 37.4 gallons
00:29:33of fuel passing through that engine,
00:29:35head in for the pits. Should probably happen
00:29:37here with about 10 laps. Here is Danny
00:29:39Sullivan trying Eddie Cheever, and
00:29:41Sullivan gets past Cheever. So now, Sullivan
00:29:43is up to 6th place.
00:29:45Danny Sullivan giving that car
00:29:47a pretty good ride. Alpha power.
00:29:49They constantly work with that engine.
00:29:51Every race, it gets just a little
00:29:53bit stronger. Working pretty good for
00:29:55Danny Sullivan right now as he gets past Cheever.
00:29:57Now, he will set his sights
00:29:59on John Andretti, who lies just ahead.
00:30:01Good run for
00:30:03Danny Sullivan. Nice pass on Cheever.
00:30:05Cheever having a little bit of trouble here.
00:30:07Did qualify 10th. Made a good move
00:30:09on Mike Groff earlier, but now he's slowly
00:30:11moving back, because John Andretti
00:30:13did the same thing to Cheever about
00:30:155 or 6 laps previously.
00:30:17You saw Danny Sullivan flash past
00:30:19Ari Leyondyke's disabled car at the
00:30:21head of the pits. And we
00:30:23should be coming to pit stops very
00:30:25shortly.
00:30:29Toronto, as Scott Pruitt
00:30:31makes a stop, and Jan Bekus is there.
00:30:33Scott Pruitt hits it right on the marks. He was
00:30:35running in 5th place, which equals his best
00:30:37finish of the season. However, he is
00:30:39here early because of not good
00:30:41fuel economy. They're very, very concerned,
00:30:43and they're just hoping they're going to get some yellow flags
00:30:45here as he gets it underway.
00:30:47That was a spray of water
00:30:49as he came out of the pits. Let's go to Gary
00:30:51Gerald. Paul, this has been an unusual
00:30:53start to this race. Before the first schedule
00:30:55stops, Ari Leyondyke's crew
00:30:57reporting he only said the engine
00:30:59just died. It was a similar story that we
00:31:01heard from Rick Mearspit just a few minutes
00:31:03ago. They're hoping that they can get
00:31:05Leyondyke, and now as we look up on pit road,
00:31:07he has been towed in, and we'll see the nose
00:31:09of the car rolling in. The crew
00:31:11will now try to assess the problem, see if
00:31:13they can correct it and get Ari back on
00:31:15course. And, of course, the critical question,
00:31:17Derek Daly, is if it's just as
00:31:19simple as Ari Leyondyke out of fuel.
00:31:21If he is, he went out of
00:31:23fuel at lap 30, which is way,
00:31:25way too early. We mentioned
00:31:27a water splash that you saw on Pruitt's
00:31:29car as it came off. That's right.
00:31:31What's that used for, Paul, is when the fueler
00:31:33pulls the hose out of the
00:31:35race car, some drops of
00:31:37methanol will spill as
00:31:39somebody over the pit wall sprays water
00:31:41on the methanol, dilutes it, which
00:31:43gives it very little opportunity to catch
00:31:45fire as the car leaves the pit lane. Well, the fact
00:31:47that they've taken the calling off of Ari
00:31:49Leyondyke's car would give you to believe it's not as
00:31:51simple as just being out of fuel. It's much more
00:31:53serious than that.
00:31:57Maschuster still struggling around
00:31:59with his left front wing.
00:32:01The reason Maschuster probably will not stop is
00:32:03he's going to wait for his regular pit stop, because
00:32:05if he stops now, he'll get fuel
00:32:07and a wing, but the chances are he may
00:32:09have to make two more pit stops. If he
00:32:11can struggle on for maybe three or four laps,
00:32:13he'll get by with just two pit stops
00:32:15and replace the front wing at the same time. Maschuster
00:32:17running in 17th place, back
00:32:19on board with the leader, Michael Andretti.
00:32:21His father has fallen now
00:32:23five and a half seconds behind
00:32:25Michael, so Michael has
00:32:27definitely the power to be reckoned with here in
00:32:29Toronto.
00:32:31But the question is going to
00:32:33be one of fuel. It even sounds like
00:32:35Michael is taking it very careful
00:32:37with that car. Let's just ride with him a bit
00:32:39here and watch.
00:33:06Here's that great turn that we mentioned
00:33:08as Michael Andretti comes on the pit straight
00:33:10and actually gets over just a little bit
00:33:12on that curve. Now slams it down through
00:33:14the gears as he comes past the Princess
00:33:16Gate, the first turn here.
00:33:18You mentioned that great turn. It is turn 11.
00:33:20I would really like to see other
00:33:22street racing facilities take a
00:33:24good look at turn 11 and what Toronto
00:33:26have done here, because I think
00:33:28that will open up a whole new area
00:33:30of development for street racing,
00:33:32because you can still keep the same contour,
00:33:34make it a lot safer,
00:33:36and make the drivers be able to see the corners
00:33:38more and the spectators can see
00:33:40a lot more of the cars. I think they did a great
00:33:42job. It should be looked at at other
00:33:44street circuits. While we're watching Michael
00:33:46back in second place is his father
00:33:48Mario Andretti.
00:33:50And in third place is Bobby Rahal.
00:33:52John Andretti runs in
00:33:54fourth place right now. Danny Sullivan
00:33:56with alpha power up into
00:33:58fifth place.
00:34:00They have now given up in the pits
00:34:02it seems on Emerson Fittipaldi's
00:34:04car. Let's go down to Gary Carroll.
00:34:08Emerson,
00:34:10great disappointment. I understand it
00:34:12had something to do with fuel pressure.
00:34:14Yeah, we had a start
00:34:16to misfire on the left-hand corner.
00:34:18I started dropping
00:34:20the fuel and we tried to
00:34:22catch back the fuel pressure.
00:34:24There was something wrong on the fuel tank.
00:34:26You tried to make a change with a
00:34:28relief valve off the spare car, but that
00:34:30didn't work? It didn't work and we tried to
00:34:32fill up the tank to see if we'd
00:34:34catch the fuel, but it still didn't work.
00:34:36And I mean it would be a half an hour job.
00:34:38So no chance to salvage any points.
00:34:40This is a real disappointing day then.
00:34:42That's very disappointing. I mean the car was running really
00:34:44nice and the last two or three laps
00:34:46was restarting, catching Mike again.
00:34:48I was running strong.
00:34:50Should be a good race between myself and Michael.
00:34:52Thank you Emerson. Very unusual
00:34:54day. Both Mears and Emerson Fittipaldi
00:34:56out early. And an unusual problem
00:34:58for Fittipaldi. You're looking out the back of Scott
00:35:00Goodyear's car. He runs in 7th place
00:35:02and that's Scott Pruitt, who of course
00:35:04has been in and out of the pits
00:35:06for his first stop as he tries to chase
00:35:08down Scott Goodyear.
00:35:10This is the true sports made in
00:35:12America car. We're looking back out here
00:35:14with Scott Pruitt. That really is very
00:35:16very good that car on street circus
00:35:18and a lot of people do say
00:35:20that they would like to see this car run with
00:35:22a Chevrolet because they do feel the Chevrolet
00:35:24probably has an advantage over the
00:35:26Judd engine that both of these cars use.
00:35:28Pruitt looks to the inside. Again
00:35:30the view is rearward from the
00:35:32Quaker State onboard camera that sits
00:35:34on Scott Pruitt's car. Actually tucked
00:35:36underneath the wing right at the end of the gearbox.
00:35:38And Pruitt is in
00:35:40fact a whole lot closer than he looks as
00:35:42you saw from the long shot. So Scott
00:35:44Pruitt chasing down
00:35:46Scott Goodyear
00:35:48while Michael and Mario Andretti
00:35:50lead this race.
00:35:53We're back in Toronto.
00:35:55Many of the cars making their stops now.
00:35:57Scott Goodyear makes a stop. Comes out
00:35:59just in front of Bobby Rahal. Also
00:36:01the Andrettis make their stops. Here is
00:36:03Gary Gerald. And Mario Andretti
00:36:05in the process of completing his stop
00:36:07comes off the jacks. He gets out.
00:36:09They're waiting Michael on the next
00:36:11time by. So they've got Mario
00:36:13out. Michael in a moment. Let's go to Jan Bekus.
00:36:15Rahal was also in and out in the time
00:36:17it took you to do that Gary. They're very concerned
00:36:19about fuel and Barry Green the team manager told
00:36:21me we can't even race yet. We've got to save that much
00:36:23fuel. Paul? So once again
00:36:25a fuel battle as we take a look at
00:36:27John Andretti in that number four Pennzoil
00:36:29car. John is
00:36:31dropped back into eighth
00:36:33place. At the front of the field
00:36:35it remains Michael and Michael is
00:36:37due just any time. Ari
00:36:39Leyendijk, they got the car started
00:36:41send it out again. He completed
00:36:43one lap and came right back
00:36:45into the pits. So whatever Leyendijk's
00:36:47problem is, it is more complicated
00:36:49than I think they originally anticipated.
00:36:51And now Ari Leyendijk
00:36:53goes back into the back. Gary Gerald
00:36:55is in Michael's pit. And we're watching him
00:36:57as he watches the eyes of his crewman
00:36:59holding him now off the jacks. Here he
00:37:01goes. Cheever goes by out of
00:37:03the pits just ahead. But both Andretti's
00:37:05now back on course. Paul?
00:37:0715 seconds in and out for Michael Andretti
00:37:09and a problem for Roberto
00:37:11Guerrero. He's already out of the
00:37:13cockpit of that car. It looks like they had
00:37:15a fire in the cockpit.
00:37:17And what a disastrous weekend
00:37:19Roberto Guerrero has had. He
00:37:21came here as a fill-in for Mike
00:37:23Croft. Had an accident
00:37:25on the first day of practice on Friday.
00:37:27Then had a major crash on Saturday.
00:37:29Wrecked the tub of the car.
00:37:31And this in fact is the 1990 car that
00:37:33they rolled out. Built up last night for
00:37:35Guerrero to use. So a bad weekend
00:37:37all around for Bobby G.
00:37:39Michael Andretti comes up to speed.
00:37:41Roberto Guerrero
00:37:43just with that last minute call from Antonio
00:37:45Ferrari, come drive our car.
00:37:47And it was less than two hours later and he was
00:37:49on the plane trying to make it. No
00:37:51indication yet out of Ferrari
00:37:53as to where he will go now.
00:37:55Though the best piece of information
00:37:57that I've heard is maybe Jan Bekus
00:37:59which is a pit reporter.
00:38:01Well that really was one of the hot rumors here
00:38:03that our own Jan Bekus would in fact drive
00:38:05that car, the Michigan 500,
00:38:07and for the rest of the year. Now the interesting thing is
00:38:09if that actually happens,
00:38:11remember Paul Tracy will make his debut
00:38:13for Penske there. If that happens
00:38:15all the past A.R.S. champions
00:38:17of course it's now the Indy Lights series
00:38:19but all the past champions would actually
00:38:21start the Michigan 500.
00:38:23Paul Tracy, Mike Groff, Jan
00:38:25Bekus, Didier Theys, and of course the other
00:38:27champion is the 86 champion, Rob
00:38:29Batsa, contesting Formula One with
00:38:31the AGS team in Europe.
00:38:33I think that's a good, makes a good statement
00:38:35for the official training ground for IndyCarRacing
00:38:37the Firestone Indy Lights champions. They're obviously
00:38:39producing IndyCar drivers. Well there's
00:38:41the leader of the race, Michael Andretti.
00:38:43He has now a ten and a half second
00:38:45lead over the second place car
00:38:47of his father Mario Andretti.
00:38:49Bobby Rahal, after the stops
00:38:51is third. Scott Pruitt is fourth.
00:38:53Ari Leyendijk continues
00:38:55to struggle as he is now making his third
00:38:57stop in the pits. But Michael Andretti
00:38:59as he closes up to come inside
00:39:01Scott Goodyear. Scott Goodyear is
00:39:03running in seventh place and trying to keep Michael
00:39:05off the lap. But Michael just comes
00:39:07past as fast as he can.
00:39:09Michael continues to set the pace
00:39:11here in Toronto. But the
00:39:13speed of that pace is going to determine
00:39:15how much he uses fuel
00:39:17and how much he uses fuel is
00:39:19of course going to determine
00:39:21whether or not he will make it to the end of the run
00:39:23because fuel is very definitely a situation
00:39:25here. We asked Michael before
00:39:27the start of this race, how disappointing
00:39:29was it blowing your engine
00:39:31and finishing out of the points in
00:39:33your race a week ago at the Meadowlands?
00:39:35Well, it was a big,
00:39:37big disappointment because we were
00:39:39finally, you know, after all the problems
00:39:41we had in the beginning of the season, we were clawing
00:39:43our way back and we were finally back in the
00:39:45hunt and then we had
00:39:47that happen and then we fall back again.
00:39:49So we're back to clawing
00:39:51again. But, you know, it's not over.
00:39:53We're only halfway through and
00:39:55there's still a lot that can happen.
00:39:59Michael Andretti at the front of the field.
00:40:01Ten and a half seconds over Mario.
00:40:03Bobby Rahal still staying in there
00:40:05running in third place and of course trying
00:40:07to enhance his point position.
00:40:09His win last week adding 21 points
00:40:11to his score, now 30 points
00:40:13ahead of second place Michael.
00:40:18This is a very big week in Toronto.
00:40:20As a matter of fact, they estimate that the
00:40:22race when it comes to Toronto brings
00:40:24$17 million
00:40:26into the local economy.
00:40:2812,000 hotel rooms
00:40:30to keep track of all the teams
00:40:32and their fans.
00:40:34And this one very, very big event
00:40:36at Exhibition Place.
00:40:38The grandstands here are absolutely jammed.
00:40:40Another great day here
00:40:42in Toronto. The Canadians are great race fans.
00:40:44Traffic is such a factor
00:40:46at these street races quite often.
00:40:48We see Michael now working down through the traffic.
00:40:50He just passed Randy Lewis
00:40:52who's making a return to racing.
00:40:54He's missed the last few races. That's Scott Brayton
00:40:56in the Hurst-Selanese car
00:40:58behind him. Then Jeff Andretti.
00:41:00And John Andretti.
00:41:02And that's Bobby Rahal, the number 18
00:41:04Cranker car as he tries to work his way up
00:41:06through traffic. He runs
00:41:08currently in third place and is trying to
00:41:10catch up to Mario Andretti just ahead
00:41:12so he can engage in the fight
00:41:14once again. Michael still dominates.
00:41:18Now there's third place. That's Bobby Rahal
00:41:20but he is well back from
00:41:22Mario Andretti as he heads into the first turn
00:41:24trying to play catch up to the front of the field
00:41:26which is all named Andretti.
00:41:28Mario and Michael have finished first and second
00:41:30on three previous occasions
00:41:32including twice last year.
00:41:34Each time, Michael has bested
00:41:36his father. So Bobby Rahal
00:41:38trying to catch up continues to be the
00:41:40points leader.
00:41:42Over the last few races, I've got into a bit
00:41:44of a discussion about left foot braking
00:41:46and some drivers use the right, some drivers
00:41:48use the left. Bobby Rahal here
00:41:50is one of the drivers who uses his left foot
00:41:52on the brake pedal, therefore he doesn't
00:41:54use the clutch. Now one of the reasons
00:41:56you can get away without using a clutch
00:41:58in an Indy car is because the gears
00:42:00they use in the transmission are what they
00:42:02call straight cut gears.
00:42:04Now to explain a little bit and show you
00:42:06what a straight cut gear is, let's go
00:42:08down to Jan Bekus.
00:42:10Let's take a look at those, Derek. These are the actual
00:42:12gears from an Indy car. Let's take a look.
00:42:14This is the actual gear. This is what they call
00:42:16a dog ring. In other words, when you select
00:42:18a gear in an Indy car, you select these
00:42:20like so. That's in. That's
00:42:22out of gear. In your road car
00:42:24there's a brass conical ring that goes
00:42:26in between these two, and what that is
00:42:28is that's a synchro ring. In other words,
00:42:30it speeds the two gears up to the same speed
00:42:32allowing you to select any gear at any time.
00:42:34But in an Indy car, you must have
00:42:36the speed of these togs matched
00:42:38to get it in, but it allows you to shift without
00:42:40a clutch, which leaves one foot open
00:42:42for left or right foot braking.
00:42:44Derek? Yeah, and as a
00:42:46former race driver instructor,
00:42:48there's always a choice,
00:42:50left or right. How do you teach
00:42:52new students, new potential race drivers
00:42:54which foot to use?
00:42:58And what we try and do,
00:43:00Derek, is we try and teach
00:43:02them to use the learned foot. In other words,
00:43:04when you learn how to drive, it's a motor
00:43:06response. In other words, when you push the brakes,
00:43:08you do that when you see something coming towards
00:43:10you. It's just like you would train
00:43:12anything to do. In other words, if you
00:43:14brake on the road with your right foot, we want you to use
00:43:16your right foot, but if you always drive an automatic
00:43:18and you use your left foot for braking, we
00:43:20teach someone to use the left foot. It's very
00:43:22similar to playing tennis
00:43:24and it may be more efficient to use your
00:43:26left hand when the balls are on the left side
00:43:28of the court and your right hand when the balls are on the right side,
00:43:30but obviously you only have one hand that's
00:43:32the learned one that you can be
00:43:34efficient with. Derek?
00:43:36What's wrong beyond what may be
00:43:38having two tennis rackets? Then you can use the right
00:43:40hand for the right side and the left
00:43:42hand for the left side. Is that in the rules book?
00:43:44Yeah, serious rules
00:43:46problems. Let's take a look as we watch
00:43:48Michael Andretti move around this course in the
00:43:50Quaker State on board camera.
00:43:52All of the guys at the
00:43:54front kind of say Michael
00:43:56in the points fight have had some problems,
00:43:58Michael and Rahal being the exceptions.
00:44:00Al Unser Jr. was third in the
00:44:02points standings. He's out, first guy
00:44:04out of this race. Rick Mears had an engine
00:44:06problem. He was fourth in the points.
00:44:08He's out. Fittipaldi was fifth in the points
00:44:10standings. He's out of the race with that
00:44:12fuel pressure problem and Ari
00:44:14Leyendijk, while he is still running, is
00:44:16continuing to struggle around this circuit
00:44:18and is in 19th place
00:44:20right now, so certainly not anywhere
00:44:22near the points. Well, this will
00:44:24definitely help enhance Michael's
00:44:26position, but Bobby Rahal
00:44:28is out there as well, and Rahal,
00:44:30as we've noted before, has a substantial
00:44:32lead in the points coming into
00:44:34this race, so that championship battle is very
00:44:36definitely underway here.
00:44:38We didn't get a chance to see him, but it was
00:44:40interesting to note that down
00:44:42not in Rick Mears' pit, but in
00:44:44Harrison Fittipaldi's pit,
00:44:46was 18-year-old
00:44:48Clint Mears, Rick's son,
00:44:50who is taller than his dad.
00:44:52He is taller than his dad. But he's got pretty
00:44:54much the same features and certainly the same
00:44:56smile, and he's going to be working with the team
00:44:58this entire summer. Down there, getting his hands
00:45:00dirty, he said he'll do anything
00:45:02they ask him, and clean up, wash up
00:45:04whatever they need, but he's getting great experience.
00:45:06A lot of travel time, of course,
00:45:08gets the chance to see his dad up
00:45:10close on a regular basis now at the races.
00:45:12A few other situations developing. Here's Gary.
00:45:14Paul, a couple of quick updates.
00:45:16Ari Lyondyke, we understand it was
00:45:18a chafing in the wiring loom
00:45:20that went to the rear lights.
00:45:22One wire shorted out
00:45:24the system, and that's what
00:45:26knocked him out electronically.
00:45:28For Chip Ganassi, he made contact
00:45:30with the car early, broke the tailpipe
00:45:32in the rear. The heat that was trapped
00:45:34within the bodywork has then created
00:45:36multiple problems, including
00:45:38damaging the springs.
00:45:40Again, it was too much to contend with.
00:45:42Chip Ganassi says, we've got to pull the plug
00:45:44on this one, so Cheever is also
00:45:46out of the competition. And Cheever
00:45:48was 10th in the points
00:45:50coming into this fight here, so
00:45:52this race, which often has
00:45:54an unusual trend to it, is beginning
00:45:56to demonstrate that trend here today.
00:45:58And it's hard to believe, an Indy car,
00:46:00you can go and buy one of these Lolas from
00:46:02Lola over in England. They'll charge you about
00:46:04$340,000. An engine might
00:46:06be $100,000, so you have
00:46:08half a million dollars worth of machinery
00:46:10as soon as you take the green flag.
00:46:12But a small wire leading
00:46:14to the rear light is all it takes to
00:46:16stop half a million dollars worth of machinery
00:46:18and throws all the effort for the weekend
00:46:20out the window. Let's go down to
00:46:22the pits. Gary Gerald is with Eddie Cheever.
00:46:24Well, we were just chronicling the many problems
00:46:26of Eddie Cheever. This is a bizarre way to have to
00:46:28go out of the race, I understand.
00:46:30The car ran relatively well in qualifying.
00:46:32I think right from the beginning, it had a broken
00:46:34exhaust pipe that was going onto a shock absorber,
00:46:36and I just cooked... Shock absorbers are not
00:46:38supposed to work at 2,000 degrees, and I was
00:46:40just cooking it right from the beginning.
00:46:42And I just fell back, first John, then Danny, and I
00:46:44came in. We had to stop because it was just as close
00:46:46to dangerous as you can get.
00:46:48How is the heat, the humidity, and all of those
00:46:50things that you normally are concerned
00:46:52with in the cockpit?
00:46:54It wasn't that bad today. It's very humid
00:46:56here, but there's such a busy track and such a nice
00:46:58track here in Toronto that you don't really think about
00:47:00that, but I'd much rather be hot and humid out there
00:47:02than cool and talking to you right now.
00:47:04No offense, but I'd rather be out there than in here.
00:47:06Indeed, we'll see you in a couple weeks in Michigan.
00:47:08You will do.
00:47:10Headed back toward the garage area, Paul.
00:47:12You can see some evidence, Gary, of how hot it is
00:47:14in fact there, though we had a little sprinkle
00:47:16a little while ago. There's no evidence
00:47:18of rain right now, and
00:47:20no true threat of it. Michael Andretti
00:47:22is still out in front of his father.
00:47:28We're back in Toronto, and Michael Andretti
00:47:30has just clinched the single point
00:47:32that is given for leading the most
00:47:34laps of the race. Michael,
00:47:36who has not been passed since
00:47:38this race began, is out in
00:47:40front, continues to be out in front.
00:47:42And this race recap
00:47:44is brought to you by Pioneer Electronics.
00:47:46The art of entertainment
00:47:48at the conclusion of 50 laps.
00:47:50Michael Andretti all the way.
00:47:52We've had one short caution period
00:47:54when Aluncer Jr. got into trouble
00:47:56tapping a wall, and there are
00:47:58six cars running on the lead lap.
00:48:00Look at this for a list of names
00:48:02out of the race. Normally, this
00:48:04would be the top five
00:48:06in the other event. And Buddy Lazear looks
00:48:08good today, doesn't he? Yeah, he sure does. He's in with
00:48:10some fairly substantial names.
00:48:12So this race has worn down some of
00:48:14the cars, and the question is,
00:48:16can this car, Michael Andretti's, make it all
00:48:18the way to the finish? He's setting a marvelous
00:48:20pace. Michael.
00:48:22A little bit of the family just behind him.
00:48:24That's John Andretti. But
00:48:26John Andretti is running fifth place,
00:48:28and Michael, when he got around John,
00:48:30put him a lap down. So only the
00:48:32first four cars are actually running
00:48:34on the lead lap. Mario
00:48:36Andretti, as he comes around the 12
00:48:38car. He runs in second place right now.
00:48:40He is a full 12 and
00:48:42a half seconds behind
00:48:44the leader, his son
00:48:46Michael Andretti. And there's third place.
00:48:48That's Bobby Rahal. Fourth
00:48:50place, of course, is Scott Pruitt.
00:48:54There's Scott, car number 11.
00:48:56That's the question mark on fuel.
00:48:58The highest non-Chevrolet
00:49:00car. It's a jet-powered machine.
00:49:02In fact, the company, part of the whole
00:49:04True Sports organization, True Power,
00:49:06working with that machine. And one of the
00:49:08only cars you see here with a
00:49:10large air scoop on the side
00:49:12of that body, we're ducting air into the
00:49:14engine.
00:49:18On ESPN,
00:49:20a little bit later,
00:49:22Major League Baseball, Oakland and
00:49:24Cleveland and Montreal at
00:49:26San Diego. Just check your local listing.
00:49:28Some good runs today.
00:49:30Scott Goodyear runs in seventh place.
00:49:32That equals his career best finish.
00:49:34And Jeff Andretti
00:49:36is tenth. He is going for his first
00:49:38top ten finish since
00:49:40Phoenix back in April.
00:49:42At the front of the order, names are
00:49:44still Andretti. First and second
00:49:46with Rahal running third. Michael
00:49:48Leach.
00:49:50Back at the
00:49:52exhibition place in Toronto
00:49:54for the Molson Indy Toronto
00:49:56Grand Prix. We now have
00:49:5863 laps complete.
00:50:00103 laps, or 183 miles
00:50:02is the scheduled distance. And
00:50:04very shortly, we expect what
00:50:06should be the second and final pit stop
00:50:08for the leaders of this race.
00:50:10Scott Goodyear runs in seventh place.
00:50:12And of course,
00:50:14he is the Canadian hope here.
00:50:16And was loudly cheered when the car
00:50:18was rolled out onto the starting line
00:50:20this morning. Of course, that's
00:50:22no problem. He is having a particularly
00:50:24great year. He's a very consistent
00:50:26driver. He doesn't have the Chevrolet
00:50:28power that most people seem to think will get you
00:50:30up at the front of the field. But he drives
00:50:32very well, though a little flamboyantly.
00:50:34He drives very well. We just saw a great
00:50:36in-car camera piece of him turning in.
00:50:38The back end of the car got away
00:50:40from him. A nice little correction.
00:50:42Then he gets on his way. This is the long third
00:50:44gear corner here, which is turn six
00:50:46leading up to turn seven, which is
00:50:48a flat kink right there.
00:50:50You can see he goes all the way through before he gets on the brakes.
00:50:52But Scott Goodyear, very much
00:50:54a hometown favorite here. Of course, he and his
00:50:56wife, who's now expecting a baby,
00:50:58still live here in Toronto.
00:51:00The other night, he was at
00:51:02the Black and White Gala
00:51:04and honored Johnny Rutherford for
00:51:06his contribution to motorsports.
00:51:08Also was an excellent public speaker.
00:51:10Now we're back at the front of the field.
00:51:12This is Michael Andretti. Let's just ride with him
00:51:14and listen as he maneuvers his car
00:51:16on the circuit.
00:51:32Under heavy braking, Paul,
00:51:34listen to the metal rubbing
00:51:36along the ground. That's the car
00:51:38at the bottom of the wings and underneath
00:51:40hitting the ground.
00:51:46A little smoother on the braking there
00:51:48than the last time through. It's actually turn
00:51:50eight that you hear it more than
00:51:52anything else. We'll follow him around
00:51:54for the full lap here, as you can see.
00:51:56This is the long turn six we just saw
00:51:58Goodyear go through. This is third gear
00:52:00and a very fast flat kink
00:52:02right here.
00:52:06Now you can hear the
00:52:08bottom of that car hit the ground. That's how low they
00:52:10run things. And you can also see as
00:52:12he passed over that area, some of the
00:52:14fills with concrete that they've done here.
00:52:16That's part of the reason. Not just the
00:52:18tires passing over that area, but the
00:52:20under braking, the car settles down
00:52:22and its ride height is so close
00:52:24that it just slaps down on the ground as Michael
00:52:26bites the wheel coming through turn 11.
00:52:28Bites the wheel at turn 11. That's when
00:52:30the car is actually turned
00:52:32and he hits a bump. That's when he yanks the
00:52:34wheel out of the driver's hand. And of course
00:52:36as soon as that bump happens, the driver has
00:52:38to immediately counteract and put
00:52:40the wheel back up in the correct position
00:52:42again. And that's why you see that correction.
00:52:44The severe correction
00:52:46at times. You got a view there of Mario
00:52:48Andretti. He runs in second place.
00:52:50This is a fight for seventh.
00:52:52That's Scott Brayton in the 22 car
00:52:54as he battles
00:52:56with Scott Goodyear.
00:52:58Goodyear is just ahead, running in seventh place
00:53:00right now in the McKenzie car.
00:53:02And you can bet that the crowd here
00:53:04is keeping close track on this. They really
00:53:06do support their drivers here in Canada.
00:53:08They're a most authoritative
00:53:10motorsports crowd. The questions that I've
00:53:12heard them asking you, they really seem to
00:53:14thoroughly understand what's going on.
00:53:16Well that's right. I would say this
00:53:18event here resembles Long
00:53:20Beach. And Long Beach is very much a
00:53:22motorsports event because it consumes the
00:53:24whole city. And that's really what happens here in
00:53:26Toronto. And everybody is very helpful
00:53:28and wants to promote this event. And there really
00:53:30is a tremendous atmosphere.
00:53:32I was walking down the main straightaway
00:53:34just before the start of the race. They had a parade
00:53:36of celebrities going around. Led by the way
00:53:38by comedian John Candy, who
00:53:40gave the command to start engines here.
00:53:42And there was very much that Long Beach
00:53:44feeling about it. They really have done a marvelous
00:53:46job here in Toronto. In such a
00:53:48short time, we have a great view from
00:53:50the rear of Scott Goodyear's car, looking back
00:53:52at another Scott in the Amway
00:53:54Herxcellanese car. And I get
00:53:56congratulated every time I can say that properly
00:53:58because it's such a difficult mouthful
00:54:00for me. But Herxcellanese, in fact,
00:54:02is a company very much like
00:54:04ICI or DuPont. They're in the fibers
00:54:06and chemicals business. Looking down
00:54:08from above, that's Scott Goodyear ahead
00:54:10of Scott Brayton. And Goodyear
00:54:12is going for his sixth top ten
00:54:14finish this year
00:54:16in ten races. So he's having
00:54:18a good season, though he is not as satisfied
00:54:20with it. He seems
00:54:22to feel that he is not doing as well
00:54:24as he did last year. But still, I think,
00:54:26given the situation they're in,
00:54:28not running with Chevrolet power, that
00:54:30I think they're doing just fine.
00:54:32That's right. And remember, this was the team
00:54:34that Doug Shearson owned. It was then
00:54:36bought by Baptiste. Oh, look at Brayton
00:54:38right up behind him and tries to go around the outside.
00:54:40Boy, Brayton, there is Chevrolet power
00:54:42and that's where it makes the difference.
00:54:44Scott Goodyear tried to hold him off
00:54:46a bit. Did I see a little trail of vapor at the
00:54:48back of Scott Goodyear's car that might indicate
00:54:50that it's more than just a simple pass?
00:54:52Well, we certainly saw something. He went
00:54:54very wide through that right-hander.
00:54:56Did get into the dust, churned up some dust.
00:54:58But we'll have to wait and see.
00:55:00We don't see anything coming out of Goodyear's car now.
00:55:02But he certainly gave Scott
00:55:04Brayton all he could handle under braking.
00:55:06But look how far he's dropped back. He could be in trouble.
00:55:08And you saw all of the course marshals
00:55:10turn as the car came by. They're, by the way,
00:55:12instructed not to do that. They have to
00:55:14keep an eye upstream. So they apparently
00:55:16saw or heard something as well.
00:55:18We'll keep an eye on Scott
00:55:20Goodyear while Scott Brayton works
00:55:22his way around the circuit. And look at the interval.
00:55:24Scott Goodyear is well,
00:55:26well back. So whatever
00:55:28it was, and there he takes the line
00:55:30a little wide, lets the leader of the race through.
00:55:32So I think Scott is aware that there is
00:55:34something wrong in that car.
00:55:36Now he's taking it just a little bit easier.
00:55:38Let's go down to the pits once again,
00:55:40Jan Vigas.
00:55:42I just spoke with Barry Green, and he says,
00:55:44Jan, we still can't race. He says we're having
00:55:46to back off on the fuel, and we wish we could
00:55:48turn them loose, but we have to keep watching that fuel.
00:55:50Maybe towards the end of the race, if there's a yellow
00:55:52or something, they can turn Bobby Rahal loose.
00:55:54Paul? Barry Green, of course,
00:55:56watching over the Rahal organization.
00:55:58That's the third place car, and you ride
00:56:00on board with Bobby Rahal right now.
00:56:02He is 24 seconds
00:56:04behind the leader, with now 70
00:56:06laps complete. Michael and
00:56:08Mario Andretti lead the order.
00:56:10When they turn Rahal loose, he's going to try
00:56:12to run up to the front as fast as he can.
00:56:16Paul, who now is
00:56:18continuing to drive just as carefully
00:56:20as he can, conserve whatever fuel he
00:56:22can. And by the way,
00:56:24that's Hiro Mashusta in front. They didn't change
00:56:26the wing. You can see that, the nose wing. They decided
00:56:28to let it go. Just behind, you
00:56:30got a glimpse there of the number 14
00:56:32car, and that is Mike Groff.
00:56:34He's been replacing
00:56:36A.J. Voigt now in the cockpit today. He will
00:56:38continue to do so, with the exception
00:56:40of the ovals at the Michigan
00:56:42500, and again the oval at Nazareth.
00:56:44But Mike Groff, with an excellent
00:56:46run here today for just a
00:56:48last-minute notification, runs in
00:56:50ninth place. Hiro Mashusta,
00:56:52well, he continues to struggle in
00:56:5419th place, struggling because with
00:56:56that left front nose wing gone,
00:56:58makes the car a little more unwieldy
00:57:00as he tries to get around this course. A.J.
00:57:02Voigt, he sits up in the pits.
00:57:04He's been working on the car all weekend,
00:57:06and he seems to be enjoying himself.
00:57:08But he loudly said, when a newspaper
00:57:10report came out on Friday, that he
00:57:12will drive his last race at Michigan
00:57:14this year. I said, that's absolutely not
00:57:16true. And I'll tell you what, Derek Daly,
00:57:18I'm not convinced you're not going to see
00:57:20A.J. Voigt in number 14 at Indianapolis
00:57:22next year. Well, that could well be
00:57:24true. But really, when he made the move
00:57:26to Mike Groff this weekend,
00:57:28it really created a tremendous stir.
00:57:30There were so many people, and a lot of
00:57:32his family around, watching what he did, how
00:57:34he got on. And I really think he had a
00:57:36tremendous performance in qualifying, because
00:57:38he got faster every time he got
00:57:40in the race car, and qualified a
00:57:42very, very good ninth overall.
00:57:44Back looking at Bobby Rahal,
00:57:46as the crew is over the
00:57:48wall and ready for Rahal
00:57:50to come in and make what they hope
00:57:52to be his final stop in the race. And
00:57:54once they make it, they hope that he is carrying
00:57:56enough fuel that he can now engage
00:57:58the leaders of the race, Michael and
00:58:00Mario Andretti. Michael is first, with his
00:58:02father 12 seconds back.
00:58:04And Bobby Rahal is another
00:58:0610 seconds back from his father. So now
00:58:08the Dallas-Fraco team waits
00:58:10for Bobby Rahal to make his appearance.
00:58:12This is their only hope now,
00:58:14because Al Unser Jr. was the very first
00:58:16car out of this race when he tapped the wall.
00:58:18It looked like something may have broken
00:58:20just before he got to the wall, but nevertheless,
00:58:22whatever it was, that car
00:58:24is out of competition, as is Rick
00:58:26Mears and Emerson Fittipaldi and Arie Luyendyk.
00:58:28Some big names out
00:58:30very early in this going, and that's going to have a
00:58:32devastating effect upon the points
00:58:34fight. We always talk about
00:58:36some of these pit stops being a hairy, scary
00:58:38moment. One of the problems here, of course, Paul,
00:58:40is the 90-degree left-hand turn you have
00:58:42in the middle of your pit lane.
00:58:44That's a sweeping pit here. You saw
00:58:46John Andretti, who was running
00:58:48in 6th place, in and out, and this
00:58:50is Mario's crew, as
00:58:52they are ready in the Newman-Haas organization
00:58:54for the first of their two
00:58:56cars to come in, and they have elected to stop
00:58:58the 2nd place car, Mario Andretti
00:59:00first, and that'll give them a nice
00:59:02clear run for the leader of the race,
00:59:04Michael. We saw Danny
00:59:06Sullivan suddenly run very slowly
00:59:08there. We'll have to keep our eye on him to see what happens
00:59:10here, but here's Mario Andretti into the pit lane.
00:59:12Mario
00:59:14Andretti begins to slow for a stop.
00:59:16The team signals for him, and Gary Gerald is
00:59:18there. Paul, we're in Michael's pit.
00:59:20We look over to where Mario slides in,
00:59:22hits the marks apparently perfectly.
00:59:24Our view's somewhat obscured. We see no
00:59:26changes, however, on the wings up front.
00:59:28Mario, who has a best this
00:59:30year of 3rd place in Milwaukee, hoping
00:59:32to improve upon that today.
00:59:34He comes off the jack. He's underway.
00:59:36Let's go to John Meekins.
00:59:38This is where the crew hopes to make up that
00:59:40distance on Mario. They say they cannot run any
00:59:42faster because of fuel, but if they get this
00:59:44done quick, they can catch Mario. It's out the jack.
00:59:46They're ready. Come on. Get out of here.
00:59:48Bobby Rahal, the
00:59:503rd place car in and out, the 2nd
00:59:52place car, Mario Andretti in and out,
00:59:54and a spectacular stop for the Newman-Haas team
00:59:56in 13.9
00:59:58seconds. That is an excellent
01:00:00second stop, and Derek, there's what you
01:00:02talked about. Danny Sullivan
01:00:04very, very slowly, and now
01:00:06Michael Andretti comes in. Back to Gary.
01:00:08Well, this will be the critical one, and he brings
01:00:10it in perfectly. Just flies right up to
01:00:12the right spot. Fuel hoses quickly engage
01:00:14the vent man. Just a little bit late getting there,
01:00:16but no problem. Watching the fresh rubber
01:00:18all the way around. Michael, eyes focused
01:00:20straight ahead. Cool drink. Flips it back over the
01:00:22vent wall, waiting for the signal. He's down.
01:00:24He's gone. Boy, we've got him at
01:00:2614 seconds. Terrific stop.
01:00:28A spectacular stop
01:00:30in 13.8 seconds
01:00:32for the leader of the race, Michael
01:00:34Andretti. There was the challenge to the
01:00:36team. They have to keep that guy
01:00:38going as best they can, and they've done it.
01:00:40Remember, one of the most important things
01:00:42about these pit stops is your
01:00:44outlap. You're on cold tires
01:00:46and full fuel, and if you don't
01:00:48lose too much time getting back up to
01:00:50speed, you can also gain
01:00:52on somebody you're chasing or trying to get
01:00:54away from. Losing a great amount of time
01:00:56is Danny Sullivan
01:00:58as the Patrick team goes up and pushes him
01:01:00back into the pits. On the circuit,
01:01:02Michael Andretti, who continues
01:01:04to run in the lead now
01:01:06with 76 laps complete.
01:01:08Again, 103.
01:01:10The scheduled distance,
01:01:12183 miles. The race
01:01:14record belongs to Emerson Fittipaldi,
01:01:16but Michael may be just putting that
01:01:18into the bag.
01:01:20A little parking lot there
01:01:22off of Lakeshore as Hiro
01:01:24Maschusta has just joined
01:01:26the cars of Roberto Guerrero and Rick
01:01:28Mears pulling off of the course.
01:01:30Almost all of the cars in action have
01:01:32now completed their pit stops, including
01:01:34Mike Groff, who just went in and out of the
01:01:36A.J. Voigt pits. They had a little
01:01:38trouble with the car. Let's go down to the
01:01:40pits now on Jan Bekus.
01:01:42Scott Pruitt came in and out of here early,
01:01:44which wasn't a real big problem. We knew he was having
01:01:46that bad fuel economy, but we've just found
01:01:48out that the fuel tank behind me here is
01:01:50empty. In other words, it's doubtful whether
01:01:52he'll be able to make the finish. They're just praying
01:01:54down here there's some kind of full-course yellow so
01:01:56he can make the distance. Paul?
01:01:58Well, the only thing that would help him, if that indeed is
01:02:00true, is for something to slow this race
01:02:02down a full-course yellow because of rain
01:02:04or worse yet,
01:02:06an accident. And that would help them make a
01:02:08little bit of fuel economy, but there is no indication
01:02:10that we have any rain in the area right
01:02:12now, though it's very hot and very
01:02:14hazy. Temperature is up in the high 80s
01:02:16right now. And there
01:02:18is Bobby Rahal. He runs in third
01:02:20place. Let's go down through the order for you.
01:02:22Michael Andretti, then Mario, then Bobby Rahal,
01:02:24then Scott Pruitt, then John
01:02:26Andretti, Scott Brayton, Scott Goodyear,
01:02:28Mike Groff runs in eighth place now,
01:02:30then Jeff Andretti, then Didier
01:02:32Thaes, Danny Sullivan, Tony Bentonhausen,
01:02:34John Jones, Randy Lewis,
01:02:36and Hiro Mashusta just pulled
01:02:38off the course, so that will give a position
01:02:40away to Ted Krapas. Now,
01:02:42Krapas, there is an interesting story. He had a great
01:02:44run at Long Beach, but he had a most
01:02:46unusual problem here as
01:02:48we watch Bobby Rahal. The
01:02:50throttle was sticking wide open
01:02:52and sending him into the wall. They looked
01:02:54at everything mechanical on the car
01:02:56and then kind of shades of Robocop,
01:02:58they found out what was
01:03:00doing it was the engine control
01:03:02system was actually opening the throttle
01:03:04when he was trying to get out of it.
01:03:06Can you imagine what that had to be like in the cockpit?
01:03:08Well, the problem was, too, he would have
01:03:10to do about between five and seven
01:03:12laps, and then it would happen,
01:03:14and every time it happened, he went off the road,
01:03:16had a crash, so it was becoming
01:03:18$25,000 every seven
01:03:20laps, which for a small team like
01:03:22P.I.G. really went a bit over the
01:03:24top, and exactly the same thing happened here.
01:03:26I mean, from a driver's
01:03:28point of view, Paul, boy, did that sap your
01:03:30confidence or what? You can't have any confidence at all.
01:03:32You're afraid you put that throttle down, and suddenly it's
01:03:34going to take you into a concrete barrier, but by the way,
01:03:36he took it very well. He said, well,
01:03:38now we've got it fixed, at least we know what it is,
01:03:40but boy, talk about the computers taking over.
01:03:42Scott
01:03:44Pruitt as he works his way around
01:03:46with what may be a most futile effort.
01:03:48Let's go back down to Jan Michals.
01:03:50Paul, we watch all those pit stops, and we see them change
01:03:52tires, but we never talk about why.
01:03:54These tires are not worn out. You can see
01:03:56here on the wear indicators, there's plenty of rubber
01:03:58on this tire. What happens is it takes a while to
01:04:00get the fuel in the car, so as long as the car
01:04:02is here, they change it so they get fresh rubber
01:04:04because when the rubber gets hot, it's
01:04:06not as sticky. So it's not a case of
01:04:08the tires being worn out, it's just they're trying to get an advantage
01:04:10as long as they're stopped waiting for fuel.
01:04:12Paul? Well, of course, it's not
01:04:14just IndyCar racing as we ride with
01:04:16Michael Andretti past the Princess Gate.
01:04:18Last year, all of the track
01:04:20records were broken. You can find out
01:04:22what happens this year when Formula 1
01:04:24drivers battle through the woods of Hockenheim
01:04:26at the Grand Prix of Germany
01:04:28on Sunday morning at 7.50
01:04:30Eastern, live on ESPN.
01:04:32Now let's go down to
01:04:34A.J. Poit's pits. Gary Gerald.
01:04:36Well, Paul, you've talked about the Grand Champion
01:04:38A.J. Poit. A.J., I know this is a
01:04:40different role, and I'm sure it's not an easy
01:04:42role to accept, but how are
01:04:44this transition going, you here in the
01:04:46pits and watching this youngster Mike Graf at
01:04:48work in your car? Well, Mike's doing a
01:04:50fantastic job, but our pit stops have
01:04:52absolutely been ridiculous. That's what
01:04:54put me out at the Indianapolis on
01:04:56the air jacks. I'll get into this a little
01:04:58deeper when we get home, because this is no sense
01:05:00in stuff like this happening. Now,
01:05:02you're running in the top ten at this point.
01:05:04Is there a goal for this team
01:05:06this weekend? No, there's no
01:05:08goal. Let's just do the best job we can do for Mike,
01:05:10but like I say, it's
01:05:12ridiculous what's happened on two pit stops. I mean,
01:05:14it's cost him about probably 30
01:05:16seconds overall, and that's just bad.
01:05:18Now, we'll see you in the race car at the next
01:05:20race at Michigan. Is that correct?
01:05:22Well, we hope so. I mean, I haven't raced because
01:05:24of the foot problems, you know, and
01:05:26like I say, at Indianapolis, this is what
01:05:28put me in the back and got me knocked out, what happened
01:05:30here today, and we've got to do something
01:05:32about it or make some changes. Are we liable
01:05:34to see a two-car team with Graf and
01:05:36Voigt together at Michigan? No, we'll just
01:05:38run one car. One car? Now, how about
01:05:40Indianapolis next year, A.J.?
01:05:42Well, I don't know. Is this car now
01:05:44healed up? But, you know, I said
01:05:46this is going to be my first full season,
01:05:48and I just couldn't fulfill the season
01:05:50because I was just in too much pain.
01:05:52I'll tell you, Mike Graf has impressed a lot of people.
01:05:54We congratulate you on what appears to be a
01:05:56great move. Well, it looks like he's going
01:05:58to do a good job. We've just got to fulfill
01:06:00our end, which we look pretty
01:06:02amateurish today. I'm sure it'll get
01:06:04better. Thank you. Well, we hope so. Thank you.
01:06:06Paul? I'm just so glad to
01:06:08see A.J. doing that finally, taking
01:06:10a young driver with skill and bringing
01:06:12him along. It really is, and so
01:06:14many times, how many times have you
01:06:16heard, we need a Chevrolet engine to win,
01:06:18but there are so many other elements,
01:06:20the car and the people, and we talk
01:06:22about the hairy, scary times in the pit lane.
01:06:24A.J. just alluded to it there. They need
01:06:26to get their pit lane strategy worked
01:06:28out properly so he doesn't spend
01:06:30critical time sitting
01:06:32in the pit lane rather than being under full power
01:06:34on the track. You watch
01:06:36Mike Graf, the famous number 14,
01:06:38he lies eighth. You see it there,
01:06:40that last stop, A.J. was right about
01:06:42it. 47 seconds
01:06:44on what really should have been a routine
01:06:46stop for that car, and you
01:06:48can also believe what he said. When they get back
01:06:50to Houston, they're going to talk about it.
01:06:52Now, actually, what happened, because it's right in front of our
01:06:54booth here, when the air jack man
01:06:56plugged in the air jack, the car did not
01:06:58come off the ground, so the fueler got
01:07:00the fuel in, but the men changing
01:07:02the tires could not take the wheels off.
01:07:04Bobby Rahal,
01:07:06still in third place, trying to chase down
01:07:08the incredibly fast Andretti's.
01:07:12As we continue to watch
01:07:16the leader, Michael Andretti,
01:07:18well out in front of
01:07:20his father, who runs in second place.
01:07:22And Michael Andretti
01:07:24with a spectacular day, the only man
01:07:26with multiple wins thus far this
01:07:28season, and the winner here
01:07:30in 1989 at Toronto.
01:07:32So Michael Andretti,
01:07:34can he be beaten here today?
01:07:36The finish is coming up.
01:07:39Here in Toronto,
01:07:41this man, Danny Sullivan, continues
01:07:43to struggle. He runs in
01:07:4511th place, but it looks like
01:07:47today may be even in further trouble,
01:07:49as now he is well off the
01:07:51pace. I don't think he'll keep the car out there.
01:07:53Now, Danny Sullivan heads
01:07:55down into the pits, and another guy facing
01:07:57problems is Scott Goodyear,
01:07:59and let's get an update from Jan Beekus.
01:08:01Paul, it turns out that he's
01:08:03not facing problems. It turns out they have the same
01:08:05jet engine as does Scott
01:08:07Pruitt. However, there's one difference,
01:08:09and that is that they're running the nine
01:08:11butterfly system, in other words, nine butterflies
01:08:13in the engine, as opposed to Scott Pruitt that's
01:08:15running the mono-valve. They're getting much better
01:08:17fuel economy. They just told me, hey, we told them
01:08:19to go ahead and richen it up and go for it, because we're going to make
01:08:21the distance easy. Paul?
01:08:23All right, so the good news for Goodyear is that the
01:08:25car working very well, then.
01:08:27We would have thought it would have the same problem, but the difference
01:08:29in how you valve the fuel
01:08:31into the engine. Scott Goodyear
01:08:33runs in seventh. We mentioned
01:08:35engine management. Efficiency is another
01:08:37good word. To get the amount of horsepower
01:08:39out of it using the same amount of fuel.
01:08:41It looks like what we've just seen Jan Beekus
01:08:43tell us. They're getting the same amount
01:08:45of horsepower, but using less fuel.
01:08:47More efficient setup on Scott Goodyear's
01:08:49car. You know, when you think about it,
01:08:51here we are in Canada with a sport
01:08:53that is predominantly American, but
01:08:55some rather significant things
01:08:57affecting the American sport
01:08:59have happened right in this
01:09:01area of Exhibition Place. You have
01:09:03T.J. Foyt actually stepping
01:09:05into the role of an owner
01:09:07for the very first time, taking a young
01:09:09driver in Mike Groff along a bit.
01:09:11But also, did you know that it was back in
01:09:131958 in July
01:09:15that Richard Petty
01:09:17ran the very first race of
01:09:19what is now the Winston Cup
01:09:21Series in his career.
01:09:23Matter of fact, his dad punted him off the course
01:09:25because he was going too slow, but Richard Petty
01:09:27really began that grand championship for him
01:09:29in this very same area.
01:09:31Sounds like they had a similar racing
01:09:33family association that
01:09:35Michael and Mario have had in the past, because we've
01:09:37seen them give each other a nice
01:09:39love tap every now and then. You mentioned T.J.
01:09:41Foyt now running Mike Groff.
01:09:43He's actually going to become the engineer
01:09:45also on that car. He feels
01:09:47the input he can have to set that car
01:09:49up will greatly benefit Mike
01:09:51Groff, and that's the
01:09:53role he also fulfilled this weekend, of
01:09:55engineer. Speaking of engineers,
01:09:57designers, John Barnard
01:09:59has been walking around the pitch here. You were talking
01:10:01to him. John Barnard was here, and boy
01:10:03when he was around the
01:10:05hall BDS team,
01:10:07memories of the old Chaparral days
01:10:09came flooding back when he was talking to Franz
01:10:11Weis down there. People said, are you going to interest in Indy
01:10:13cars? He said, no. I haven't been to
01:10:15an Indy car race for 11 years.
01:10:17I really just don't know what I'm going to do,
01:10:19because remember, he did lead the Benetton organization
01:10:21about three or four weeks ago, five weeks ago.
01:10:23But John Barnard, a very
01:10:25interested spectator, but really one of the great
01:10:27innovators in racing over the last
01:10:2910 years. Well, he certainly started
01:10:31the ground effects in this
01:10:33side of the series with the Jim Hall
01:10:35Chaparral. But another
01:10:37designer working on a car that
01:10:39should make its debut at any time
01:10:41is with the Gallus organization. Let's get
01:10:43an update on that from Jan Vikas.
01:10:45Alan Mertens is the part of,
01:10:47you've heard about the Galmer car, in other words,
01:10:49Gallus Mertens. This is Alan Mertens
01:10:51who is, you know, hard at work at
01:10:53that car in England, and everyone can't wait to
01:10:55see that car. Can you tell us a little bit about it?
01:10:57Hi, Jan. The car's
01:10:59progressing pretty good at the moment. The chassis
01:11:01is finished, and all the front end of the chassis
01:11:03is built up. The engines
01:11:05are there. We're estimating right
01:11:07now it should be America sometime just
01:11:09after Michigan. Now, is there going to be any
01:11:11big innovations here? We were just talking, John
01:11:13Barnard is here, watching, an innovator
01:11:15certainly. You're an innovator. What's new on this car?
01:11:17Well,
01:11:19if I told you that now, I'd give
01:11:21everybody else a jump
01:11:23next year. It's
01:11:25innovative in areas, but it's not
01:11:27radical.
01:11:29We obviously understand what
01:11:31a contemporary Indy car represents
01:11:33right now, and we've got a good baseline,
01:11:35and we've just done a natural progression
01:11:37from that. I think right
01:11:39now it's a bit too risky.
01:11:41Various teams have proved that in the
01:11:43past. Well, he's a great
01:11:45engineer, but he's also a politician. We didn't find
01:11:47out much about the new car. Paul? We haven't
01:11:49seen him around the IndyCar circuit because
01:11:51of his work on that car for some time. It's good
01:11:53to see him back. Well, that's right. He talks about
01:11:55innovations. One of the problems with
01:11:57being innovative, it takes a long
01:11:59time to develop. Chevrolet were
01:12:01innovative with this new engine they came out
01:12:03with to beat
01:12:05the Cosworth. How many years, though, Paul,
01:12:07did it take to become a winner? It needs
01:12:09a lot of money and a lot of time to
01:12:11be innovative. So we saw Alan Murtha
01:12:13saying that there are some new things, but I'll
01:12:15bet it's not too
01:12:17innovative because it really takes a long
01:12:19time to sort them out. One other ingredient, a lot
01:12:21of luck. No luck for this car at the moment.
01:12:23That's Didier Thies, the leader
01:12:25card machine. As it looks like
01:12:27he rolled out of the pits, and then
01:12:29it rolled to a stop. And now
01:12:31the safety team,
01:12:33Michaud and Kamphausen, both trying to get him
01:12:35back. He was running a nice
01:12:37little race in 10th place when this
01:12:39happened. So we'll keep an eye on Didier Thies
01:12:41as well.
01:12:43Scott Pruitt, hoping
01:12:45for a yellow, Paul. We know that he
01:12:47cannot finish the race. We don't think
01:12:49he can finish the race. Strategy
01:12:51often hinges around yellow flag
01:12:53situations. Yellow flag situations
01:12:55happen very, very easily on street
01:12:57circuits. I will bet you that Pruitt
01:12:59is hoping something happens to somebody
01:13:01else, not to him. Michael Andretti,
01:13:03the leader of the race, runs at 98
01:13:05and a half miles an hour. The race
01:13:07record, 95.9.
01:13:09So Michael Andretti continues to
01:13:11run at a record pace, despite the fact
01:13:13that we've had a full course yellow
01:13:15flag situation very early on
01:13:17for Al Unser Jr. when he got
01:13:19into the wall. Apparently
01:13:21something breaking up front in the car.
01:13:23This Judd engine, last week Steve Horne
01:13:25actually said, yes, this engine
01:13:27we do believe is probably on its last
01:13:29legs of development. Remember,
01:13:31this was the original Honda engine
01:13:33that came out in 1985.
01:13:35So Judd in England, remember
01:13:37they do have the V10
01:13:39Formula 1 engine that really is a very, very
01:13:41strong engine. Well, John Judd over there
01:13:43is developing a new V8
01:13:45version of that Formula 1
01:13:47V10 engine, which will be
01:13:49available for IndyCars next year.
01:13:51A new Judd V8, totally
01:13:53different to the engine that
01:13:55Scott Pruitt now uses. At the same time,
01:13:57Cosworth now saying that they have a car
01:13:59that's now done with all of its testing
01:14:01and ready to be strapped into a car.
01:14:03Michael Andretti's crew
01:14:05watches from the sidelines. Their job
01:14:07is done. Now can Michael win it?
01:14:13Qualifying here.
01:14:15Everybody up and down the pit lane can see
01:14:17this new Turn 11 where they've moved
01:14:19the wall back. One of the great things
01:14:21about being here, being so close is
01:14:23you can see the drivers working hard.
01:14:25We mentioned that in the opening. Well, Michael
01:14:27Andretti all weekend has been so
01:14:29spectacular through there.
01:14:31He clips the curb, he gets the car sideways.
01:14:33He always looks extremely
01:14:35fast. He just looked half
01:14:37a step better than everybody through
01:14:39there. This is Turn 11 right here
01:14:41all weekend. A spectacular corner.
01:14:43Michael Andretti driving some of the
01:14:45finest races of his career.
01:14:47Of course, the question will remain
01:14:49is there enough fuel in that car
01:14:51to make it down to the end of the race?
01:14:53There's Mario Andretti. He runs
01:14:55in second place, well behind
01:14:57Michael now. Michael has no
01:14:59contest for the lead. The only thing that
01:15:01can strike there is the face.
01:15:03Mario Andretti in second. Bobby Rahal
01:15:05is third. And Gary Gerald?
01:15:07You see Michael's position.
01:15:09Interesting side note, Paul. Lap 93.
01:15:11I think we're on it right now. This is the
01:15:13500th lap that Michael Andretti
01:15:15has led this year.
01:15:17The next closest driver in that department,
01:15:19Al Junior. 171.
01:15:21Thus has been his
01:15:23domination. Keep in mind also,
01:15:25however, Paul, this is the fourth time
01:15:27he started from the pole this year. In the
01:15:29three previous times, he wasn't able to finish
01:15:31the race. I'm not trying to put any kind of
01:15:33a jinx on anybody, but it's just one of those
01:15:35things that occasionally your
01:15:37mind culls over in the final laps
01:15:39of a race where Michael has been so
01:15:41dominant. And incidentally, Fuel says,
01:15:43or the team says, Fuel, not
01:15:45a problem that they're right on their
01:15:47targeted course. And of course, if they
01:15:49were in trouble, Gary, they'd come right over and say,
01:15:51oh, by the way, Gary, we're not going to finish, right?
01:15:53Yeah. Yeah.
01:15:55You know, when you consider some of those numbers that Gary
01:15:57was offering with now just 10 laps to go
01:15:59for Michael Andretti, he came into this race with
01:16:01407 laps in the lead, but
01:16:03not in the lead in points. The man in the lead
01:16:05in points was also
01:16:07the man who has completed the most
01:16:09laps, showing that the points pay off
01:16:11consistency. Bobby Rahal came
01:16:13into this race completing
01:16:151,089
01:16:17points more than any other car
01:16:19by a considerable margin.
01:16:21That's right. Fast and fragile
01:16:23is not the way to win the championship, but you do
01:16:25look spectacular. Rahal has
01:16:27led only seven laps
01:16:29up to the end of Cleveland,
01:16:31which is the race before the Meadowlands.
01:16:33So Michael Andretti
01:16:35is out in front and doing a
01:16:37splendid job
01:16:39with that Kmart Havlon Lola.
01:16:41But can he
01:16:43make it all the way to the end? His team
01:16:45says no problem whatsoever,
01:16:47which would seem to reflect
01:16:49the condition of Mario Andretti's second-place
01:16:51car as well. Bobby Rahal.
01:16:53John Andretti with a problem, and
01:16:55that gets him right on the edge of the racing
01:16:57line, a most precarious position.
01:16:59Can he get the car out of there? He's got to drop it
01:17:01into second reverse. Flags fly
01:17:03there, warning everyone coming
01:17:05behind. There goes Mario Andretti.
01:17:07Second-place car passed. I hope he can find
01:17:09reverse, Paul, because it's often very
01:17:11difficult to select reverse in these
01:17:13gearboxes. It's a difficult gear to
01:17:15find, and John can obviously
01:17:17not find it. Now the rescue people come
01:17:19to help him. Luckily
01:17:21he has kept that engine running, because that could
01:17:23have caused the yellow that
01:17:25Pruitt is hoping for. The reverse gear
01:17:27is heavily spring-loaded. You really have to push
01:17:29it into it. Here's the situation. That's
01:17:31Tony Bentenhausen that he's maneuvering with.
01:17:33Oh, look what happened here.
01:17:35He tries to get down the inside of Tony.
01:17:37Tony took his normal line. John
01:17:39was nowhere near close enough to
01:17:41make a pass. Locks up those rear brakes.
01:17:43That's what causes him to spin, and
01:17:45very lucky that he didn't get down to this
01:17:47tire barrier on the outside, because in
01:17:49the last qualifying session on
01:17:51Saturday, we had eight cars crash.
01:17:53Most of them hit that tire
01:17:55wall on the outside of Turn 1. John Andretti
01:17:57though, with some fairly skillful driving, got
01:17:59the car saved, and continues in the
01:18:01fight. Continues running in fifth place.
01:18:03Let's get an update from Jan Beekus.
01:18:05Scott Brighton has just moved
01:18:07up to fifth place because of that John
01:18:09Andretti incident, and
01:18:11well, we haven't got the final update, because they are
01:18:13one lap apart. So when they come across the
01:18:15stripe, we'll be able to find out for sure. They
01:18:17attribute this to, one, they've been saving
01:18:19fuel, and two, Ian Ashdown, their
01:18:21engineer, has been really getting that car up to
01:18:23speed recently. So they're hoping, because
01:18:25they know that some of these other cars might not make it
01:18:27to the end on fuel, hoping to pick up some more
01:18:29positions. Paul? They keep a watch
01:18:31on Scott Brighton's pits as well.
01:18:33At the front of the order, it
01:18:35remains Michael, then Mario,
01:18:37then Bobby Rahal. Scott Pruitt
01:18:39is fourth. In fifth place is
01:18:41John Andretti, despite the spin.
01:18:43We'll be back with more right after this.
01:18:51With just over five laps to go,
01:18:53Michael Andretti is looking at a
01:18:55flag-to-flag win here in Toronto.
01:18:57Michael won this race in
01:18:591989. He's looking to
01:19:01repeat that feat again. The defending
01:19:03champion of this race, Al Unser Jr.,
01:19:05out very early on with a
01:19:07failure in the front suspension of his car,
01:19:09and a tap off the wall while trying
01:19:11a very brave braking maneuver
01:19:13from second place alongside Michael
01:19:15Andretti, but it sent little Al out.
01:19:17Mario Andretti was able to move up
01:19:19into second place, and has remained
01:19:21unchanged. As a matter of fact, the front
01:19:23of the order of this race has
01:19:25essentially remained unchanged
01:19:27since the fifth lap of the
01:19:29run when the yellow flag came out.
01:19:31They ran the yellow flag for some
01:19:33distance, went back to racing.
01:19:35Michael again was able to separate himself
01:19:37from the rest of the field, and then
01:19:39run away. He is now 16
01:19:41seconds ahead of the second
01:19:43place car that belongs to his father,
01:19:45Mario Andretti. Nothing makes your
01:19:47day easier than if your stiffest
01:19:49competition begins to fall by the wayside
01:19:51all by themselves, and really the threat
01:19:53from Al Jr., as soon as
01:19:55that ended, all the competition began
01:19:57to fall by the wayside, so really it made
01:19:59Michael's day a lot better. But now, let's not
01:20:01take anything away. He has
01:20:03been spectacular, and the fastest
01:20:05man here all weekend.
01:20:07And other competition going by the wayside.
01:20:09The entire Andretti team.
01:20:11Rick Mears, Emerson Fittipaldi.
01:20:13Mears with what looks like an engine
01:20:15that just decided to totally let go, and
01:20:17Fittipaldi reporting that his fuel pressure
01:20:19kept failing on him. They tried to repair it,
01:20:21couldn't get that job done. Ari
01:20:23Leyendijk with a most unusual
01:20:25series of problems too that finally put him
01:20:27out of the race. Eddie Cheever had a little
01:20:29short that affected his car,
01:20:31affected the shock absorber because it kept
01:20:33heating up back there. Yeah, the exhaust pipe
01:20:35in fact broke and ducted the hot air right
01:20:37out of the engine onto the shock absorber.
01:20:39So, that problem for the Cheever car,
01:20:41some rather substantive names
01:20:43out of the action, but some
01:20:45big names at the front of the order as well.
01:20:47Michael, then Mario, then Bobby Rahal.
01:20:49Scott Pruitt remains in 4th place.
01:20:51John Andretti, despite the spin,
01:20:53in 5th place. Scott Brayton
01:20:55runs now in 6th place.
01:20:57And that's a great little run for Scott
01:20:59Brayton. One small thing
01:21:01that may help Scott Pruitt a little bit, and I'm
01:21:03sure they figured this into their calculations.
01:21:05He is actually one lap down.
01:21:07So, as soon as Michael takes the
01:21:09checkered flag, there's one less full
01:21:11lap Pruitt has to actually run.
01:21:13But I'm sure they've already figured that
01:21:15into their calculations and they still think
01:21:17it's touch and go. There he is, the
01:21:19Budweiser No. 11 car of Scott Pruitt.
01:21:21As he runs back in 4th
01:21:23place, a lap off the lead.
01:21:25And as Derek Daly suggests,
01:21:27what that means is when the checkered flag
01:21:29comes out to Mario, he'll have
01:21:31one lap less to run.
01:21:33So, almost
01:21:352 miles short when the flag
01:21:37comes out to Michael.
01:21:39So, Scott Pruitt, a good, reliable
01:21:41run. He really hasn't had many engine
01:21:43problems, except one
01:21:45blow-up. But that was really caused by
01:21:47the gearbox, because all through the first day
01:21:49of qualifying and practice, as he came by
01:21:51our booth here past turn 11,
01:21:53it would actually pop out a 5th gear.
01:21:55And that doesn't happen too many times
01:21:57before the engine eventually cries enough.
01:21:59But that was the only mechanical problem
01:22:01Pruitt has had here all weekend.
01:22:03Now, just under 3 laps to go
01:22:05now for Michael Andretti. The car
01:22:07continues to run smoothly.
01:22:09Let's ride one of these laps with him, as Michael
01:22:11continues to ride very carefully
01:22:13around this circuit as well.
01:22:21Listen again to the car hit the ground on the heavy braking.
01:22:25Well, now that's interesting.
01:22:27You don't hear it as much now. You know why that is?
01:22:29It's lighter. Less fuel.
01:22:31The car is much lighter. It rides a little bit
01:22:33higher off the ground.
01:22:35You take on a full load of fuel here.
01:22:37You're taking on 40 gallons.
01:22:39That's over 200 pounds of fuel.
01:22:41So as the car slows down, or lowers
01:22:43down on fuel...
01:22:45That's another area right there
01:22:47that he did hit the ground earlier on.
01:22:49Particularly on 4th gear low.
01:22:51But now the ride height's higher, which actually
01:22:53changes the handling of the car, Paul, also.
01:22:55And of course, part of Michael's job,
01:22:57besides steering this car around,
01:22:59is at his left hand are some controls
01:23:01that'll allow him to change the way
01:23:03the car handles on the circuit.
01:23:05And he must do that anticipating
01:23:07that weight change in the fuel load.
01:23:09On the top of his dashboard,
01:23:11you can see the little square rectangular box.
01:23:13That's actually a digital readout
01:23:15that constantly changes as he's
01:23:17using the fuel, and tells him
01:23:19how efficiently he's driving
01:23:21that car. So a big information
01:23:23source inside this car,
01:23:25as well as the pit board they normally read
01:23:27as they flash past the pits here.
01:23:29A year ago at Detroit,
01:23:31Michael led flag to flag.
01:23:33Will he do it for the second time in his career?
01:23:35Looks very promising at the moment.
01:23:37With 101 laps complete,
01:23:39as Michael Andretti comes
01:23:41across the line yet again, and sees
01:23:43the white flag. 102
01:23:45laps now complete, and
01:23:47Michael Andretti starts on his final lap.
01:23:49But this could be a critical
01:23:51juncture in this race, because
01:23:53of the concern over fuel.
01:23:55His crew has reported out that they have been
01:23:57in fine shape all the way around.
01:23:59His wife Sandy, as Michael works his way
01:24:01with a dominant lead of 16
01:24:03seconds over his father Mario.
01:24:05But it looks like Newman Haas
01:24:07may be on their way to a 1-2 finish
01:24:09here at Exhibition Place
01:24:11in Toronto.
01:24:13There's dad, second place.
01:24:15There's dad, about
01:24:17to pass John Jones. The Buick's
01:24:19still lasting in this race, running very
01:24:21well. Probably not as much power
01:24:23as the Chevrolet's, because remember, that is
01:24:25a stock block engine in that
01:24:27Buick, in that R-Sierra
01:24:29car.
01:24:31John Jones runs in 10th place.
01:24:33That's a pretty good ride for that car. Here is
01:24:35Michael, the Kmart Haviland Lola.
01:24:37He works his way on the
01:24:39final lap now, and screams
01:24:41as fast as he can for the finish line.
01:24:43And
01:24:45Michael Andretti sees the twin
01:24:47checkered flags. Michael Andretti's
01:24:4918th career win,
01:24:51and coincidentally, the
01:24:53250th win for
01:24:55Goodyear Tires. Congratulations,
01:24:57Michael Andretti has set a
01:24:59new race record. 99.1
01:25:01miles an hour,
01:25:03eclipsing the old record by nearly
01:25:054 miles an hour.
01:25:07A great day for Newman Haas.
01:25:09Fuel never figured into
01:25:11the mix for Michael. Mario Andretti
01:25:13across the line in second place,
01:25:15and Bobby Rahal will bring
01:25:17home his car in third position,
01:25:19and retain the
01:25:21lead in the points. Scott
01:25:23Pruitt, the big question mark? Well,
01:25:25the flag with the tremendous advantage
01:25:27that Michael had may work to Scott's
01:25:29advantage, because he may be able to
01:25:31get that car across the line, though it
01:25:33would come across on vapor.
01:25:35As Scott Pruitt comes across,
01:25:37Bobby Rahal finishes in third,
01:25:39Pruitt for fourth, John Andretti for
01:25:41fifth. Scott Brayton in sixth,
01:25:43and in seventh place unofficially is Scott
01:25:45Goodyear, followed by Mike Groff
01:25:47and Jeff Andretti.
01:25:49For the
01:25:51second time in his career, Michael Andretti
01:25:53has won at Exhibition
01:25:55Place in Toronto. In three of
01:25:57Michael's last eight wins,
01:25:59he has had his father come home
01:26:01in second place, right behind
01:26:03him, just as he has done today.
01:26:05Now Michael Andretti is with
01:26:07our Gary Gerald.
01:26:09Well, Michael Andretti
01:26:11on the near side, Mario Andretti
01:26:13on the other side. It's a 1-2 finish, of course.
01:26:15Congratulations on number four.
01:26:17Wire to wire, and no fuel
01:26:19problems? Is that right? No fuel problems.
01:26:21We just conserved all day,
01:26:23and when a car works as good,
01:26:25you can conserve, and I've told you that before.
01:26:27You come into this one
01:26:29having won poles three other times
01:26:31this year, but unable to finish those races.
01:26:33This time, there didn't appear to be
01:26:35any problems. No problems at all.
01:26:37They came around, the car ran
01:26:39great all day, and the crew did
01:26:41a great job in the pits, and
01:26:43all they did the last half of the race is pray and pray
01:26:45that the car held together.
01:26:47What was the biggest concern for you?
01:26:49Just to keep it straight and not make
01:26:51any stupid mistakes, and
01:26:53again, pray that the car finishes.
01:26:55And your dad doing an interview on your left,
01:26:57nice to know that he's the guy in your mirrors,
01:26:59not a Rahal, not a Fittipaldi, a mirror
01:27:01of some of those other ones. It just makes it even more
01:27:03special, you know, another 1-2 for us.
01:27:05It's just great. Well, we
01:27:07congratulate both of these Andrettis on a
01:27:091-2 finish. Michael, good job.
01:27:11Thanks, Gary. Alright, Michael Andretti,
01:27:13Mario Andretti, savoring a triumph
01:27:15here on this circuit at Toronto.
01:27:17Now with his fourth win, Michael is
01:27:19the only multiple winner this
01:27:21year. Another fellow had his problems
01:27:23but still finished is Scott Pruitt.
01:27:27Scott Pruitt with your best finish ever.
01:27:29You didn't think you were going to make it on fuel, though?
01:27:31Well, there was a little bit of a question, but, you know,
01:27:33I really have to say thanks to the guys. We've been working real hard.
01:27:35Everybody on the Budweiser True Sports team.
01:27:37And, you know, it was kind of touch
01:27:39and go there for a while. The car was working great,
01:27:41but we had to cut back on fuel, and
01:27:43at least we finished one. I mean, I talked to
01:27:45Steve here in the pits, and he said,
01:27:47man, we're not going to make it.
01:27:49Did you know that in the car? Well, he was
01:27:51talking to me back and forth, and we kept dropping
01:27:53RPM, dropping RPM back, leaning it out,
01:27:55and, you know, fortunately,
01:27:57you know, things went our way today.
01:27:59We stayed out of trouble, kept the car in good shape,
01:28:01and, like I said, everybody
01:28:03on the Budweiser team did a
01:28:05great job today. I mean, we had good pit stops,
01:28:07and looking forward to the next one.
01:28:09Congratulations. Thank you.
01:28:11Scott Pruitt with his best finish
01:28:13this season. Well, we take a look
01:28:15down through the final standings. Mario Michael,
01:28:17Bobby Rahal, Pruitt, then
01:28:19John Andretti, Scott Braden, Scott
01:28:21Goodyear. Scott's with a great run. Mike Gropp
01:28:23has the best finish this year for
01:28:25A.J. Voigt Racing. Jeff Andretti with
01:28:27a nice run. John Jones with a good
01:28:29run here today. We look down through the rest
01:28:31of the order. The most unusual race
01:28:33that saw names like Unser Jr.,
01:28:35Mears, Fittipaldi, Leyandyk
01:28:37out in the early going. And they made
01:28:39things a little bit easier for Michael,
01:28:41but let's not take anything away.
01:28:43We saw today an example of the perfect
01:28:45package working. The package
01:28:47of the engine, the car, the
01:28:49team, and the driver. Really, Michael
01:28:51is the cream of the crop at the moment.
01:28:53Well, Bobby Rahal continues to lead
01:28:55in the points, but Michael...

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