R.I.P Al Unser

[WyldStallion]

News just broke early morning on December 10 of Al Unser's passing after multiple years fighting cancer. This family has had a rough year for sure.

I am old enough to remember the back end of his career as I just started watching in IndyCar for the first time in 1989.

Best memory of Unser is how strong he did in the 1992 Indy 500 in the Menards car. Gave that Buick engine the best performance in the race ever. 3rd place. Disapointed he did not have the pace of Al Jr and Goodyear in that last restart because he out ran both before Micheal Andretti's engine expired. Unser by the way was not that bad in the 1993 race either in the Bud Bernstein car which was his last one.

[skycafe]

17 years of fighting cancer per article on CNN.

Race On Al. His 1987 Indy win was an amazing moment in Brickyard history.

What a legend the Unser name is in American Motorsport history.

[2 litre Touring Car Star]

From what I'd know of American motor racing, he'd be the all time best driver?

RIP champ.

[chillibowl]

**** cancer!

R.i.p.

[NaBUru38]

Farewell, 'Ser

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by 2 litre Touring Car Star

From what I'd know of American motor racing, he'd be the all time best driver?

Well, he didn't win in Formula 1, Nascar or Le Mans...

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Well, he didn't win in Formula 1, Nascar or Le Mans...

He did win the Daytona 24 with some other people. One I think drove indy cars too

[FIRE]

RIP

[skycafe]

Excellent write up about Al Unser.


I had forgotten he still holds the record for most laps led in the Indy 500, and he started in an era when the cars were anything close to reliable, which makes the record more remarkable.

https://www.autosport.com/indycar/ne...82266/4982266/

[mstets]

Very sad to read about Al Unser's passing. He was a great competitor and a very quiet unassuming guy. I remember listening to the radio broadcast of his 1971 Indy 500 win while my dad grilled meat for a community pot luck Memorial Day dinner. My best memory of my years as a mechanic in CART is Al stopping me in the garage area at IMS to congratulate me on my team's Indy 500 win. I'd never met him before but it was a very nice gesture on his part.

https://racer.com/2021/12/10/al-unser-1939-2021/

If you are ever in ALBQ, be sure to check out the Unser museum.

https://unserracingmuseum.com/

Memorial day 1983 is one I won't forget. I was holed up in a motel in Utah, on the way to the next Trans Am race on the schedule at Sears Point. Al Jr. did his best to keep Sneva from passing his dad for the lead, but was unsuccessful. I haven't checked the stats but I'm guessing there might be more than one 2nd place finish at IMS to go with Al's 4 wins.

[S griffin]

We've already lost Bobby this year. Now Al Sr too. RIP

[2 litre Touring Car Star]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Well, he didn't win in Formula 1, Nascar or Le Mans...

He doesn't necessarily have to.

My comments are a summation of anecdotal evidence, including an opinion from Alan Jones ( I read or heard somewhere).

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Well, he didn't win in Formula 1, Nascar or Le Mans...

He never raced in F1 or at Le Mans, so that is somewhat irrelevant, though he won the Daytona 24 hours in 1985. As for NASCAR he only raced five times.



However, what he will be remembered for is winning the Indy 500 four times, only three other drivers have done that. His first two wins were back to back in '70 and '71. He also won the Oval Triple Crown in 1978, the only driver to do so, and won the IndyCar driver's championship in 1983 and '85.



RIP Al Unser

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

He never raced in F1 or at Le Mans, so that is somewhat irrelevant, though he won the Daytona 24 hours in 1985. As for NASCAR he only raced five times.

RIP Al Unser

Exactly. The Unser family focus was Pikes Peak, and then on bull ring ovals and working up to Indy. During that time Indy was drawing Brabham and Cooper, Clark, Hill and Chapman because it was THE major deal.

As to sportscars, I saw him debut the DeKon Monza at IMSA Daytona in '75. Qualified 2nd. DNF in race. He won Daytona 24 in 1985, with A.J. Foyt, Boutsen and Wollek in Porsche 962, and he and A.J. ended up 4th in 1987.

He also won the IROC series, which was identical Camaros that essentially were Stock Cars.

[mstets]

I recall wins in USAC stock cars, and CanAm. I always thought it strange that he could dominate the 1980 race at Laguna Seca in the Frisbee, but never seemed to come to grips with the March 817. I remember a comment from Al Jr. saying something to the effect that Al Sr. had trouble adapting to cars with high downforce. He got it right eventually.

[2 litre Touring Car Star]

Something I'm reminded of is when he achieved his successes. He won two championships and an Indy 500 from 44 to 48yo.

So he's had what would be a full career of accomplishments for other drivers during their peak ratio of experience and physical strength when he was on the way out.

[skycafe]

Given that his early days were spent racing non-aero cars mostly on loose surfaces, and spending s lot of time sideways and in control, the transition to increasingly more aero-dependent machines that did not respond well at all to being 'hustled' (tossed about, drifted, whatever you want to call it). The increasingly aero cars did not respond to drift angles as the aero could stall and fall off dramitically, so Al would have had to make large adaptations to everything he knew.

He was taciturn, focused. Bobby was certainly the more verbally expressive. Al just got it done.

The back story behind his final Indy win is legend. Rerecruit the 'old' guy, shove him into a retired car pulled from display in a hotel lobby, and he goes out and blows the dust off and puts his face and name on the Borg Warner Trophy for a forth time. Legend.

[skycafe]

and then this comes along...
https://youtu.be/Clyliw5E4-Q

[NaBUru38]

I didn't mean to diminish his achievements, it's just that there are drivers like Mario Andretti and AJ Foyt who did even more crazy achievements.

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

I didn't mean to diminish his achievements, it's just that there are drivers like Mario Andretti and AJ Foyt who did even more crazy achievements.

My jingoism got a bit out of control. I'm a Yank, we do that

I don't think Al Unser would have made a great F1 driver. He was fast, he was methodical in technique and car development, but he did not have the spark that you see in F1 drivers.

Mario is an interesting study-a foot in both camps-Europe and America.

A.J. Foyt is A.J. Foyt. Brash ego, he thundered even when he was not in a car.

[mstets]

Originally Posted by skycafe

Given that his early days were spent racing non-aero cars mostly on loose surfaces, and spending s lot of time sideways and in control, the transition to increasingly more aero-dependent machines that did not respond well at all to being 'hustled' (tossed about, drifted, whatever you want to call it). The increasingly aero cars did not respond to drift angles as the aero could stall and fall off dramitically, so Al would have had to make large adaptations to everything he knew.

I think that this applies to his CanAm drives. The Frisbee made a lot of downforce with its low flat nose and huge rear wing, but it wasn't really a ground effects design. The March 817 was probably one of the first ground effects cars he drove, and it seemed that he had trouble adapting to it. I am not sure about the Longhorn Champ cars. As I recall they were copied from the Williams F1 cars, FW07?, if so would have been a ground effects design. I remember him placing 2nd at Road America in the Longhorn but as I recall it there were others ahead that ran out of fuel in the last couple of laps. It would be interesting to see the qualifying and race results of the 1982 Champ car season and see how competitive Al was. He evidently had 4 top ten finishes that year and placed seventh in the championship, but I don't know if he ever challenged for a race win.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by mstets

I think that this applies to his CanAm drives. The Frisbee made a lot of downforce with its low flat nose and huge rear wing, but it wasn't really a ground effects design. The March 817 was probably one of the first ground effects cars he drove, and it seemed that he had trouble adapting to it. I am not sure about the Longhorn Champ cars. As I recall they were copied from the Williams F1 cars, FW07?, if so would have been a ground effects design. I remember him placing 2nd at Road America in the Longhorn but as I recall it there were others ahead that ran out of fuel in the last couple of laps. It would be interesting to see the qualifying and race results of the 1982 Champ car season and see how competitive Al was. He evidently had 4 top ten finishes that year and placed seventh in the championship, but I don't know if he ever challenged for a race win.

The first ground effect car he drove was the Chaparral 2K in 1979, for Jim Hall's Chaparral Racing. The following year he moved to Longhorn Racing. Williams Grand Prix Engineering licensed the FW07 design to Longhorn but the cars were a failure.