RIP Al Unser Sr.

A four time Indy 500 winner. RIP Big Al.

 

Back when race drivers were not one trick ponies. The Unser family like most of their contemporaries drove everything with wheels. Pikes Peak, Sprint cars, Baja, Champ cars, Indy cars, you name it. RIP Al.

 

Rip 4 time. Was a credit to racers. Sad day.

 

One childhood hero
RIP


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Legend.

Quiet and unassuming but tough as nails.

Al Unser, Sr. driving the Johnny Lightning Special one of my earliest Indy 500 memories.

BHW

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his name comes up a lot here: https://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/events/indy500/history/driver-records-milestones/race-milestones

won Pikes Peak

won Daytona 24 in a Porsche 962

USAC champion

CART champion

IROC champion

fought cancer for 17 years (!)

Legend might be an understatement.

 

Johnny Lightning.

 

Sad rip!


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When I was a teen in Phoenix, a couple of times I went to Phoenix National Raceway and watched Al, Bobby, Rick Mears, Mario and AJ Foyt run around the 1 mile oval in Indy cars.

It was the golden age of open wheel racing in America at a time when racing was a big deal in America. The Unsers will be badly missed but never forgotten to those who watched them race.

 

The orignal Chaparral 2K pilot. Had a trans seal not go south in 79, he would be a five time winner. Great driver and a true loss to racing. RIP.

 

People may forget that he also started 5 NASCAR races, finishing 4th in the 1968 Daytona 500 in a Cotton Owens Dodge.

 

Real NASCAR.