Interview: Al Unser

Al Unser is one of the brightest and most versatile stars from America’s golden age of racing in the latter half of the 20th century, having raced and won in Indycars, Can-Am, Formula 5000, IMSA, USAC stock cars, IROC and at Pikes Peak, scoring a record-tying four Indy 500 wins and claiming three U.S. National Championships along the way. In recognition of those and all his other career accomplishments, Unser was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1991, and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1998. A member of one of American racing’s family dynasties, his primary arena was, of course, Indycars, where his 39 wins rank fourth all time, where he shares the mark for most wins in a season, 10, with A.J. Foyt, and where he is the only driver ever to win the Triple Crown, with 500-mile victories at Indianapolis, Pocono and Ontario in 1978. That same year he was also crowned IROC champion. In 1985 he shared victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona with A.J. Foyt, Bob Wollek and Thierry Boutsen, and scored the best result ever for a Buick V6 at Indianapolis, finishing 3rd in 1992. This year marks the 25th Anniversary of his fourth and final Indy triumph, and seemed an ideal opportunity to speak with him about his approach to the sport and the lessons he learned from it. VR Associate Editor John Zimmermann opened the conversation at the very beginning.

Growing up in your family must have made a racing career an easy choice, was it really?