SAFE SUNDAY DRIVER WINS; BRIT AVOIDS WOES, MOVES AT RIGHT TIME.

Byline: Bill Schlotter Daily News Staff Writer

Like most 500-mile races, Sunday's Marlboro 500 at the California Speedway was a contest of attrition.

So while those around him were blowing engines, popping tires and running into things, British driver Mark Blundell did what he usually does in such survival-of-the-fittest events: He found a safe place to hide for most of the race, then made his move at the very end.

It was a winning strategy for Blundell, who pounced with 10 laps to go and beat runner-up Jimmy Vasser to the finish line by just under a second.

Adrian Fernandez was third in a race in which just 15 of the 27 cars that started finished. Pole-winner Mauricio Gugelmin, who scorched the track with speeds over 240 mph in practice and qualifying, was fourth and Bobby Rahal was fifth.

Blundell spent most of the day running between third and eighth, avoiding the blistered tires, crashes and overheated-engine problems that cost so many of his competitors.

And by lap 239 of the 250-lap race, he had moved to third place behind leader Greg Moore and Vasser.

So when Moore's engine suddenly blew and Vasser slowed, expecting a caution flag, Blundell was ready to seize the opportunity.

``I was on the radio with my crew,'' Blundell said. ``They said, `There's no flag, there's nothing going on - go for it.' ''

Blundell shot by Vasser and the broken-down Moore and took the lead.

``After that, I just kept the hammer down hard and the car was very, very good,'' said Blundell, who earned his third win this season.

Vasser said he felt cheated - not by Blundell, but by CART officials who he felt should have waved the caution flag after Moore's engine erupted in flames and smoke.

``In every other situation I've been in like that, it's resulted in yellow (caution flag),'' Vasser said. ``In my opinion, CART made a pretty big mistake there.''

Vasser pushed his car hard over the final 10 laps in a vain attempt to catch Blundell. In fact, he almost pushed too hard.

``I got a little dizzy when I got out of the car (after the race),'' Vasser said. ``I held my breath those final 10 laps. I don't think I was getting enough oxygen.''

While Blundell was biding his time, seven other drivers held the lead in the 100-degree heat. And one-by-one, his opponents fell by the way.

The first 50 laps - 31 of them run under the caution flag - took the largest toll. In fact, the race started under yellow after Juan Fangio's Toyota engine erupted in flames just after the prerace parade lap.

``We had a little problem with the oil,'' Fangio said. ``The pressure went down and that was it.''

One lap after coming out of the first caution period, Paul Tracy hit the wall in Turn 4 and the pack did nine more laps under yellow while crews cleaned up debris.

The worst of the day's accidents, in which no one was seriously injured, involved Arie Luyendyk and Arnd Meier. Meier spun out in Turn 4 and collided with Luyendyk, forcing him into the wall where Meier's car hit him again.

Luyendyk, who was driving for CART points champion Alex Zanardi, was momentarily knocked unconscious and was taken to Loma Linda Medical Center where X-rays and a CAT scan revealed no serious injury.

Meier was treated for neck soreness at the racetrack infirmary and released. Luyendyk was also expected to be released late Sunday.

``I had a bit of an oversteer,'' Meier said. ``I couldn't hold the car and I ended up going right up the track and into Arie Luyendyk. I'm glad Arie will be OK.''

After the yellow flags, Michael Andretti was the most convincing early leader. But his car was overheating to a dangerous level and his crew pulled him off the track.

``The team made the call to bring me in before the engine blew and put me into the wall,'' Andretti said.

Leader for the longest time - 114 laps - was Andre Ribeiro.

But just when it seemed Ribeiro, who had built a 15-second lead, would run off with the race, he ran out of gas, coasted in for a fill-up and then took himself out of the race with a spinout while trying to catch up.

Ribeiro said both his gas gauge and his crew's calculations indicated he had gas. He blamed the accident on his anger over running out of gas.

``It's racing,'' he said. ``On the other hand, it's very, very frustrating because we had everything under control.''

In the end, however, it was Blundell calling the shots.

``We had a great car out there,'' Blundell said. ``We knew that and we just waited to make our move.''

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Photo

Photo: Sunlight glints off the front wings of the Indy cars as they stack up for a restart in the Marlboro 500.

John McCoy / Daily News