Bob Jennings

On September 11, 1994, I was in a car with a friend Jim Covington and a nice woman named Laurie, driving to the Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin to see the CART race. It was a hot, late summer day with bright blue skies. We were about five miles from Road America when a vehicle  full of racing fans passed us. The car had a large sign proudly displayed in the back window with the words "Go Al Jr."

Those were the best of times for Al Unser Jr. He was in his first season with Roger Penske. Unser Jr. won his second "Indianapolis 500," from pole position in 1994, in Penske's "beloved" Marlboro Penske - Ilmor Mercedes (pushrod) turbo V8. By the time of the race at Road America, Al had  already taken a single season CART record tying eight (with Michael Andretti in 1991) Indy car wins, the most recent coming the previous Sunday in Vancouver. Little Al was on top of the world o' racing.      

2001 is a different time. As I wrote recently, it's been tough for Al Unser Jr. and his fans. To the best of my knowledge, Little Al is unemployed as I write this. Rick Galles has closed the doors to his racing operation in Albuquerque and will probably sit out the 2002 racing season due to lack of sponsorship. 

Several weeks ago it was thought Budweiser would be the primary sponsor for Rick Galles' entry for Al Unser Jr. in the Indy Racing League for 2002. However it was reported Budweiser only offered $500,000 for an entire season and so far Galles has been unable to find other money. If Rick Galles doesn't race in 2002, it will be the first time since 1982 he hasn't had a car in the "Indianapolis 500" as an owner, with the exception of 1998 when he managed the Nienhouse Motorsports Reebok G Force driven to fourth place by Davy Hamilton.    

Jack Arute reported on the ESPN website on December 19 that Al Unser Jr.'s agent contacted  Treadway - Hubbard Racing. According to the team's general manager Scott Cronk, Fred Treadway is working with two potential sponsors to put a package together for Unser. Cronk said the response has been "very favorable," but things are in a holiday lull until early next month. 

I almost jumped out of my skin on December 26 when I read Jerry Bonkowski's column on ESPN.com. Bonkowski wrote that Unser Jr. is rumored to be heading to NASCAR to drive for A.J. Foyt. It all made sense but I hope like hell it doesn't happen.

Little Al has one Winston Cup start. He drove for Rick Hendrick in the 1993 "Daytona 500" and was running fifth when Dale Earnhardt "intimidated" him out of the race. In the past Unser Jr. said he doesn't like racing stock cars. One thing I learned over the past year is that you have to work when and where you can. That's probably something Al Unser Jr. is coming to realize too. Unser is accustomed to making big money and he probably has big bills, especially with daughter Cody's medical condition. NASCAR offers the opportunity to make a good living. Perhaps that's where Unser's future lies. 

But I'm really sick of this crap. It would be a damn shame if we lose Al Unser Jr. to NASCAR the way we lost Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman. It's like the NASCAR monster devours everything racing in America has to offer. Who am I going to cheer for at IRL races if Little Al is running Winston Cup?

Perhaps Roger Penske will get a touch of nostalgia, remember the 1994 season and put Al Jr. in a car. I don't think Penske plans to race three cars. But who knows? A Penske - Unser "rematch" would draw a lot of attention. Maybe Marlboro would be willing to pay for that. 

I would love to see Al Unser Jr. have a big day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway again. The 1992 "Indianapolis 500" win over Scott Goodyear was glorious. The win in 1994 wasn't nearly as much fun for me for various reasons. But a third "500" win just when it looks like Unser's career is running out of time is as good as anything I can think of.    

I believe Little Al still has some good races left. On occasion Unser shows flashes of the same brilliance we used to see during the glory days. A perfect example of Al Unser Jr.'s skill and desire as a racing driver came at Gateway International Raceway this past August 26.That was a wonderful race, one of the highlights of my 2001 racing season. 

The Indy Racing League lined up the field by owner's points at Gateway because most of the pre-race track activity was rained out. That placed Unser's Starz SuperPak G Force eighth on the grid. That meant Little Al didn't have to go through the ordeal of qualifying and driving through the pack to get to the front. 

Most of the attention at Gateway was focused on the IRL points battle between Sam Hornish and  Buddy Lazier. Hornish started the season with a flash, winning the season opening races at Phoenix and Miami. But Lazier came on strong beginning in June, winning races at Pikes Peak, Richmond, Nashville and Kentucky. Hornish had been in front in the points all season but Lazier was closing in quickly with races at Gateway, Chicagoland Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway remaining. 

The crowd at Gateway International Raceway was small and most of the grandstands were empty for the IRL race but there were still at least twice as many people as had shown up in 2000 for the CART race. Hornish's yellow Pennzoil Panther Dallara brought the field down to the green flag with Lazier's white and purple Hemelgarn Tae-Bo/Coors Light/Delta Faucet Dallara alongside.

Almost immediately Lazier dropped back with an engine problem. Buddy's Oldsmobile engine lost a cylinder, a problem similar to what happened in the "Indianapolis 500." That ended the Hornish - Lazier battle for the IRL title then and there in favor of young Sam.

During the opening laps Hornish moved out to an eight second lead, followed by Scott Sharp, Eliseo Salazar, Felipe Giaffone, Billy Boat and Al Unser Jr. Giaffone's Hollywood G Force developed suspension problems as he was closing on Salazar and the Brazilian rookie dropped out of contention. When the yellow flag came out for debris from Alex Barron's crash, the leaders went to the pits.

Whatever else they lacked, the Galles team knew how to do pit stops. Two weeks before the race at Gateway, I was at the IRL event at Kentucky Speedway. I watched Unser Jr. battle with a slow car, but still finish fourth primarily due to the fast service in the pits by his Starz crew. The Galles guys were working fast again at Gateway and Little Al came out of the pits in second place behind Hornish.

When the race restarted on lap 59, Little Al got behind Hornish and beat Sam into turn one to take the lead. That was a beautiful pass, like something Unser Jr. would've pulled in 1994. However  Hornish wasn't going to let Unser get away without a challenge and Sam came back at the number 3 Starz G Force. But Al's car was working well in lapped traffic and he was able to pull away from Hornish and the third place Johns Manville/Menards Dallara driven by Jaques Lazier.

By lap 75, Unser, Hornish and Lazier ran together. Sam closed up on Al Jr. again and nearly passed for the lead on lap 99. But Unser was up to the battle and again used lapped traffic to his advantage like a professor delivering a lecture to a prize student.

When the leaders made their second set of pit stops, the Pennzoil Panther crew got Hornish out in 13.4 seconds. But the Galles men were better, giving Unser Jr. an 11.7 second stop. That enabled Al to maintain his lead and he pulled out a two second lead.

The yellow flag came out again when Eliseo Salazar's Harrah's A.J. Foyt Dallara developed a glitch in the electrical system and stopped on the circuit. On lap 132, Unser (9.5 seconds) and Hornish (9.9) both pitted under caution. 

Robbie Buhl remained on the track and took over the lead. Buhl would have to make an additional stop since he pitted out of sequence earlier. So all eyes were on Unser and Hornish when the race under green resumed. Al Jr. beat Hornish on the restart, but the two drivers raced wheel to wheel into turn one. Al Unser Jr. was racing for all he was worth. The fire was burning again even though there's more belly to fill than in 1994.  

Hornish was able to maneuver inside Unser through the final corner and pulled ahead into second place behind Buhl. Rick Galles decided to adopt a fuel strategy and radioed Little Al to ease the pace. Although he questioned the decision, Unser leaned out the fuel mixture and settled in behind Hornish. This move enabled Hornish to pull out an advantage over Al Jr. When Buhl pitted, falling to sixth, it left Sam leading Unser by ten seconds with 30 laps left to run.

Donnie Beechler was running in fourth place when he crashed on lap 186, bringing the caution out once more. The Pennzoil Panther crew decided to play it safe and they brought Hornish in for a 4.4 second stop for fuel. This left Unser with a good lead on second place Mark Dismore and several cars between he and Hornish when the race restarted on lap 194.

Now the big question became whether Unser would have enough fuel to make it to lap 200. Little Al slowed things down enough that Dismore closed to within one second while Hornish began going past the cars that were in the way of he and the leaders. But everything worked out for Al Unser Jr. and he made it to the checkered flag for his second career Indy Racing League victory.

The win at Gateway was a classic Al Unser Jr. performance, the perfect blend of speed, aggression and patience. There have to be more races like it. Say it ain't so Little Al, tell us you're not going to leave us for NASCAR.