Motor Racing Roundup : On Last Attempt, Vogler Bumps Back

Gordon Johncock’s momentary joy turned to despair Sunday as Rich Vogler bumped the two-time champion from the Indianapolis 500 on the final qualification attempt.

Three-time winner Johnny Rutherford was able to make it into the 33-car field, along with Stan Fox, Howdy Holmes and Ludwig Heimrath Jr. of Canada.

Vogler barely beat the final gun at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He was the final driver with an opportunity to get into the race.

Only minutes earlier, he was bumped by Johncock, who on his third and final attempt managed a four-lap average of 206.693 m.p.h.

But Vogler, who was waiting impatiently with his first-week qualifying speed of 206.463, was ready. His team put his backup car into the qualifying line and he was able to get onto the 2 1/2-mile oval just in time.

His 10-mile run at 207.126 knocked the 51-year-old Johncock out.

Among the drivers who fell short on qualifying attempts Sunday were Gary Bettenhausen, Pancho Carter and Johnny Parsons, who tagged the third-turn wall after jumping into one of A.J. Foyt’s cars for a qualifying attempt with about 30 minutes remaining.

Parsons, who also bounced off the wall in another car on Saturday, was not injured. Ed Pimm also went into the wall but did not appear to be injured.

Rutherford, who failed to complete two previous qualifying tries and crashed his car last week, was the day’s first qualifier with a four-lap average of 208.442 m.p.h.

Holmes made it with an average of 206.970, and Fox became the 33rd qualifier and the fastest of the day at 208.578. Heimrath earned his start by bumping rookie Scott Atchison, who qualified at 205.142.

The field average of 210.188 m.p.h. was short of the record 210.358 in 1986.

Terry Labonte took the lead in the final 10-lap sprint in The Winston at Charlotte Motor Speedway to become the fourth different winner in the four-year history of the NASCAR $600,000 winners-only race.

Labonte averaged 139.228 m.p.h. He finished fifth in the first 75-lap segment of the race, then was seventh in the 50-lap second segment.

In the final 10 laps, Labonte, driving a Chevrolet, overtook Bill Elliott near the end of the second lap and beat Sterling Marlin in an Oldsmobile by .96 seconds to earn $200,000.

Davey Allison was third and Elliott fourth, both in Fords. Bobby Allison, in a Buick, was fifth.

Davey Allison won $20,000 for winning the race’s first segment. Elliott also won $20,000 by holding off Lake Speed in the second segment to win by 1.91 seconds.

Earlier, Marlin won the $30,000 top prize in the Winston Open, a victory that was overshadowed when Brad Noffsinger hit the wall, slamming into a pace car and injuring a security guard standing in front of the car.

Donald Ivey, 41, of Charlotte, suffered a broken left ankle, and was taken to a Charlotte hospital. Noffsinger was later released from the infield hospital after being shaken up.

INDIANAPOLIS 500 LINEUP

No.Driver (Hometown), Car-Eng. Speed FIRST ROW 5.Rick Mears (Bakersfield), Penske-Chevy 219.198 9.Danny Sullivan (Louisville), Penske-Chevy 216.214 1.Al Unser (Albuquerque, N.M.), Penske-Chevy 215.270 SECOND ROW 6.Mario Andretti (Nazareth, Pa.), Lola-Chevy 214.692 3.Al Unser Jr. (Albuquerque, N.M.), March-Chevy 214.186 7.Arie Luyendyk (Netherlands), Lola-Cosworth 213.611 THIRD ROW 91.Scott Brayton (Coldwater, Mich.), Lola-Buick 212.624 20.Emerson Fittipaldi (Brazil), March-Chevy 212.512 10.Derek Daly (Ireland), Lola-Cosworth 212.295 FOURTH ROW 18.Michael Andretti (Nazareth, Pa.), March-Cosw. 210.183 24.Randy Lewis (Hillsborough, Calif.), Lola-Cosworth 209.774 12.Roberto Guerrero (Colombia), Lola-Cosworth 209.633 FIFTH ROW 11.Kevin Cogan (Palos Verdes), March-Cosworth 209.552 81.Tom Sneva (Paradise Valley, Ariz.), Lola-Judd 208.659 97.Phil Krueger (Indianapolis), March-Cosworth 208.212 SIXTH ROW 22.Dick Simon (Capistrano Beach), Lola-Cosworth 207.555 8.Teo Fabi (Italy), March-Porsche 207.244 29.Rich Vogler (Indianapolis), March-Cosworth 206.463 SEVENTH ROW 55. *Scott Atchison (Bakersfield), March-Cosw. 205.142 15. Jim Crawford (Scotland), Lola-Buick 210.564 4. Bobby Rahal (Dublin, Ohio), Lola-Judd 208.526 EIGHTH ROW 30. Raul Boesel (Brazil), March-Cosworth 211.058 92. Dominic Dobson (Sonoma, Calif.), Lola-Cosw. 210.096 41. A.J. Foyt (Houston), Lola-Cosworth 209.696 NINTH ROW 56. *Bill Vukovich III (Crsgld, Calif.), March-Cosw. 208.545 16. Tony Bettenhausen (Indianapolis), Lola-Cosw. 208.342 23. *Tero Palmroth (Finland), Lola-Cosworth 208.001 TENTH ROW 35. Steve Chassey (Carmel, Ind.), Lola-Cosworth 207.951 98. *John Andretti (Indianapolis), Lola-Cosworth 207.894 48. *Rocky Moran (Pasadena), March-Cosworth 207.181 ELEVENTH ROW 71. Ludwig Heimrath Jr. (Canada,) Lola-Cosworth 207.215 29. Rich Vogler (Indianapolis), March-Cosworth.. 207.126 21. Howdy Holmes (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Mrch-Cosw 206.970

*--Rookie Average speed of field--210.188