AL UNSER JR - Indy 500: A Race for Heroes (AUTO RACING DOCUMENTARY)

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AL UNSER JR - Indy 500: A Race for Heroes (AUTO RACING DOCUMENTARY) The Unsers are the most successful family in the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with a total of nine victories in the Indianapolis 500. The most recent two fell to Al Unser Jr., the son of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser, making the Unsers the only family to have multiple generations of Indy winners. Al Jr. came up through midget and sprint car racing before switching his focus to road racing in the early 1980s in the SCCA Can-Am series. Team owner Rick Galles moved his operation into the CART Indy car series in 1983 and 21-year old rookie Unser qualified fifth for his Indianapolis debut in an Eagle-Cosworth. Unser ran competitively in the race but ran out of fuel near the end to be classified 10th. Although he was a lap down, he memorably got involved in the battle for the lead between his father and Tom Sneva, who went on to win the race. “Well, first off, I wasn’t blocking for my dad,” Unser later related. “If I was blocking for my dad, my dad would have won that race! We were the first father-son to race against each other at Indy and I was trying to help dad out, but he just didn’t go fast enough, really. “I guess I introduced myself to the Indy 500 and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and all of its fans,” Unser added. “I’m very proud of the fact that I’m on a number of those paintings in the IMS Hall of Fame Museum without being the winner of the race. When you’ve done that, that means you’ve made an impact somehow - the people knew that you were there that year.” Unser retired from the ‘500’ in 1984 and ’85 before earning top five finishes in 1986 and ’87. The next year that he made it onto the paintings without winning the race came in 1989, when he crashed in Turn 3 while battling eventual winner Emerson Fittipaldi for the lead on the 199th Lap. Unser took the lead on Lap 196 and led the next three tours as he and Fittipaldi wove through heavy traffic. Headed for the white flag, the Brazilian moved inside Unser upon entry to turn 3; when Fittipaldi’s car pushed up the track, it made contact with Unser’s Lola-Chevrolet, which spun backwards into a hard impact with the wall. “I feel that was really one of the best races that I had ever driven at Indy because Emerson dominated all day long,” Unser recalled. “We were on a strategy where Emerson would have to stop and we wouldn’t, but there was a yellow so we had to turn the boost up and race him. We passed him, and basically we got to a position where he couldn’t get me unless there was lapped traffic. But that’s exactly what happened. It allowed him to make a move on me. Everybody was going for the same piece of real estate there in Turn 3, and only one was going to come out.” After clambering out of his crashed car, Unser ran to trackside and waited for Fittipaldi to pass by behind the Pace Car. Instead of angrily venting at the Brazilian, Unser clapped his hands and gave a thumbs-up approval of the exciting race for the win.