Columnist Ron Kantowski: Books almost got burned on Indy 500

Thursday, June 3, 1999 | 10:33 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's notes column appears Tuesday and Thursday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or 259-4088.

When Robby Gordon's car ran out of fuel almost within sight of the checkered flag at the Indy 500 Sunday, Indy Racing League founder Tony George was spared the embarrassment of having a regular in the rival Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) series win the IRL's marquee event.

But the guys who operate Las Vegas' sports books will tell you that saving face pales in comparison to saving money.

Had Gordon's engine not sputtered and stammered like an also-ran in the National Spelling Bee, the books would have taken a pounding on the Indy 500.

The consensus opening line on Gordon was 45-1 and the wiseguys, putting stock in Gordon's talent and the deep pockets of his car owner, John Menard, jumped all over him.

Gordon had so little time in the car (a grand total of four laps) before posting the fourth-quickest speed in time trials that he wouldn't have qualified for the set of bath towels or whatever you get these days for taking a test drive at your local dealer. Still, he dropped to 25-1, then to 20-1 and finally to 12-1, as the wagers on Gordon, some of them significant, kept moving the line.

No matter. Jim Nabors was singing "Back Home Again in Indiana" and the Gordon money was still coming in.

As a result, an event that generates a relatively small handle had the books staring at a huge loss.

"It would have been pretty big," said a spokesman at the Imperial Palace, who said most Las Vegas books were in the same situation. "For us, it would have been like (losing) a major football decision."

Alas, while Gordon wound up looking pretty fuelish at the end, the betting parlors did not. Race winner Kenny Brack was a 40-1 choice at some spots but generated little action.

As a result, most books made money on the race.

* FOREIGN SUBSTANCE: One of the big beefs Indianapolis Motor Speedway chief Tony George had with the rival CART series before forming the Indy Racing League and dividing American open-wheel racing is that CART had become top heavy with foreign drivers.

Curiously, Saturday's CART race in St. Louis was won by an American driver (Michael Andretti) in an American-built chassis (Swift) while Sunday's Indy 500 went to a Swede (Kenny Brack) in an Italian chassis (Dallara).

Maybe the two leagues aren't as different as George would have you believe.

* STICKS AND STONES: Anybody who doesn't believe there's not a lot to do in South Bend, Ind., between Notre Dame football games and shoveling snow from the sidewalks should consider the nature of the offense that got four Cal State Fullerton baseball players sent home from an NCAA baseball tournament super regional Wednesday.

The four Titans were disciplined for throwing rocks off a downtown building.

Nobody was injured or hit, so perhaps that explains why Adam Johnson and Marco Hanlon were suspended -- they're pitchers and they missed.

On the positive side, at least the chamber of commerce can finally proclaim that "South Bend Rocks!"

* ATHLETE'S FEAT: It went virtually unnoticed in February when it happened, but 43-year-old Lindsay Nielsen of Minneapolis established a new standard for a woman amputee by finishing the Las Vegas Marathon in 4:17:44.

It was no ordinary record for this extraordinary athlete. Nielsen broke the record by an astounding 14 minutes. Not seconds, minutes. And here you thought Robby Gordon was haulin' butt in the Indy 500.

Nielsen, a psychotherapist and the mother of two, is featured in this week's "Faces in the Crowd" in Sports Illustrated.

* WYNALDA ON THE MOVE: Las Vegas resident Eric Wynalda, the U.S. National Soccer Team's all-time leading goal-scorer with 32, has been traded to Major League Soccer's Miami Fusion which is appropriate, given that's what it took to repair the ligaments in his injured left knee.

Wynalda has not played for the San Jose Clash of the MLS since undergoing surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament and torn medial meniscus in his left knee on March 10.

Although he won't turn 30 until June 9, most soccer experts figure the personable Wynalda's days as a national team striker are numbered -- if not over altogether -- due to the injury.

* PARTING SHOT: Jim Colletto, a former Purdue football coach and assistant at Arizona State and Ohio State, on his 11-year-old son's reaction after he took the Boilermakers head job: "He said, 'Gosh, Dad, I guess that means we're not going to any more bowl games.' "