while I was away, I got much older

bob jennings' WORLD O' RACING

while I was away, I got much older

July 20, 2003

Al Unser Jr. during Carburetion day for the 87th "Indianapolis 500" on May 22, 2003

While I was away, my second marriage has gone down the toilet. For now, we're still sharing the same roof but we no longer speak and I'm worrying and waiting for the other shoe to drop sometime soon, which means the end of our time together, whether we still have a legal connection or not. I don't want my marriage to end like this. It has always been a tension filled association but it's been my life since late 1997.

There are lots of nights recently when I find my peace at the bar at Jimmy B's at 106th and College, formerly known, when it was across the street, and referred to by me in familiar terms as the "Home Place Tavern," with a shot of Wild Turkey 101 on my left and a cold green bottle of Heineken's on my right. I don't know a soul in that place but when I walk in the front door, it's like I am home at last.

Almost never are there any pretty women to look at in Jimmy B's, but then I don't look so good myself any more either. But there are a lot of people showing the same signs of sadness I feel, and that gives me comfort. A "skunky" chug of Heineken and a slow biting sip of "Turkey" and I'm in business again. My head raises a few inches off my shoulders and I feel that familiar burn as the whiskey comes to meet me at the bottom of my empty life.

I only have a single round. Too many cop cars are patrolling the streets these days and I don't need more trouble. I only have a mile to drive and it's safe if I stop drinking after one whiskey and beer apiece. It's sort of the coward's way of boozing away my troubles, but I drink slowly, as if I don't want to end the "family reunion" too quickly.

Then it's out to my car, as I glance south towards the empty lot where Danny Renick's house once stood, while I think about the magazine photo cutouts of Elvis that Danny had on the wall of the tiny upstairs bedroom on Union Traction Boulevard forty five years ago. I examined the cutouts as the late afternoon sunlight came through the window from the western sky, while I waited for my dad to pick me up on his way home from work at Eagle Machine Company.

When my dad came to get me, he and Danny's dad Max Renick (a swell guy) would chat about the world at large for a few minutes, while Danny and I got in our final bits of foolishness and adventures in the land of puberty.

I drive slowly from the bar, seeking shelter from the storm my home used to be. Now it's the center of the storm. There's often screaming in this place, coming from the young wife who I have so terribly disappointed.

For several nights so far this month, the tornado sirens wailed around Indianapolis as the storm clouds boiled overhead. I crossed my fingers and hoped my loved ones and worldly goods survived the storm, all the while enjoying the violence in the sky which perfectly suited my state of mind.

I wish John Dailey were still alive so I could take consolation in his life experiences. "Ralph" would tell me a racing story which would convince me, at least until the liquor wore off, I was better off alone. I wish Guy Nadeau were still alive so I could cry on his shoulder. "Old Roarin' Roy" would think I was crazy as he tried to direct my attention to the woman sitting across from me at the bar. But he would offer his shoulder to his old pal nevertheless.

Sometimes life really stinks! Where are John Dailey and Guy Nadeau when I need them most?

Have you heard the new Steely Dan cd? I love everything Donald Fagen and Walter Becker ever put down, every track a masterpiece. I loved Steely Dan music in the 1970s. "You go back Jack do it again. Wheel turnin' 'round and 'round." I loved them in the eighties "Babylon sisters shake it" and I loved them in the nineties. I love their music now.

One of my all time great musical experiences was sitting about fifteen rows from the stage at a lakeside amphitheater near downtown Milwaukee on my 54th birthday on June 23, 2000, watching Steely Dan perform a few yards in front of me, in support of their first studio album since 1980, "Two Against Nature." It was a grand night as I watched with my good pal Tony Smith and I'll never forget it.

There was grizzled old Don Fagen spinning his lyrical tales behind the keyboard, with Walt Becker to his left, picking on his bass or guitar, a cast of excellent studio musicians on each side of the stage and the three sweet, hot female vocalists, Victoria Cave, Carolyn Leonhart and Cynthia Calhoun, shaking their perfectly shaped bottoms to the music and hitting the high notes on "Don't Take Me Alive," "FM," "Cousin Dupree" and fifteen or so other classics.

I plan to be at United Center in Chicago on August 8, 2003 to see Steely Dan perform once again. I won't be in row fifteen this time and I'll see my onstage action up close on a video screen. But that's okay. I don't go to see Steely Dan because they look good. I go to see Steely Dan because they sound good.

"Two Against Nature" was a superb collection but this time Steely Dan has an even better cd in the stores. Donald Fagen is 55 and Walter Becker can't be much younger. Yet these two old veterans of the contemporary music scene still produce sounds that spark me like a double dose of Viagra. The new Steely Dan cd "Everything Must Go" is a masterpiece. It hits me right where I live. The title track couldn't speak for my emotions better if I spent one thousand years trying to come up with the right words to describe my pain.

"It's high time for a walk on the real side
Let's admit the bastards beat us
I move to dissolve the corporation
In a pool of margaritas
So let's switch off all the lights
And light up all the Luckies
Crankin' up the afterglow
'Cause we're goin' out of business
Everything must go

Talk about your major pain and suffering
Now our self-esteem is shattered
Show the world our mighty hidey-ho face
As we go sliding down the ladder
It was sweet up at the top
'Til that ill wind started blowing
Now it's cozy down below
'Cause we're goin' out of business
Everything must go

We gave it our best shot
But keep in mind we got a lot
The sky the moon good food and the weather
First-run movies -- does anybody get lucky twice?
Wouldn't it be nice...

Tell me can you dig it Miss Fugazy
Now it's gone from late to later
Frankly I could use a little face time
In the service elevator
And if Dave from Acquisitions
Wants to get in on the action
With his Handicam in tow
Well we're goin' out of business
Everything must go

Can it be the sorry sun is rising
Guess it's time for us to book it
Talk about the famous road not taken
In the end we never took it
And if somewhere on the way
We got a few good licks in
No one's ever gonna know
'Cause we're goin' out of business
Everything must go"

As bad as it's been, life ain't been all bad however. Al Unser Jr. won the Indy Racing League event at Texas! How about that?

Going into the "Bombardier 500k" at Texas Motor Speedway on June 7, Little Al's 2003 season could be termed politely as being mediocre. In private conversations, I would use a more descriptive phrase.

Unser started the 2003 season with a thirteenth at Miami-Homestead Speedway. Toyota couldn't have been too impressed as they made their debut in Indy Racing League competition. A fourth place finish at Phoenix was better, almost reminiscent of some of Al's exploits on the 1.5 mile high banked ovals in 2002. Another consistent run to fifth at Twin Ring Motegi in April offered a glimmer of hope for May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

This past May wasn't one of the highlights of Al Unser Jr.'s career however. His practice and qualifying performances were always below the middle of the speed range. On race day, Unser struggled to run in the top ten for most of the 500 miles. At the finish, Al was 17.4 seconds behind "500" winner Gil de Ferran, in ninth place.

However when the "boys (and girls) of Indy" came to Texas Motor Speedway two weeks after the 87th "Indianapolis 500," there was magic in the air and Al Unser Jr. came alive behind the wheel again.

Texas Motor Speedway has to be the second spiritual home for IRL style Indy car racing. There were 92,000 people at TMS on June 7 to see the "Bombardier 500k." That represents an increase of 9,000 fans from last year's June night race in Texas and is 6,000 up from the 86,000 who turned out for the IRL finale last September.

There have always been good crowds for the IRL races in Texas but they have been increasing on a race by race basis in the past couple years. Unless I'm mistaken, I believe the crowd at Texas last month was the third best ever for the Indy cars since the IRL debut in June 1997, when more than 128,000 fans came to TMS. The second best IRL crowd at TMS was in June 1998, when 100,000 came for the second Indy car race at the 1.5 mile oval.

After the disheartening reality of the 87th "Indianapolis 500" not selling out for the first time in who knows how many years, seeing the crowd increase at Texas in these tough economic times was a big part of the magic of the night.

If you think about it, the Dallas - Fort Worth area seems to be a real market for the Indy Racing League, second only to Indianapolis. If the recent past is any indication, it's likely there will be close to 90,000 people at Texas Motor Speedway for the IRL finale in October. That's a total of 180,000 people coming to watch the Indy cars race. Those are NASCAR numbers brother.

The racing is always so spectacular around the 24 degree banking in the corners at Texas. Wheel to wheel, lap after lap at 200 plus mph, the Indy cars on the 1.5 mile TMS oval are a sight to see, unlike anything anywhere. So strong is the short history of the Indy cars at Texas Motor Speedway, it's almost a tradition in its own right, nearly a separate entity from what occurs in Indianapolis in May.

For the first 149 laps of the 200 lap "Bombardier 500k," it was no lose for yours truly as my two favorite Indy car drivers ran one - two for most of that time. It was superb watching Al Unser Jr. perched on the tail of Tomas Scheckter's number 10 Target G Force - Toyota lap after lap. I wasn't sure who to cheer for so I cheered for both. Perhaps my sympathies were with Little Al because he needed a win more than the South African. At the same time, I was still riding the adrenaline rush from Scheckter's 63 laps in front of the 87th "Indianapolis 500" thirteen days earlier and eager for Tomas to capitalize on his strong run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Unser Jr. tried repeatedly to pass Scheckter during the 103 laps they ran together, beginning on lap 46. The red, black and white Corteco Dallara - Toyota number 31 constantly pulled along side the white and red Target number 10. But Tomas was just that little bit faster.

That didn't bother me because I wanted Scheckter to win the Texas race too. If Unser Jr. were to finish second, racing Tomas side by side to the checkered flag, that would represent a worthwhile effort on Al's part and enhance his 2003 performance chart.

But on lap 150, the racing gods frowned on Tomas Scheckter and smiled on Al Unser Jr. There was a mix up in the Target pit that resulted in car 10 pulling away before the fueling mechanism was disconnected. Tomas was assessed a drive through penalty for the infraction which injured Target Ganassi crew member Andy Natalie. The penalty dropped Scheckter to ninth place.

Then on lap 173, with sparks trailing from the Target G Force - Toyota number 10 as if to indicate something breaking on the car, Scheckter hit the outside wall in turn two.

Now it was totally up to Al Unser Jr. to defend the honor of Bob Jennings' World O' Racing. Defend Junior did and very impressively. From the point Scheckter dropped out of contention on lap 150, Little Al moved the Corteco number 31 into first place and he stayed there for the race's remaining 50 laps.

The ride to victory wasn't without anxious moments for the two-time "Indianapolis 500" champion. After a three car incident involving Tora Takagi, Scott Sharp and Felipe Giaffone on lap 191, the "Bombardier 500k" became a one lap shootout between Unser and Tony Kanaan.

The green and white flag waved at the start of lap 200. The number 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara - Honda went to the outside and pulled along side Unser's Corteco Dallara - Toyota. The two cars ran side by side down the backstretch. But Unser's Toyota V8 had more oomph than Kanaan's Honda and by time they got to turn three, the 31 car was ahead.

One year earlier, Jeff Ward beat Al Unser Jr. to the checkered flag at Texas Motor Speedway by .0111 second, which at that time was the closest finish in the century long history of Indy car racing. Of course, in September 2002, Unser Jr. lost an even closer finish in an Indy Racing League event, this time at Chicagoland Speedway as Sam Hornish beat Little Al by .0024 seconds, another new record as far as closest finishes go.

This time, Unser was equal to the task and beat Kanaan to the flag by .0810 seconds for the third IRL victory of Little Al's career. Behind Unser and Kanaan, the remaining top ten finishers in order were Takagi (Pioneer Mo Nunn Racing G Force - Toyota), Kenny Brack (Pioneer/Miller Lite Dallara - Honda), Bryan Herta (Archipelago/Motorola Dallara - Honda), Scott Dixon (Target Chip Ganassi Racing G Force - Toyota), Helio Castroneves (Marlboro Team Penske Dallara - Toyota), Gil de Ferran (Marlboro Team Penske G Force - Toyota), Roger Yasukawa (Panasonic ARTA Dallara - Honda) and Sam Hornish (Pennzoil Panther Dallara - Chevrolet). Unser's winning average speed was 168.213 mph.

It was written in the media the Texas crowd was cheering wildly for Al Unser Jr. as he completed the final laps in anticipation of the long awaited Texas win. In the Indianapolis area, the Unser victory at Texas was received warmly. At that time, Al trailed Kanaan in the points chase for the 2003 Indy Racing League title by only 26 points and there was speculation that Unser Jr. was moving toward a potential series title.

Since the Al Unser Jr. win at Texas Motor Speedway on June 7, four more IRL events have taken place. Little Al hasn't been able to match his win at TMS, although he did lead 45 laps in last night's race at Nashville Superspeedway. But Unser's exploits in the more recent races are another story unto them self which we will save for another episode.

Whether the Unser win in Texas proves to be a return to what was the most exciting slot in American motorsports less than ten years ago or merely a brief glimmer in a fading career remains to be seen. But on June 7, 2002, Al Unser Jr. was once again a winner in a very impressive fashion and it was a great thing to watch.

Perhaps the nicest tribute to A; Jr.'s Texas victory came in an article written by Eddie Cheever and posted on the ESPN racing website last month. Cheever's comments were as follows:

"I entered the gym at Texas Motor Speedway and thought I was alone. I wasn't. There, back in a far corner, was a lone figure on a treadmill. I thought, "Naw, it can't be him." It was.

The morning of his victory at Texas, Al Unser Jr. was sweating his guts out on a treadmill. I thought, "That's not the same guy I knew 12 months ago." I trained for about 30 minutes and got up to leave. There was Al, still running, still sweating, still making amends.

I'm not saying that his intense early morning workout was the reason Al won, but I think he knows that being in shape is part of being a successful racer. It helps the pieces fall into place. The effort did show me one thing, though: The passion, along with Al Unser Jr., is back.

It's impossible to discount someone who has a lot of passion for what he does. The Unsers didn't win nine Indy 500s without having passion. Yes, it is public knowledge that Al went through a rough period last year, but he made a conscious decision about his future. In a public forum, with all of the scrutiny and embarrassment, he made things right.

Texas is by far the most mentally challenging track we race on, not because of the track configuration, but because of the traffic and the strategy. While it appears to be a physical track, it's actually a mental track. You wonder when to show your car. How long do you wait? Al just outsmarted everybody. This was about a man overcoming his mistakes and his problems and proving that – at age 41 – he still has what it takes. It was great to watch.

Everyone is aware of what happened to Al. Last year, after a race in Kansas City, he was arrested in Indianapolis on a domestic abuse charge. He entered rehab, got himself sober and returned to racing. He took the right path. He knew that if he put the effort into it, all the numbers would fall into place. They did. Al Unser Jr. still has it.

Addiction is a much more serious matter than a simple injury. It is a complicated issue, one that requires tremendous strength and dedication to overcome. Not only did he do it, but he did it as a public figure. I can only imagine how embarrassing and humiliating it must have been to acknowledge it, yet he did. He grabbed it and wrestled it to the floor.

Of this year's accomplishments in the IRL IndyCar Series, Unser's return ranks up there with Gil de Ferran's win at Indy. Al's cycle of recovery was completed when he won at Texas. It will always be a struggle. He will always have to work at it. From one colleague and friend to another, I take my hat off to him. He didn't just win the race; he won an even bigger battle. He's put the past in an envelope and sealed it with a win.