Colombian trying to climb back to top

Friday, Feb. 27, 1998 | 12:01 p.m.

Roberto Guerrero looked at his watch and stirred just a bit as he thought about the months ahead.

On his mind was the 1998 racing season, one he hopes will put him at the top of the list of prime-time players in the Pep Boys Indy Racing League.

He is 39 and stoked with a desire few people can fully appreciate. Guerrero has been to the mountaintop, and he knows that the view is dazzling. He wants to go back.

Not so long ago, people looked at the friendly native of Medellin, Colombia, and figured he would be a cinch for a couple of Indy 500 wins, maybe more. The early stage of his Indy career had been phenomenal; perhaps that's what has made the middle stages so numbingly frustrating.

He arrived in Indianapolis in 1984, following success in Formula 3 and Formula 2 racing in Europe. He was an immediate hit at the Brickyard, qualifying well and running a splendid race that ended with a second-place finish behind Rick Mears.

It was the best finish by a rookie at Indianapolis since Graham Hill in 1966. Guerrero was the new star.

He continued his climb that season by clinching the PPG Cup series rookie of the year honors, and followed with a third-place finish at Indy in 1985 and a fourth in 1986.

"The first four years were awesome," Guerrero said softly, his smile fading only a little bit as he finished his sentence. "But then it was back to reality."

For Guerrero, reality returned with a 1987 season filled with disappointment and near-tragedy. While he scored his first two championship wins that season, that's not what he - and the rest of the racing world - remembers.

Guerrero was leading the Indy 500 when he headed for the pits for his final stop with victory seemingly within his grasp. But his clutch pedal, damaged from earlier contact with Tony Bettenhausen's loose tire and wheel, was balky as the car came off the jacks.

It stalled, and as his frantic crew scrambled to restart the engine, Al Unser Sr. swept past and went on to take his fourth Indianapolis victory.

Reality check No. 2 came Sept. 10, 1987, when Guerrero was critically injured during testing at Indianapolis. Comatose and near death for weeks, he fought back to make a triumphant return to racing at the 1988 Indianapolis 500, only to be forced out after colliding with a spinning Scott Brayton on the opening lap.

Guerrero has struggled since. At the 1992 Indianapolis 500, for example, he qualified on the pole, and on an extremely cold race morning brought the field around for its second parade lap.

As he touched the throttle on the backstretch, the cold tires lost their grip, sending him spinning into the wall before the race had started.

"I thought I was in a nightmare," he said. "But I never woke up."

Through it all, Guerrero never lost his smile or his sense of humor. Despite obstacles and heartache, he has never given up on himself, even when others have.

Allan Pagan believed in him. Pagan and his father, Jack, hail from Corpus Christi, Texas, and they got into Indy racing in 1993 with Jeff Andretti. Less than a year later, Allan Pagan hooked up with Guerrero, and the Texan was so taken with the driver that they forged a strong relationship.

"I've told Roberto that as long as I've got a seat he's got a ride," said the younger Pagan, his voice filled with conviction.

With the introduction of the new IRL equipment in 1997, the team struggled early. But it switched to Aurora power at midseason, and the results were immediate and dramatic.

"We had a shot at winning at (Pikes Peak), led at Charlotte," Pagan said. "At Las Vegas, we had a green-flag pit stop for a tire that cost us a shot at the win. Just with a couple of even breaks, and we can be there."

That didn't happen last month, in the season-opening Indy 200.

Guerrero started sixth and stormed into the lead early in the race. But just 13 laps into the event, he was sidelined after the lapped car of Marco Greco hit him.

But one more bad break did not dull the enthusiasm of Pagan.

"I really feel like our chemistry is good," he said. "I'm more confident now than I've been in a long, long time."