Al Unser Jr. | |||||||
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Al Unser Jr. at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in March 2011.
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Nationality | American | ||||||
Born | Alfred Unser Jr. April 19, 1962 Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
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Retired | 2007 | ||||||
Related to |
Al Unser (father) Al Unser III (son) Bobby Unser (uncle) Jerry Unser (uncle) Robby Unser (cousin) Johnny Unser (cousin) |
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IRL IndyCar Series career | |||||||
Debut season | 1982 | ||||||
Former teams |
Forsythe Racing Galles Racing Kelley Racing Patrick Racing Dreyer & Reinbold Racing A. J. Foyt Enterprises |
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Starts | 329 | ||||||
Wins | 34 | ||||||
Poles | 7 | ||||||
Best finish | 1st in 1990, 1994 | ||||||
Previous series | |||||||
1982 1982-1999 |
Can-Am CART Indy Car World Series |
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Championship titles | |||||||
1982 1986, 1988 1990, 1994 |
Can-Am Championship International Race of Champions CART Indy Car World Series |
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Awards | |||||||
1992, 1994 1994 |
Indianapolis 500 Champion ABC Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year |
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Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
1 race run over 1 year | |||||||
Best finish | 81st (1993) | ||||||
First race | 1993 Daytona 500 (Daytona) | ||||||
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Forsythe Racing
Shierson Racing
Marlboro Team Penske
Alfred "Al" Unser Jr. (born April 19, 1962), nicknamed "Little Al", "Al Junior", or simply "Junior", is a retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.
Unser was born into a racing family in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is the son of Al Unser and the nephew of Bobby Unser, both Indianapolis 500 winners themselves.
By the age of 11, Al Junior was racing sprint cars. After high school, he was already in the World of Outlaws series of sprint car racing. He soon moved into road racing, winning the Super Vee title in 1981 and the Can-Am title in 1982.
In 1982, Unser made his debut on the CART circuit. He suffered personal tragedy when his sister Debbie was killed in a dune buggy accident, but this did not deter Unser; and a year later, he competed in his first Indianapolis 500, finishing 9th. However, hours after the race ended, Unser Jr. was issued a 2-lap penalty by chief steward Thomas W. Binford for passing 2 cars under caution with less than 40 laps to go as well as blocking eventual winner Tom Sneva from getting by his father with less than 20 laps to go. The penalty dropped him from an original finish of 9th, to 10th. Despite being lauded for his performance as a rookie, Unser Jr. narrowly lost the rookie of the year award to Teo Fabi.