26 replies to this topic

[Henri Greuter]

Word is out that Al Unser Snr has died, 82 years of age,

 

The second of the 4 time Indy winners.

 

And arguebly the best of them, if not of all drivers ever at the speedway.

 

 

 

Rest in peace  Al Unser Sr. And thanks for the memories

[Gene]

Morning, very sad news.

 

I met Al Sr. at Holbert’s the day the first (the Messerschmitt designed) Porsche Indy car arrived at the shop. He was such a nice, quiet spoken individual, who also made one of funner statements I’ve heard in racing. He had had a fairly “big one” in a Lola the Sunday before at Laguna Seca. Chatting about the crash he said,”Crashes are really noisy, you just keep you head down and wait for it to stop. Its when it goes quiet you get worried, cause that means your airborne!”

 

The racing world has lost another one of real class acts, who will be truly missed.

Edited by Gene, 10 December 2021 - 10:10.

[F1matt]

RIP Big Al, it has been a rough year for the Unser family. 

[cpbell]

Very sad.  Even as someone whose interest in US racing was less than in European motorsport, I think of  the Unsers as a legendary family of competitors, and Al Sr. appears to have been a gentleman. 

Edited by cpbell, 10 December 2021 - 11:35.

[Michael Ferner]

A giant has left us

[68targa]

Another legend passes, sad news indeed.

[GMiranda]

R.I.P.

[Doug Nye]

What a ghastly year this has been.

 

Indeed, sad news - again.  Sincere condolences to the Unser family and their many friends, colleagues and admirers.

 

DCN

[Jahn1234567890]

Sad news, RIP Big Al. A true racing legend.

 

 

Unser's passing makes this picture all the more special.

[Rediscoveryx]

Sad to hear this.

 

His last Indy win (87?) was epic, although as it happened I was a bit downtrodden as I harbored a pro-Andretti bias during that era. I'm too "young" to remember much of his previous success though.

[LittleChris]

Sad news. RIP Big Al 

[Nigel Beresford]

You’d have to say his ‘500’ wins in 71 and 87 were remarkable not least because of the way he managed to win in inferior equipment (surely one of the three M16s should have won in 71, but no.. Al and his car outlasted or beat them all).

The 87 win was still being chuckled about half a decade later when I was with Penske.

Imagine my delight when, for a race, he was a teammate. He was drafted in to Team Penske to do the season’s penultimate race at Nazareth in 1992. Sadly by that point Al was well past his prime, and Teddy (Mayer) was his race engineer (I was running Tracy). My abiding memory was listening to their radio as Teddy, with his extremely nasal and unique way of speaking, tried to make himself understood to the virtually deaf Big Al. Everything was repeated several times, with varying levels of intonation and emphasis, as Teddy strove to make himself understood and Al strove to tell Teddy via a series of grunts that he couldn’t understand an effing word…



Edited because I initially thought it was the Marlboro Challenge Al had done with us at that event

Edited by Nigel Beresford, 10 December 2021 - 15:15.

[mariner]

I have only met a handful of top racing drivers so any comparisons would be meaningless but I did meet Al Unser at his wonderful Albuquerque museum soon after it opened.

 

It was fabulous place with even a bit of Indy wall outside with an Indy car you could sit in pretending to be next to the wall at 200 mph!

 

Wandering around inside the near the engine display this guy quietly came up to me and said " Hi, I'm Al Unser" He then gave me tour of the place starting at the engines including a turbo Offy. His eyes lit up describing how it gave you "a kick in the back" as you gave it full boost out of turns even at near 200 mph. It struck me that for all his professional success the sheer thrill of power and speed was still deep in his heart.

 

For all his awesome collection of trophies in the museum he was very, very humble in front of a simple fan.

 

A true gentleman as well as a great driver.

[Emery0323]

Very sad news!   I can recall all of his Indy 500 victories, now going back more than a half-century.

 

With the passing of his brother Bobby this past May, two giants of American Indycar racing have left us in 2021. 

They were such icons, it felt like they would always be around.  

Condolences to the Unser family.   "Big Al" (Al Sr.), Bobby Unser (Sr.) and also Bobby's son, Bobby Unser Jr., all died this year.

It has been a terrible year for them.

RIP,   "Big Al" Unser!

 

Edit: Bobby Unser Jr. and Robby Unser are not the same person, as Collombin pointed out in post #17- they are half-brothers from Bobby Unser's first and and second marriages, respectively.

Edited by Emery0323, 10 December 2021 - 22:04.

[Collombin]

Bobby's son "Robby" (Bobby Unser Jr.) all died this year.

I think Robby and Bobby Jr are two different people, both sons of Bobby. Robby is still around but Bobby Jr passed away this year as you say.

[SKL]

RIP.    Yes, it's been a bad year for the Unser family.

 

Have driven through Albuquerque many times (going by the Unser Blvd exit) and always wanted to stop the museum but was always in a hurry to get home...

 

Love that picture of the 4 time winners.  Sure a good thing they got it when they did.

[Tim Murray]

Wandering around inside the near the engine display this guy quietly came up to me and said " Hi, I'm Al Unser" He then gave me tour of the place starting at the engines including a turbo Offy. His eyes lit up describing how it gave you "a kick in the back" as you gave it full boost out of turns even at near 200 mph. It struck me that for all his professional success the sheer thrill of power and speed was still deep in his heart.

What a lovely story. It confirms the impression I’ve always had of him. Thank you.

RIP Big Al.

[E1pix]

Not unexpected with his cancer — or let’s face it, in life — this is still very sad. One of the few remaining Renaissance drivers.

Another Great from my childhood gone in a long-dreaded era where they’re all leaving.

Often forgotten is that he knew how to turn right. I saw him win a F5000 race at Road America in ‘76, in the Series’ final year if not its last appearance in Elkhart Lake. (Edit: Sorry, my error, Al was 2nd at Road America but won Riverside in the last-ever F5000 race in the States).

In an era where being a gentleman seems rare, Al really was. And Man, was he ever good.

RIP, Al, and Thanks for being a true Hero in every way you could have been.

Edited by E1pix, 10 December 2021 - 19:35.

[jonpollak]

Just woke up to this news.
Shelly told me once that he was the best person in the entire clan.

Jp

[JacnGille]

Sad news

[TecnoRacing]

from Mark Donohue's book (re: testing the new McLaren M16 at Indy, 1971) -

 

"We ran another short test before official practice opened, to get the camber and springs right, and when we came back in May, we set off a bombshell. We unloaded and ran 178 mph almost the first time out. We had raised a few eyebrows at 172, but a jump of six miles per hour was inconceivable. Actually, the car's ultimate capability as built was over 180, but everyone else thought there was some sort of barrier below that. All of a sudden the 1969 "Rookie of the Year" was the focal point. I was like Superman, because no one else had done anything like that before. It was really an enviable position to be in. But I knew I wasn't Superman. I knew others were going to go as fast as I did—but it wasn't a good idea to say it too loud or too often. We went to our garage and sat around wondering what to do next. We were in a state of shock.
    About that time Al Unser came over. He knocked and asked permission to come in, because it's an unwritten rule there that no one ever goes into anyone else's garage without asking. Al said, "Look, we've been competitors for a long time, and you have your way of doing things and I have mine, but when you can come here and run six miles per hour faster than anyone else—I gotta shake your hand." I was really impressed. I don't know if I would have been that big a guy to have the courage or sportsmanship to do that. From that time on I've had tremendous respect for Al."

[ktrhe]

Sad News

R.I.P.

Sincere condolences to the Unser family

Edited by ktrhe, 10 December 2021 - 21:50.

[MCS]

Not unexpected with his cancer — or let’s face it, in life — this is still very sad. One of the few remaining Renaissance drivers.

Another Great from my childhood gone in a long-dreaded era where they’re all leaving.

Often forgotten is that he knew how to turn right. I saw him win a F5000 race at Road America in ‘76, in the Series’ final year if not its last appearance in Elkhart Lake. (Edit: Sorry, my error, Al was 2nd at Road America but won Riverside in the last-ever F5000 race in the States).

In an era where being a gentleman seems rare, Al really was. And Man, was he ever good.

RIP, Al, and Thanks for being a true Hero in every way you could have been.

Good point about his road racing, Eric.  Including Heats, he was victorious in quite a few F5000 races, as you might well have been privileged to witness.

 

Get the distinct impression he was every bit as professional and civilised off the track as he was on it.  Sad news.

[FLB]

 

 

 

Fortunately I've got many photographic reminders of a longtime favorite

 

 

This picture triggered somehting else for me...

 

 

How many of Jim Clark's teammates are still alive?

[Lee Nicolle]

RIP Al. Another legend lost.

[Calhoun]

You’d have to say his ‘500’ wins in 71 and 87 were remarkable not least because of the way he managed to win in inferior equipment (surely one of the three M16s should have won in 71, but no.. Al and his car outlasted or beat them all).

The 87 win was still being chuckled about half a decade later when I was with Penske.

Imagine my delight when, for a race, he was a teammate. He was drafted in to Team Penske to do the season’s penultimate race at Nazareth in 1992. Sadly by that point Al was well past his prime, and Teddy (Mayer) was his race engineer (I was running Tracy). My abiding memory was listening to their radio as Teddy, with his extremely nasal and unique way of speaking, tried to make himself understood to the virtually deaf Big Al. Everything was repeated several times, with varying levels of intonation and emphasis, as Teddy strove to make himself understood and Al strove to tell Teddy via a series of grunts that he couldn’t understand an effing word…



Edited because I initially thought it was the Marlboro Challenge Al had done with us at that event

 

I took this picture at Nazareth on 10-1-1992.

 

[raceannouncer2003]

I am very sorry to hear this.

 

At the 2008 Pacific Northwest Historics, I bought an Unser book, and there was Al, Sr. to sign it for me !

 

 

 

Vince H.

Edited by raceannouncer2003, 12 December 2021 - 06:38.