Al Unser

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Al Unser
Nationality:	American
Years:	1979 - 1993
Team(s):	Longhorn, Penske, Granatelli, Porsche, A. J. Foyt, Menard, King
Races:	114
Championships:	2 (1983, 1985)
Wins:	4
Podiums:	27
Poles:	4
First race:	1979 Arizona Republic Jimmy/Bryan 150 (Phoenix)
First win:	1979 Miller High Life (Phoenix)
Last win:	1987 Indianapolis 500
Last race:	1993 Indianapolis 500

Alfred Unser (born May 29, 1939 in Albuquerque, New Mexico) is a former American automobile racing driver, the younger brother of 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, and is the only person to have both a sibling (Bobby) and child (Al Jr.) as fellow winners. Al's brother Jerry and nephews Johnny and Robby have also competed in the 500.

Family

His father Jerry Unser and two uncles, Louis and Joe, were also drivers. Beginning in 1926 they competed in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, an annual road race held in Colorado.

Joe Unser became the first member of the Unser clan to lose his life to the sport, killed while test-driving a FWD Coleman Special on the Denver highway in 1929.

Al's oldest brother Jerry became the first Unser to drive at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, qualifying 23rd and finishing 31st in the 1958 Indianapolis 500. However, tragedy struck the next year when he was killed from injuries sustained in a fiery crash during a practice session.

Middle brother Bobby drove in his first Indianapolis 500 in 1963, becoming in 1968 the first member of the family to win, and in 1983 son Al Unser Jr. drove in his first.

While driving the Johnny Lightning Special and winning the Indianapolis 500 in 1970 and 1971 for Vel's Parnelli Racing, a team owned by Vel Melatich and Parnelli Jones, he had Mario Andretti and Joe Leonard as his team mates.

Racing career and Indianapolis 500

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 miles per hour. His quick pit stops were a factor in the victory. That season he won a record 10 times on oval, road and dirt tracks to capture the United States Auto Club national championship.

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.

Starting 1978 Indianapolis 500 from 5th position in an FNCTC Chaparral Lola, he was considered a long shot. He took the lead on lap 75 and won following the fortuitous engine failure of challenger Danny Ongais, averaging 161.363 mph.

Fourth Indy 500 victory

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 at Indy and was unable to drive. Penske asked Unser to fill in. Both the new Penske PC16 race car and its new Chevy-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 makes 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.

At start Unser was in the 20th position. After working his way steadily through the field, he took the lead on the 183rd lap. Averaging 162.175 mph, Unser bested a charging Roberto 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.

Retirement

In the 1992 Indianapolis 500, he finished 3rd at age 52. Unser announced his retirement on May 17, 1994, one day after struggling to qualify for his 28th Indy 500.

Career highlights

As of 2006, Unser has led the most laps of any driver in the history of the Indianapolis 500, at 646.

Unser holds the record of being the oldest driver to ever win the 500 at 47 years old (1987), breaking the previous record set by his brother Bobby.

Unser also won the Champcar championship in 1970, 1983, and 1985.

Unser was the 1978 IROC champion. He also competed in the 1968 Daytona 500 and four other NASCAR Winston Cup & Grand National races, all held on road courses with a best finish of fourth (twice).

Awards

• In 1998, he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.
• He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1991.

CART career results

Year	Team	Wins	Points	Championship Finish
1979	Chaparral Racing	1	2085	5th
1980	Longhorn Racing	0	1153	8th
1981	Longhorn Racing	0	90	10th
1982	Longhorn Racing	0	125	7th
1983	Penske Racing	1	151	1st
1984	Penske Racing	0	76	9th
1985	Penske Racing	1	151	1st
1986	Penske Racing	0	0
1987	Penske/Porsche/Granatelli	1	39	13th
1988	Penske/Granatelli	0	22	19th
1989	Penske Racing	0	14	16th
1990	Patrick Racing	0	0
1991	Foyt Racing	0	0
1992	Penske/Menard	0	16	15th
1993	King Motorsports	0	1	32nd
1994	Arizona Motorsports	0	0

2 championships, 4 victories.

Indianapolis 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Reason Out
1965	Lola	Ford	32nd	9th
1966	Lotus	Ford	32nd	12th	Crash
1967	Lola	Ford	9th	2nd
1968	Lola	Ford	6th	26th	Crash
1969	Lola	Ford			Withdrew
1970	Colt	Ford	1st	1st
1971	Colt	Ford	5th	1st
1972	Parnelli	Offy	19th	2nd
1973	Parnelli	Offy	8th	20th	Broken Piston
1974	Eagle	Offy	26th	18th	Dropped Valve
1975	Eagle	Offy	11th	16th	Broken Connecting Rod
1976	Parnelli	Cosworth	4th	7th
1977	Parnelli	Cosworth	3rd	3rd
1978	Lola	Cosworth	5th	1st
1979	Chaparral	Cosworth	3rd	22nd	Blown Transmission
1980	Longhorn	Cosworth	9th	27th	Dropped Cylinder
1981	Longhorn	Cosworth	9th	17th
1982	Longhorn	Cosworth	16th	5th
1983	Penske	Cosworth	7th	2nd
1984	March	Cosworth	10th	3rd
1985	March	Cosworth	7th	4th
1986	Penske	Chevrolet	5th	22nd	Handling
1987	March	Cosworth	20th	1st
1988	Penske	Chevrolet	3rd	3rd
1989	Penske	Chevrolet	2nd	24th	Clutch Failure
1990	March	Alfa Romeo	30th	13th
1992	Lola	Buick	22nd	3rd
1993	Lola	Chevrolet	23rd	12th
1994	Lola	Ford-Cosworth			Retired before Qual.

4 Wins, 1 Pole