Michael Andretti pulled off a winat Elkhart Lake today is what is the wildest, craziest IndyCarrace in recent memory. Andretti inherited the lead after AlUnser Jr., who seemed to have the race under control, blew hisIlmor/Mercedes engine at Canada Corner on the last lap inballistic fashion.

"We had a lucky day today," Andretti said, "We have to winthe next two races to have any chances, so I’m going to justkeep plugging away. It’s great to win a sponsor’s race. In fact,all of my wins (Nazareth, Milwaukee and Detroit) have beensponsor or owner-related."

"This was a shame for Al, and Christian, too," Michaelcontinued, "In 1989, I ran out of fuel in the exact same spot asJunior. I don’t think I could have caught either one of them. Asfor the decision to use the harder compound tires, the yellowshurt our choice. We needed a long stint. A long time without ayellow would have been in our favor."

"This track is just flat unlucky for me," a diappointed UnserJr. commented, "The black cloud started in 1982, when I firstraced here in a Can-Am race. I sat on the pole and was leadingthe race when I broke on the second lap. Then, in 1985, I had a20-second lead and ended up breaking my leg. If I can ever makeit past ‘Canada Corner’ (Turn 12) on the last lap when I’mleading the race, then, I know I’ll be in victory lane."

The race started out with Zanardi taking out Gil de Ferran inturn 3 after they had gone side-by-side through turns 1 and 2.Zanardi pinched off de Ferran on the outside going into threeand they touched wheels sending Gil off into the grass and thegravel trap, which ended his day and pretty much dashed hischances for the championship.

"My perspective of this is the reality of what happened," deFerran said, "I don’t know what his (Zanardi’s) problem was. Hejust decided to move over and knock me out. It was not as if Ijust came on the scene. There was plenty of room for both of usand he knew that and he knew I was there. I just don’tunderstand what he was thinking."

"They should have black-flagged him for that stunt," said aan upset de Ferran, "I’m out, and he should be, too. It wasunsporting and the worst blatant action I’ve seen in my twoyears on the circuit. We were side- by-side and he takes me out.It was stupid. I’m not going to talk to him about it. That’s thestewards’ job, but in my opinion, he should have beendisqualified."

Zanardi ended up finishing on the podium, in third place

"To be honest, I don’t know how I did it," Zanardi said. "Wesimply did not have what we had yesterday [Saturday]. I wasstrong in the braking areas, but I didn’t have anything on thestraights. It’s great to go home with a third-place finish. Iwould have liked to score a third place in another way. I wouldprefer to pass than to see someone like Al stopped on thetrack."

There was a lot of rubbing and touching going on in thatfirst lap which also saw Jan Magnussen touch wheels with BobbyRahal and Jan got dumped into the gravel and out of the race.Jan had been the fastest car in the Sunday morning warm-up andhad high hopes for a good finish.

"I can’t help but be disappointed," Magnussen said, "We had agood starting position and the car was set up beautifully forthe race. When Zanardi and de Ferran tangled (on the first lap),there was a lot of dust flying and I pulled out to go around.Someone ran over my right front wheel. There was a lot of actiongoing into that turn. I guess I was just at the wrong place atthe wrong time. I moved to avoid a problem and made a new one, Iguess."

Rahal ended up finishing second in the Road America Melee."That was exciting," David Letterman said, "I couldn’t believehow hard the guys were driving today. The competition in IndyCaris incredible. It was fun to be here and see Bobby back on thepodium. I’m also promoting Herta-mania. I think Bryan drove atremendous race, too."

David Letterman is a "silent" partner/owner in the RahalRacing organization.

After all the first-lap mess, Christian Fittipaldi foundhimself in the lead and Zanardi found himself in a briefoff-track excursion and back to 9th, after the de Ferranincident.

We also saw two cars get upside down and Andre Ribeiro takeout three cars during this bump-and-grind affair. Andre made nofriends today and several of the drivers had less than happycomments for his driving style.

"The track is slippery and that made it very, verydifficult," Andre said, "There was just no grip out there. AtCanada Corner Mark (Blundell) overtook me and on the exit, Itried to get back in front of him. I didn’t see Mauricio(Gugelmin), and our front wheels touched. (On the incident withGreg Moore) "He tried to put his car where there was no space. Ididn’t see him because he was behind me."

"Andre got by me on a restart," said Moore, of the incident,"but a few laps later I had a clear run at him and wascompletely beside him. He put me into the fence at 190 mph andthat’s something that you just don’t do. As soon as I hit thewall it ripped the whole right side of and I was just apassenger. I don’t like that feeling and don’t want to gothrough it again."

The drivers are much more gentle after the race is over andhave time to think.

"He's driving like a madman out there," said Robby Gordon,who was an eye witness to the incident with Ribeiro and GregMoore. Ribeiro drove Moore off the track and into the wallapproaching Canada corner.

Moore's car rode the cement wall for 100 feet and also cameclose to going over when the nose of his car jumped up about 3-4feet off the ground. Moore then crossed the track at the apex ofCanada corner, just missing Ribeiro and Mark Blundell and thencame to rest in the tires at the end of the gravel pit.

Fortunately, no one was hurt today.

The worst accident is when Paul Tracy touched wheels withParker Johnstone on the last lap going into turn 1. Thatincident sent Johnstone into the gravel trap sideways and hiscar flipped over 1-1/2 times.

Davy Jones also flipped upside-down in what at first look,appeared to be a terrible accident. "It’s really pretty silly,"Davy said, "There was a full course yellow, and when Tracy wentoff the track, he kicked up a lot of dirt. I had a lot of wheelspin, and as I attempted to correct it, the car went off thetrack and into the inside grass. The nose went into the tirebarrier head-on and caused me to flip over. It looked worse thanit really was!"

Parker was also okay, but unavailable for comment, due to thefact that he was being checked out by the IndyCar SafetyTeam.

Most-Notable result of the weekend is from the Toyota-poweredteams. AAR/Eagle driver, Juan Manuel Fangio II, finished aToyota-record high, 8th place, while Max Papis finished 9th.

In addition to a couple of tons of bratwurst being barbequedtoday at Elkhart Lake, including Unser Jr.'s Mercedes engine,Christian Fittipaldi roasted a Ford/Cosworth while running insecond late in the race. Robby Gordon had electrical problemsthe second half of the race and had absolutely nothing good tosay about the Ford/Cosworth powerplant.

"It (the engine) runs like a pig on the straights," said afrustrated Gordon as he also has confirmed his plans to takeover Kyle Petty's position with the NASCAR Sabco team. It isreported that Robby will sign a six-year contract with Sabco andalso run the Indy 500 in 1997 with Coors sponsorship.

It is also rumored that Tony George influenced Robby'sdecision with an unconfirmed $1 million bonus.