Al Unser Snr.

[charleselan]

I have just read of the very sad passing of Al Unser Snr after a long illness. One of the very select four time winners of the Indianapolis 500 Al Unser was a true great of racing in the USA and i believe he drove in his last Indy 500 when well into his mid 50's, and was competitive. His last Indy win came in his late 40's, I believe the oldest ever winner of the great race and he drove a March for Roger Penske which had been dusted off from storage or museum display.

Al was also a fine road track driver as well having driven very competitively in the American Formula 5000 series in the 1970's.

2021 has been a terrible year for the Unser family with elder brother Bobby passing earlier in the year as well s Bobby's son Bobby Jnr.

RIP Big Al one of the all time greats.


Al Unser in his 1971 Indy 500 winning Lola "Johnny Lightening Special".


Al winning the 1987 Indy 500 at the tender age of 47 years.

[Carl]

John,

         Sad news.  He was the finest Unser, both as a driver and person, one of the best in USAC Sprint Cars and Champ Cars (now Indycar), often faster in Formula 5000 than his teammate, Mario Andretti.

         Unser's 1987 Indy 500 car, originally entered as a back-up, had been sitting in a hotel lobby in Reading, Pennsylvania, as a show car just weeks prior.

        -Carl

Unser was on pole and led every lap against strong competition 

at Riverside's F5000 event in 1976

Oliver's Shadow was second, followed by the Lolas of Redman and Jones              

[charleselan]

Many thanks Carl. I do have memories of Big Al's excellent performances in the F5000 cars but wasn't sure without searching out reference as to how successful he had been. To have beaten Mario in what I believe was the other Vel's Parnelli Lola was a mark of just how good Al was. That series was mighty competitive back then with some outstanding drivers taking part.

[chrisb]

I was always left a little bit awestruck by big Al, not only was he an incredible driver who was a master in any thing he drove but he also came across as a real gentleman, one thing that always struck me about big Al was he was a fan as well and I saw him participating in a documentary about a former Indy 500 winner and paying tribute to him, it was a lovely tribute and said to me so much about him

Rest in peace big man and thank you for some incredible memories

[René]

Very sad news. Certainly one of the all time great American racers.

Of course I've never seen him drive in real life but his name and fame became known to me from the days I started reading motorsport magazines. For me that was Dutch magazine Autorensport which covered all sorts of professional racing, including American series.

RIP Big Al.

[René]

Dec 11, 2021 13:01:29 GMT charleselan said:

Many thanks Carl. I do have memories of Big Al's excellent performances in the F5000 cars but wasn't sure without searching out reference as to how successful he had been. To have beaten Mario in what I believe was the other Vel's Parnelli Lola was a mark of just how good Al was. That series was mighty competitive back then with some outstanding drivers taking part.

Those F5000 cars are amazing looking race cars. They would also look fantastic as slot cars.

[charleselan]

Dec 11, 2021 17:30:30 GMT René said:

Dec 11, 2021 13:01:29 GMT charleselan said:

Many thanks Carl. I do have memories of Big Al's excellent performances in the F5000 cars but wasn't sure without searching out reference as to how successful he had been. To have beaten Mario in what I believe was the other Vel's Parnelli Lola was a mark of just how good Al was. That series was mighty competitive back then with some outstanding drivers taking part.

Those F5000 cars are amazing looking race cars. They would also look fantastic as slot cars.

They were indeed René, and sounded fantastic with the 5 litre stock block V8 engines. I too think they would make an amazing slot car and so many different liveries of some very famous drivers especially the Lola T332; I am also astonished that no-one has produced any worthwhile models in 1/43rd scale static model.

[robmarsh]

RIP Al Unser