Page B2
June 2,1999
«Elje ÿortlarà ® b«flw r
Portland Had Spurs Reeling Before
Elliott’s Game-Winning Shot
Brack Following in
Foyt’s Footsteps
with Indy 500 Win
B r u c e M a r t in ___________
S ports Tic K i r
IN D IA N A P O L IS (T ick er) —
K enny B rack n ev e r w as able to
find a F orm ula O ne ride that suited
him , so he end ed up com ing to the
U nited S tates three years ago. O n
S unday, the n ativ e o f S w eden w on
the m o st fam ous race in the w orld
in the 83rd In d ian a p o lis 500.
“ I had w on a lot o f races in
E urope, and I had testin g in F o r­
m ula O ne, but it d id n ’t w ork o u t,”
B rack said. “ I cam e ov er here and
looked at bo th IRL and C A R T ,
and an o p p o rtu n ity aro se for m e in
the IRL.
“This has been the biggest race o f
my life and nothing com pares to it.”
It w as also the biggest paycheck
o f B ra c k ’s life as the victory w as
w orth $ 1 ,4 6 5 ,1 9 0 o f the larg est
p u rse in m o to rsp o rts history.
T he total 1999 Indianapolis 500
p urse o f $ 9 ,047,150 w as an ev en t
and m o to rsp o rts record. T he p re ­
v io u s
event
re c o rd
w as
$ 8 ,7 2 2 ,1 5 0 , se t b y la st y e a r ’s
M em orial D ay classic. B ra c k ’s
w in n e r’s p u rse w as th e seco n d
larg est in event h isto ry , trailin g
only the $ 1 ,568,150 w on by A rie
L u y en d y k in 1997.
O ne day afte r w inning the b ig ­
g est race o f his life, B rack ad m it­
ted he w as still overw h elm ed by it
all. A lthough the q uiet driv er from
S w eden ex h ib its suprem e c o n fi­
dence in his d riv in g a b ility , o f f the
track he does not co n sid er h im se lf
a celeb rity .
T h a t all ch a n g ed o n S unday
w hen he led six tim es for 66 laps
and took th e lead for good w hen
R obby G ordon ran out o f fuel and
Bv KELLEY SHANNON____________
h ad to p it at the end o f lap 198.
O n M onday, B rack w as co n ­
tin u in g to g rope w ith the dem ands
O T he A s so ciate d P ress
on his tim e.
“ I t’s b een ch ao tic, b ut I hope
i t ’s over so o n ,” B rack said. "1 have
a rac e in a w eek and I have to get
b ack in focus. I feel like I’m not
p le a s in g e v e r y o n e . T h e re are
p eo p le I c a n ’t get to, and peo p le
w ho c a n ’t get to me.
“ I race b ec au se I w ant to race.
T h a t’s m y o n ly concern. But this
has been the b ig g est race o f m y
life and n o th in g co m p ares to it.”
A fter w in n in g the IRL ch am p i­
o n sh ip in 1998, B ra c k ’s season
beg an slo w ly as he w as tak en out
in crash es at D isney W orld and
P hoenix. D uring q ualifications for
the In d ian ap o lis 500, he ran eighth
and w as far from the focus.
That was fine w ith him, however.
“ I ’m v ery h ap p y th e seaso n
sta rted o f f the w ay it d id ,” B rack
said. “ It gav e m e a lot o f p eace and
q u ie t, and tim e to p rep are. I ’ve
sta y ed hom e, I ’ve fo cu sed on this
rac e, and I th in k i t ’s p aid off. I
th in k you g et g o o d at w h atev er
The P ortlandT rail Blazers dom i­
nated the San A ntonio Spurs for 47
m inutes, 51 seconds before every­
thing cam e crashing dow n w ith Sean
E lliott’s off-balance, gam e-w inning
3-po inter.
A fter enjoying an 18-pom t lead,
and appearing as though they w ere
headed to a victory on San A ntonio ’ s
home court, the Blazers w atched their
lead evaporate M onday.
The Spurs edged closer as the
clock ran down and finished the game
w ith a 10-3 run capped by E llio tt’s
bom b from the sideline as P ortland’s
Rasheed W allace surged toward him
“T hat last shot by Sean Elliott was
in cred ib le,” B lazers coach M ike
Dunleavy said. “I ’d give him a hun­
dred bucks to see him m ake that shot
again. It was one o f those shots you
dream about m aking.”
The Spurs took their only lead o f
the gam e on Elliott’s sixth 3-pointer
and won 86-85 to take a 2-0 lead in the
best-of-7 W estern Conference finals.
G am e 3 is Friday at Portland’s
y ou focus o n .”
B rack also b eliev es it’s a b e n ­
efit that team ow n er A. J. Foyt grabs
fo r th e sp o tlig h t, d eflectin g som e
o f th e atten tio n aw ay from the
driv er.
“ I en jo y th at A .J. g o t a lot o f
atte n tio n y e ste rd a y ,” B rack said.
“ H e d eserv ed it. H e has w on m ore
races than ev e ry o n e.”
Foyt w as the first four-tim e w in ­
n er o f th e In d ian ap o lis 500 and
w on 67 Indy car races in his s to ­
ried career. B rack b ecam e the all-
tim e w in n in g d riv er in the IR L ’s
b r ie f h isto ry w ith his fourth w in.
Rose Garden.
T h o u g h m o st B la z e r s -S p u r s
gam es this season have been close,
D unleavy described M onday’s o ut­
com e as “ gut-w renching.”
A dejected Isaiah Rider said. “ W e
choked. W e cho k ed .”
“This was our game. W e should
have won it,’ ’ added Blazers forw ard
Brian Grant. “ It ju st hurts right now .”
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said
the hard-fought gam e was typical o f
the team s this season.
“This was like every game w e’ve
had with Portland all year. It was a
war, ” he said. “W e go after each other. ”
Jim Jackson and W alt W illiam s
both m issed shots in the final sec­
onds for Portland. Jackson tried to
take it to the basket and draw contact
but was forced into a short jum per.
Mariners 10
Orioles 6
AP Photo by Eric Gay
San Antonio Spurs center David Robinson (5 0 ) Is double-teamed by Portland Trail Blazers' Kelvin Cato, center, and
Stacy Augmon as he goes for the basket In the second quarter of Game 2 of the NBA Western Conference Finals
Monday. May 31, 1999, In San Antonio.
N o foul was called.
“ I d e fin ite ly g o t th e lo o k I
w anted,” Jackson said. “I f the re f
doesn ’ t call it, no m atter w hat I think,
it w asn ’t a foul.”
W illiam s then m issed w ith the
rebound.
The Trail Blazers came out strong
and led 31 -20 after the first quarter and
48-34 at halftime. Portland upped its
lead to 52-34 early in the third quarter.
But then the Spurs w ent to w ork
chipping away. A 14-0 run m idw ay
through the third quarter took a big
chunk out o f the lead and pulled the
Spurs w ithin 56-51. But the Blazers
kept holding San A ntonio back and
led 67-60 entering the final quarter.
“ It’s definitely d isappointing,”
Portland guard G reg A nthony said.
“This w as possibly a gift, but that’s
basketball. O ur guys battled, but they
cam e out w ith the p lay s.”
G rant said losing the large lead
w as w here the Blazers lost the game,
not sim ply on E lliott’s huge shot.
“ W e had a big lead. They cut it.
T h at’s w here the gam e was lost, ’ ’ he
said. “W e ju st d id n ’t close it o u t.”
The Blazers can only hope to put
the devastating defeat behind them
as the series shifts to Portland. T hey’ll
have until Friday to try and do it.
“They d o n ’t have the upper hand
on u s,” A nthony said. “ W e’ll see
them on Friday.”
Bv JIM COLR_____________________
O T he A ssociated
P ress
As well as Ken Griffey Jr. is swing­
ing the bat, Alex Rodriguez is hitting
even better.
In 16 games since returning fol­
lowing knee surgery, the A ll-Star
shortstop has eight home runs and the
Mariners are 11-5 despite their over­
all 6.16 ERA, worst in the majors.
O n M onday night, Rodriguez hit
two hom ers in the M ariners’ 10-6
victory over the Baltim ore Orioles.
G riffey hit his m ajor league-leading
20th and Butch Huskey also homered.
Rodriguez had a three-run hom er
in a six-run second inning, and led
o ff the sixth w ith another blast for his
second tw o-hom er gam e since com ­
ing o ff the disabled list M ay 14.
Rodnguez is making up for lost time.
H e’s hitting .413 (26-for-63) with seven
doubles, 16 RBIs and 25 runs scored
since starting the season O-for-6.
“I feel like I can be better,"Rodnguez
said. “ I have some pretty good numbers
to show for it, but I’m not quite as
comfortable as I need to be.”
Rodriguez, 23, norm ally doesn’t
show m uch em otion on the field, but
he did in the first inning after home-
plate um pire Tim W elke called him
out on strikes.
“I felt like I was getting perfect pitches
or my vision wasn’t real good,” he said.
“I thought they were questionable strikes.
But I got even. I felt I got some good
pitches to hit after that and drove ’em
out o f the park.”
The Mariners bounced back impres­
sively after losing to Tampa Bay 15-7
on Sunday night. The four homers give
them a total o f 102 in their first 50
games, making them the fastest team to
get 100 homers.
They also tied the major league record
for homers in a month with 58, matching
the Orioles’ mark set in May 1987.
The Mariners move from die cozy
Kmgdome to new Safeco Field on July
15. Will they hit home runs at such a
prodigious pace when they move across
the street?
“We can hit homers anywhere,”
Huskey said. “W e’ve proved that,"
CONFERENCE
FINALS SERIES
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Game 1: May 29
San Antonio 80, Portland 76
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