Al Unser

This article is about the automobile racer born in 1939. For other people named Al Unser, including his son and grandson (both of whom are also automobile racers), see Al Unser (disambiguation).

Al Unser, Sr.
Al Unser at the 2015 Indianapolis 500
Nationality	American
Born	Alfred Unser (1939-05-29) May 29, 1939 Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.
Championship titles
1970 USAC National Championship Trail Champion 1978 Triple Crown of Ovals (IndyCar) Champion 1983, 1985 PPG Indy Car World Series Champion
Champ Car career 322 races run over 30 years Years active 1965–1993 Team(s) Longhorn Penske Granatelli Porsche Foyt Menard King Best finish 1st: 1970, 1983, 1985 First race 1964 Tony Bettenhausen 200 (Milwaukee) Last race 1993 Indianapolis 500 (Indy) First win 1979 Miller High Life (Phoenix) Last win 1987 Indianapolis 500 (Indy) Wins Podiums Poles 39 97 28
NASCAR Cup Series career 5 races run over 3 years First race 1968 Motor Trend 500 (Riverside) Last race 1986 Winston Western 500 (Riverside) Wins Top tens Poles 0 3 0

Alfred "Al" Unser (born May 29, 1939) is an American automobile racing driver, the younger brother of fellow racing drivers Jerry and Bobby Unser, and father of Al Unser, Jr.. Now retired, 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 won the National Championship in 1970, 1983, and 1985. He is the only person to have both a sibling (Bobby) and child (Al Jr.) as fellow Indy 500 winners. Al's nephews Johnny and Robby Unser have also competed in that race.

After his son Al Jr. joined the top circuit in 1983, Unser has generally been known by the retronymic name of "Al Unser, Sr." or "Big Al."

Personal life

Unser was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the youngest of four brothers. 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 an 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.

Unser married Wanda Jesperson in 1958 and they had three children- Alfred Jr., Mary, and Deborah. Deborah died in a dune buggy accident in 1982.

Al Unser and family own and operate the Unser Racing Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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 (250.654 km/h). 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. Unser competed in USAC's Stock Car division in 1967, and was the series Rookie of the Year.

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 allowed Unser to assume a commanding 35 second lead. Although suffering right front-wing misalignment due to impacting a tire on his final pit stop, a situation that led to the lead shrinking steadily over the race's final 20 laps, it nevertheless proved wide enough for victory by 9 seconds to spare at the checkered flag. Unser's race average speed of 161.363 mph (259.689 km/h) ranked as the then-second fastest ever run (one mile per hour less than the then-1972 record), and would not itself be topped for second for four more years.

In the 1983 season, Unser joined Team Penske and drove for 4 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.

Fourth Indy 500 victory

Main article: 1987 Indianapolis 500

In 1987, Penske's slate of drivers included Rick Mears, Danny 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 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 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. Averaging 162.175 mph (260.995 km/h), 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.

Unser rode the wave of his fourth Indy victory to secure a ride at Penske for the Michigan 500, Pocono 500, and Marlboro Challenge for 1987. Near the end of the year, Unser had two other starts. He drove as a substitute for Roberto Guerrero at Nazareth, and had a competitive run until crashing a few laps short of the finish. He was then hired to drive the brand new Porsche Indy car at Laguna Seca. The team was still in its infancy, and the car dropped out. Unser left the team after only one race.

In 1988 and 1989, Unser returned to Penske to secure a ride at the three 500-miles races (Indianapolis, Michigan, Pocono).

Retirement

After reorganization at Team Penske in 1990, Unser was finally crowded out of his part-time ride. With competitive rides 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 spent most of the month of May 1991 shopping around for a competitive ride. The restrictions on the number of leases to the Chevy Ilmor engine kept him out of a ride during the first week of practice. A last-minute deal with the UNO/Granatelli team (where he would be Arie Luyendyk's teammate) fell through when there was not enough time to prepare the car. Instead of jumping into another car "just to make the show," Unser sat out the 1991 race and watched from the sidelines for the first time since 1969.

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 fill the position vacated by Piquet. Unser drove to a 3rd-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 (800 km). 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, earning 1 championship point.

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 poor qualifying lap. After some minimal practice the following day, he quit the team. He announced his retirement on May 17, 1994.

Career highlights

Unser has led the most laps of any driver in the history of the Indianapolis 500, at 644. Unser tied Ralph DePalma's long standing record of 612 laps led on the last lap of his 4th victory.

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 won two 500-mile races at Pocono (in 1976 and 1978) and two more at Ontario (in 1977 and 1978) bringing his total of 500-mile race wins (including four Indianapolis 500s) to eight.

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.

Racing record

USAC

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	Rank	Points
1964	Bowes Racing	PHX	TRE	INDY	MIL	LAN	TRE	SPR	MIL 23	DQSF	ISF	TRE	SAC	PHX DNS																NC	0
1965	Ansted-Thompson Racing	PHX DNQ	TRE	INDY 9	MIL 13	LAN 12	PIP 1	TRE 22	IRP 12	ATL 26	LAN 16	MIL 11	SPR DNQ	MIL 7	DQSF DNQ	ISF DNQ	TRE 20	SAC 11	PHX 17											19th	495
1966	John Mecom Motorsports	PHX 20	TRE DNP	INDY 12	MIL 6	LAN 9	ATL 16	PIP	IRP 2	LAN 3	SPR	MIL 20	DQSF	ISF	TRE 2	SAC 18	PHX 2													5th	1260
1967	Retzloff Racing	PHX 23	TRE 12	INDY 2	MIL 19	LAN 2	PIP DNQ	MOS 6	MOS 5	IRP 2	LAN 22	MTR 5	MTR 5	SPR 11	MIL 2	DQSF 9	ISF 3	TRE 11	SAC 14	HAN 25	PHX 2	RIV 12								5th	2505
1968	Retzloff Racing	HAN 2	LVG 14	PHX 16	TRE 17	INDY 26	MIL 3	MOS 4	MOS 5	LAN 12	PIP 22	CDR 4	NAZ 1	IRP 1	IRP 1	LAN 1	LAN 1	MTR 9	MTR 15	SPR 12	MIL 3	DQSF 7	ISF 15	TRE 22	SAC 3	MIC 18	HAN 15	PHX 15	RIV 26	3rd	2895
1969	Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing	PHX 22	HAN 13	INDY Wth	MIL	LAN	PIP	CDR 9	NAZ DNQ	TRE 25	IRP 2	IRP 19	MIL 1	SPR 8	DDIS 12	DQSF 1	ISF	BRN 3	BRN 9	TRE 21	SAC 1	KEN 2	KEN 1	PHX 1	RIV 2					2nd	2630
1970	Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing	PHX 1	SON 3	TRE 3	INDY 1	MIL 3	LAN 2	CDR 5	MIC 18	IRP 1	SPR 1	MIL 1	ONT 9	DQSF 1	ISF 1	SED 1	TRE 1	SAC 1	PHX 2											1st	5130
1971	Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing	RAF 1	RAF 1	PHX 1	TRE 21	INDY 1	MIL 1	POC 31	MIC 24	MIL 17	ONT 15	TRE 17	PHX 21																	4th	2200
1972	Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing	PHX 6	TRE 20	INDY 2	MIL 19	MIC 15	POC 3	MIL 15	ONT 31	TRE 23	PHX 4																			4th	1800
1973	Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing	TXS 1	TRE 7	TRE 3	INDY 20	MIL 9	POC 33	MIC 22	MIL 26	ONT	ONT 4	ONT 9	MIC 21	MIC	TRE 25	TXS 16	PHX 19													13th	1080
1974	Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing	ONT	ONT 5	ONT 2	PHX 18	TRE 10	INDY 18	MIL 5	POC 22	MIC 2	MIL 9	MIC 1	TRE 6	TRE 5	PHX 5															4th	2430
1975	Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing	ONT 7	ONT	ONT 26	PHX	TRE	INDY 16	MIL	POC 32	MIC	MIL	MIC	TRE 4	PHX 5																17th	450

CART results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points
1979	Chaparral Cars	PHX 4	ATL1 6	ATL2 3	INDY Ret	TRE1 2	TRE2 Ret	MIS1 13	MIS2 3	WGL 5	TRE3 6	ONT 5	MIS3 Ret	ATL3 5	PHX2 1				5th	2085
1980	Longhorn Racing	ONT Ret	INDY Ret	MIL Ret	POC Ret	MDO Ret	MIS 7	WGL Ret	MIL 13	ONT2 4	MIS2 5	MEX 3	PHX Ret						8th	1153
1981	Longhorn Racing	PHX Ret	MIL 5	ATL1 6	ATL2 7	MIS Ret	RIV Ret	MIL2 5	MIS2 3	WGL Ret	MEX 2	PHX2 Ret							10th	90
1982	Longhorn Racing	PHX Ret	ATL 8	MIL Ret	CLE 3	MIS 4	MIL2 Wth	POC Ret	RIV Ret	ROA 2	MIS2 Ret	PHX2							7th	125
1983	Team Penske	ATL 2	INDY 2	MIL 2	CLE 1	MIS 2	ROA 3	POC 11	RIV 11	MDO 4	MIS2 5	CEA 4	LS Ret	PHX 4					1st	151
1984	Team Penske	LBH Ret	PHX Ret	INDY 3	MIL 5	POR Ret	MEA 8	CLE 10	MIS Ret	ROA 3	POC 8	MDO 8	SAN Ret	MIS2 4	PHX2 Ret	LS 6	CEA Ret		9th	76
1985	Team Penske	LBH 5	INDY 4	MIL	POR 4	MEA 3	CLE 3	MIS 2	ROA 7	POC 3	MDO Ret	SAN Ret	MIS2 12	LS 2	PHX 1	MIA 4			1st	151
1986	Team Penske	PHX Ret	LBH	INDY Ret	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MIS Ret	POC Ret	MDO	SAN	MIS2	ROA	LS	PHX2	MIA 15	NC	0
1987	Team Penske	LBH	PHX	INDY 1	MIL	POR	MEA	CLE	TOR	MIS 2	POC Ret	ROA	MDO			MIA DNS			13th	39
	Vince Granatelli Racing													NAZ 10
	Porsche Motorsports														LS Ret
1988	Team Penske	PHX	LBH	INDY 3	MIL	POR	CLE			MIS 9	POC Ret	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LS	MIA			19th	23
	Vince Granatelli Racing							TOR 9	MEA Ret
1989	Team Penske	PHX	LBH	INDY Ret	MIL	DET	POR	CLE 10	MEA	TOR	MIS 8	POC 7	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LS			16th	14
1990	Patrick Racing	PHX	LBH	INDY 13	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIS DNS	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LS		35th	0
1991	AJ Foyt Enterprises	SRF	LBH	PHX Ret	INDY	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MIS	DEN	VAN	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LS	40th	0
1992	Team Menard	SRF	PHX	LBH	INDY 3	DET	POR	MIL	NHM	TOR	MIS	CLE	ROA	VAN	MDO				16th	15
	Team Penske															NAZ 12	LS
1993	King Racing	SRF	PHX	LBH	INDY 12	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIS	NHM	ROA	VAN	MDO	NAZ	LS		33rd	1
1994	Arizona Motorsports	SRF	PHX	LBH	INDY DNQ	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIS	MDO	NHM	VAN	ROA	NAZ	LS		NC	–

CART career summary

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	Team/Entrant
1965	Lola	Ford	32nd	9th		Anstead-Thompson
1966	Lotus	Ford	32nd	12th	Crash	STP-Granatelli
1967	Lola	Ford	9th	2nd		Mecom
1968	Lola	Ford	6th	26th	Crash	Retzloff
1969	Lola	Ford	Withdrew due to motorcycle accident
1970	Colt	Ford	1st	1st		Parnelli
1971	Colt	Ford	5th	1st		Parnelli
1972	Parnelli	Offy	19th	2nd		Parnelli
1973	Parnelli	Offy	8th	20th	Broken piston	Parnelli
1974	Eagle	Offy	26th	18th	Dropped valve	Parnelli
1975	Eagle	Offy	11th	16th	Broken connecting rod	Parnelli
1976	Parnelli	Cosworth	4th	7th		Parnelli
1977	Parnelli	Cosworth	3rd	3rd		Parnelli
1978	Lola	Cosworth	5th	1st		Chaparral
1979	Chaparral	Cosworth	3rd	22nd	Blown transmission	Chaparral
1980	Longhorn	Cosworth	9th	27th	Dropped cylinder	Longhorn
1981	Longhorn	Cosworth	9th	17th		Longhorn
1982	Longhorn	Cosworth	16th	5th		Longhorn
1983	Penske	Cosworth	7th	2nd		Penske
1984	March	Cosworth	10th	3rd		Penske
1985	March	Cosworth	7th	4th		Penske
1986	Penske	Chevrolet	5th	22nd	Handling	Penske
1987	March	Cosworth	20th	1st		Penske
1988	Penske	Chevrolet	3rd	3rd		Penske
1989	Penske	Chevrolet	2nd	24th	Clutch failure	Penske
1990	March	Alfa Romeo	30th	13th		Patrick
1991	Did not attempt to qualify; entry did not materialize
1992	Lola	Buick	22nd	3rd		Menard
1993	Lola	Chevrolet	23rd	12th		Foyt
1994	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	Incomplete qualifying attempt; retired during practice			Arizona

4 Wins, 1 Pole

Indy 500 qualifying results

Year	Att #	Date	Time	Qual Day	Car #	Laps	Qual Time	Qual Speed	Rank	Start	Comment
1967	11	05-13	11	1	5	4	—	164.594	10	9
1968	14	05-18	14	1	24	4	—	167.069	6	6
1970	11	05-16	11	1	2	4	3:31.4900	170.221	1	1
1971	9	05-15	9	1	1	4	3:26.1600	174.622	5	5
1972	4	05-14	14:38	1	4	0	—	—	—	—	BLOWN ENGINE
1972	32	05-20	11:43	2	4	4	3:16.0600	183.617	13	19
1973	12	05-12	12:41	1	4	4	3:04.7300	194.879	8	8
1974	33	05-18	16:56	2	15	4	3:15.7700	183.889	16	26
1975	13	05-10	12:47	1	4	4	3:14.1200	185.452	13	11
1976	18	05-15	17:30	1	21	4	3:13.2800	186.258	9	4
1977	4	05-14	11:29	1	21	4	3:03.7200	195.950	4	3
1978	17	05-20	13:10	1	2	4	3:03.2300	196.474	7	5
1979	6	05-13	12:51	1	2	4	3:07.0100	192.503	3	3
1980	11	05-10	12:19	1	5	4	3:13.0900	186.442	12	9
1981	6	05-09	16:36	1	88	4	3:06.8000	192.719	14	9
1982	16	05-15	15:31	1	10	4	3:04.0800	195.567	23	16
1983	8	05-21	11:44	1	7	4	2:58.2580	201.954	8	7
1984	7	05-12	12:53	1	2	4	2:56.0900	204.441	10	10
1985	11	05-11	12:01	1	11	4	2:51.0030	210.523	7	7
1986	33	05-10	17:53	1	11	4	2:49.5750	212.295	7	5
1987	45	05-16	12:02	3	25T	4	2:53.5580	207.423	15	20
1988	9	05-14	12:07	1	1	4	2:47.2350	215.266	3	3
1989	1	05-14	12:00	1	25	4	2:41.0950	223.471	2	2
1990	36	05-19	12:54	2	40	4	2:49.7420	212.087	31	30
1992	32	05-10	17:41	2	27T	4	2:40.8980	223.744	12	22
1993	12	05-15	11:55	1	80	3	—	—	—	—	WAVED OFF
1993	33	05-16	12:10	2	80	4	2:45.5530	217.453	32	23

External links

• Al Unser driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• The Greatest 33
• Unser Racing Museum