Al Unser Sr. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Al Unser at the 2015 Indianapolis 500
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Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Alfred Unser May 29, 1939 Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
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Championship titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1970 USAC National Championship Trail Champion 1978 Triple Crown of Ovals (IndyCar) Champion 1983, 1985 PPG Indy Car World Series Champion |
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Champ Car career | |||||||
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322 races run over 30 years | |||||||
Years active | 1965–1993 | ||||||
Team(s) | Longhorn Penske Granatelli Porsche Foyt Menard King |
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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) | ||||||
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Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
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5 races run over 3 years | |||||||
First race | 1968 Motor Trend 500 (Riverside) | ||||||
Last race | 1986 Winston Western 500 (Riverside) | ||||||
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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."
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.