ALFRED "AL" UNSER - 05/29/1939 - 12/09/2021
a former American automobile racing driver, the younger brother of fellow racing drivers Jerry and Bobby Unser, and father of Al Unser, Jr. He is the second of three men to have won the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race four times, the fourth of five to have won the race in consecutive years. He began racing in 1957, at age 18, initially competing primarily in modified roadsters, sprint cars and midgets. In 1965 he raced in the Indianapolis 500 for the first time and finished ninth. He won the Indy 500 in 1970, two years after his brother, Bobby. During the race, he led for all but 10 of the 200 laps and averaged 155.749 mph. Unser wheeled the car fondly called "Johnny Lightning". In 1971 he won the Indy 500 again, starting from the fifth position with an average speed of 157.735 mph. Unser's bid to become the first three-time consecutive Indy 500 champion was thwarted when he finished second to Mark Donohue in the 1972 Indianapolis 500. Despite starting the 1978 Indianapolis 500 from the fifth position in an FNCTC Chaparral Lola, Unser's car was considered before the race to be a second-tier entry at best, if not an outright long shot to win. Moving to the front of the field for the first time on lap 75, he and opponent Danny Ongais engaged in an on-again off-again duel for 75 more laps, before an engine failure on Ongais' car on lap 150. In the 1983 season, Unser joined Team Penske and drove for four years in a Penske-owned car. Unser controlled the late stages of the 1983 Indianapolis 500,
leading 61 laps. With less than 20 laps to go, Unser got challenges from Tom Sneva who led the most laps. With help from his son - who was several laps down - Unser began pulling away from Sneva. However Sneva got by Al Jr., and set sail for Unser Sr. Sneva caught up to Unser within 1 lap of passing Al Jr., and passed him to retake the lead with 9 laps to go. Sneva then easily pulled away to win the race by 11 seconds, avenging his firing from the team in 1978. After the race, Unser Jr. was penalized 2 laps for his actions as well as having passed 2 cars under caution on lap 170. In 1987, Penske's slate of drivers included Mears, Ongais, and Danny Sullivan. Unser was dropped. Ongais crashed into the wall during the first week of practice, suffering a serious concussion, and was declared unfit to
1970 Hoosier 100
1970 Indy 500 winner - "Johnny Lightning" car
drive. Penske then turned to Unser to fill in. Both the new Penske PC16 race car and its new Chevrolet-Ilmor engine had been unreliable throughout testing, practice and qualifying. Penske elected to race the backup car, a 1986 March-Cosworth, the same combination of chassis and engine that had won the previous four Indy 500s. The year-old March was removed from a Penske Racing display at a Sheraton hotel in the team's hometown of Reading, Pennsylvania, and hurriedly prepared for a return to active competition. At the start Unser was in the 20th position.
On a day when heavy attrition felled most of the field's front-runners, including the overwhelmingly dominant Newman-Haas entry of Mario Andretti, Unser worked his way steadily forward and took the lead on the 183rd lap, after Roberto Guerrero's car stalled on his final pit stop. Unser bested a charging Guerrero by 4.5 seconds to win his fourth Indy 500, only five days before his 48th birthday. In doing so he tied Foyt as the winningest Indy 500 driver and broke brother Bobby's record as the oldest Indy winner. The #25 car here is the one Unser drove to his fourth Indy win. In 1988 and 1989, Unser returned to Penske to secure a ride at the three 500-miles races (Indianapolis, Michigan, Pocono). After reorganization at Team Penske in 1990, Unser was finally crowded out of his part-time ride. With competitive rides
1987 Indy 500 winner & 4th Indy500 win
1992 Indy 500 - finished 3rd
filling up, and his career dwindling down, he joined the sub-par Patrick Racing Alfa Romeo team for 1990. After dropping out at Indy, Unser crashed in practice at Michigan and broke his leg. He quit the team after the crash. He went to Indy in 1991 shopping for a ride; but none were to be found. In 1992, Unser entered the month of May for the second year in a row without a ride. During the first week of practice, Nelson Piquet was involved in a serious crash, and was unable to drive. Unser was hired by Team Menard to drive the #27 Menard's sponsored car to fill the position vacated by Piquet. Unser drove to a third place finish, while his son Al Unser, Jr. won the race. It was Team Menard's best Indy 500 finish, the best finish ever for the Buick Indy engine, and the first time the Buick engine had gone the entire 500 miles. Later in the year, Unser
was selected to drive as a substitute for the injured Rick Mears at Nazareth. It was Unser's first start for Penske since 1989, and his final start in a CART series event. He finished 12th. In 1993, driving for King Racing, he led 15 laps at the Indianapolis 500 to extend his career laps-led record. He finished 12th, one lap down. A month shy of his 55th birthday, Unser entered the 1994 race with Arizona Motorsports, hoping to qualify for what would be his 28th Indy 500. The team was very underfunded, and Unser had considerable trouble getting the car up to speed. On the first weekend of qualifying, he waved off after a
1968 Daytona 500
poor qualifying lap. After some minimal practice the following day, he quit the team. He announced his retirement on May 17, 1994. From 1982-1993 Unser only raced in one Indy car event: The Indy 500. Unser ran five times in his career in the Sprint CUP series; and like most of the other Indy car competitors who ran some races in the Cup series was always competitive. He raced three times at Riverside CA, once at Watkins Glen, and once in the Daytona 500. He posted a finish of 6th in 1968 at Riverside, and followed that up with a 4th in 1969. He also drove a Cotton Owens owned Dodge to a 4th place finish in the 1968 Daytona 500. Unser would start eighth and lead at one point, but in the end Cale Yarborough edged Lee Roy Yarbrough by one second for the win. He was always competitive in NASCAR and only finished worse than sixth when he had an equipment failure. In addition to his four Indy 500 victories, Unser also claimed 36 other Indy car wins. Al Unser Sr. died on December 9, 2021; after a lengthy cancer battle. He was 82. Al achieved his
successes competing against many of the best our sport has ever seen, which makes his accomplishments on the track even more impressive. Some info from Wikipedia
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