Al our junior
Alfred our jr. (Born April 19 , 1962 in Albuquerque , New Mexico ), nicknamed Little Al or Al junior, is a retired American automobile racer and two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 . He is the son of racing legend Al Unser and the nephew of Bobby Unser .
Career
Beginnings
Al our jr. was born into a racing family. His father Al and his uncle Bobby both also won the traditional Indianapolis 500. At the age of eleven, our jr. Sprint race. After high school, he was already active in the World of Outlaws series. He soon switched to road racing, where he won the Super Vee title in 1981 and the Can Am series title in 1982.
First years in the IndyCar series
In 1982, our jr. made his debut in the IndyCar series . A year later he took part in the Indianapolis 500 for the first time , which he finished in tenth. Ours became a rising star on the series. He finished second in the 1985 championship and lost it by just one point to his father. He began to take part in the IROC championship from 1986 , which he won with two wins in four races. At the age of 24 our jr. the youngest master ever in this series. He also won the IROC championships in 1986 and 1988. Also at the age of 24, he won the Daytona 24 Hours .
Ours finished the IndyCar championship in 1986 fourth in the overall standings, 1987 third, 1988 second and won it for the first time in 1990. In 1989, Unser was close to winning the Indianapolis 500 for the first time, but his and Emerson Fittipaldi's cars touched during the battle for leadership , with Unser, Jr. lost control of his car and drove into the gang. In 1992 he finally took his first victory at the Indianapolis 500, beating Scott Goodyear by 0.043 seconds, which was the narrowest win in the history of the race to date. After the end of the season he drove the Daytona 500 for Hendrick Motorsports in 1993 , which he finished in 36th and which should also be his only start in the Winston Cup .
Years with Penske
In 1994 our jr. again in Indianapolis, this time for the Penske Racing team . His team-mate was Emerson Fittipaldi, the man with whom he'd fought for victory five years earlier. Our jr. dominated the season, winning eight of 16 races, winning the IndyCar Championship for the second time in his career. That year he was named Athlete of the Year by ABC ’s Wide World of Sports . From then on, however, he was no longer able to build on his earlier results. Although he was still able to finish the championship in 1995 in second behind Jacques Villeneuve , from then on his results went downhill. He was fourth in 1996, 13th in 1997, 11th in 1998 and only 21st in 1999, so that in 2000 he moved to the competitive Indy Racing League . In his 17 years in the IndyCar series, he was able to win a total of 31 races.
Indy Racing League
In his first season in the IRL, he won the race in Las Vegas . He won a total of three races in this series by 2003, but after an injury in an accident in an off-road vehicle, he retired from active racing after finishing 22nd in the Richmond race on June 30, 2004. He then worked as a consultant for Patrick Racing and as a mentor for his son Alfred Unser, who is also aiming for a racing career.
After retirement
In 2006, Unser announced a comeback to the Indianapolis 500 of the 2006 season in the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing team. Just a few days before, Michael Andretti had also announced his start for the race. Our qualified as 27th of 33 drivers and consistently drove in the upper half of the field until an accident ended the race for him. In August, Unser took part in a test for the A1GP series at Silverstone.
He developed drinking problems in the 2010s and was jailed four times for being drunk and driving.
statistics
IndyCar / Champ Car results
year | team | Victories | Points | Championship placement |
---|---|---|---|---|
1982 | Forsythe Racing | 0 | 30th | 21st |
1983 | Galles Racing | 0 | 89 (new system) | 7th |
1984 | Galles Racing | 1 | 103 | 6th |
1985 | Shierson Racing | 2 | 150 | 2. |
1986 | Shierson Racing | 1 | 137 | 4th |
1987 | Shierson Racing | 0 | 107 | 3. |
1988 | Galles Racing | 4th | 149 | 2. |
1989 | Galles Racing | 1 | 136 | 5. |
1990 | Galles / Kraco Racing | 6th | 210 | 1. |
1991 | Galles / Kraco Racing | 2 | 197 | 3. |
1992 | Galles / Kraco Racing | 1 | 169 | 3. |
1993 | Galles Racing | 1 | 100 | 7th |
1994 | Penske Racing | 8th | 225 | 1. |
1995 | Penske Racing | 4th | 161 | 2. |
1996 | Penske Racing | 0 | 125 | 4th |
1997 | Penske Racing | 0 | 67 | 13. |
1998 | Penske Racing | 0 | 72 | 11. |
1999 | Penske Racing | 0 | 26th | 21st |
2 championships, 31 wins
Indy Racing League results
year | team | Victories | Points | Championship placement |
---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | Galles Racing | 1 | 188 | 9. |
2001 | Galles Racing | 1 | 287 | 7th |
2002 | Kelley Racing | 0 | 311 | 7th |
2003 | Kelley Racing | 1 | 374 | 6th |
2004 | Patrick Racing | 0 | 44 | 24. |
2006 | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 0 | 12 | 30th |
2007 | AJ Foyt Enterprises | 0 | 10 | 32. |
3 wins, best placement: 6th
Indianapolis 500 results
year | chassis | engine | Launch site | placement | annotation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1983 | eagle | Cosworth | 5. | 10. | empty tank |
1984 | March | Cosworth | 15th | 21st | defective water pump |
1985 | Lola | Cosworth | 11. | 25th | Engine failure |
1986 | Lola | Cosworth | 9. | 5. | |
1987 | March | Cosworth | 22nd | 4th | |
1988 | March | Chevrolet | 5. | 13. | |
1989 | Lola | Chevrolet | 8th. | 2. | accident |
1990 | Lola | Chevrolet | 7th | 4th | |
1991 | Lola | Chevrolet | 6th | 4th | |
1992 | Galmer | Chevrolet | 12. | 1. | |
1993 | Lola | Chevrolet | 5. | 8th. | |
1994 | Penske | Ilmor - Mercedes | 1. | 1. | |
1995 | Lola | Ilmor - Mercedes | Not qualified | ||
2000 | G-Force | Oldsmobile | 18th | 29 | Cooler defective |
2001 | G-Force | Oldsmobile | 19th | 30th | accident |
2002 | Dallara | Chevrolet | 12. | 12. | |
2003 | Dallara | Toyota | 17th | 9. | |
2004 | Dallara | Chevrolet | 17th | 17th | |
2006 | Dallara | Honda | 27. | 24. | accident |
2007 | Dallara | Honda | 25th | 26th |
Sebring results
year | team | vehicle | Teammate | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1985 | Holbert Racing | Porsche 962 | Derek Bell | Al Holbert | Rank 2 | |
1986 | Holbert Racing | Porsche 962 | Derek Bell | Al Holbert | Rank 3 |
Web links
Individual evidence
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Ours, Al junior |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Little Al; Al junior |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American racing car driver |
DATE OF BIRTH | April 19, 1962 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Albuquerque |