bob jennings' WORLD O' RACING 01/07/2001
"Al, you're my hero"
Al Unser prepares to practice for the 1988 "Indianapolis 500"
Bob Jennings
It was a practice day (I believe it was Wednesday) leading up to qualifications for the 1999 "Indianapolis 500." I was sitting on the wall in the pits at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Tony Stewart was getting ready to go on to the track to practice. Al Unser is a consultant with the Indy Racing League. He sat down next to me. Al's a shy, quiet man. I'm not one to strike up conversations with racing personalities. I'd rather take their photo and watch them race. But I couldn't resist this one. I looked at Al and said "Al, you're my hero." I extended my hand. Al smiled, held out his hand and shook mine. He seemed pleased with the recognition. I told him he'd given me more thrills at the Speedway than anyone else over the years.
Al Unser is my all time favorite racer. He probably always will be. Many of my feelings about Al are due to the fact that I spent more time cheering for him than anyone else. I saw Al race for the first time in the1965 "Indianapolis 500" and for the final time at the Speedway in May 1994. Mario Andretti called Al Unser one of the five greatest race drivers of all time when Unser retired as a driver in May 1994. Al Unser wasn't necessarily the greatest racer of all time. However he was the most successful in the history of the "Indianapolis 500." Al had a record tying four wins, three finishes in second place, four third places, one 4th place, one 5th and two other top tens in the "500." He also led more competitive laps in the "Indianapolis 500" than any other driver.
I still love to look at photos of the cars Al Unser raced throughout his career. My old racing buddy Tim Pendergast used to say that I always fancied Al Unser's cars, even when they weren't good looking. Tim's probably correct in his assertion. But Al Unser usually did have terrific looking racing cars, at least in my mind.
Remember the deep "candy" blue Johnny Lightning cars with the golden yellow lightning flashes running along the sides? Al Unser was undefeated at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in George Bignotti's (Lola copy) VPJ Colt - Ford Johnny Lightning 500 Specials. Al's Johnny Lightning cars were the last cars to win the "Indianapolis 500" two years in succession.
The Johnny Lightning cars are likely the most famous cars Al Unser raced. They're often featured in books about the all time great racing cars. Al wore a high gloss maroon helmet when he drove the Johnny Lightning cars for Vel Miletich and Parnelli Jones. The color scheme of car and driver presented the image of an exotic toy racer. That seems appropriate because the sponsor Topper Toys was trying to market Johnny Lightning products against its chief competition, the Mattel Hot Wheels line of toys.
Years ago there was a bar on the north edge of Carmel, Indiana called Ben's Island. It was located at the point where Meridian Street (U.S. highway 31) and Range Line Road (Indiana highway 431) come together. Before that, the place was called Charlie's Steak House. Ringo Starr went to Charlie's Steak House in late summer 1964. Ringo was restless and hungry after two Beatles performances at the Indiana State Fair and was driven to Charlie's by an Indiana State Police officer.
Behind the bar at Ben's Island were commemorative whiskey bottles molded and painted to look like some "Indianapolis 500" racing cars of the early 1970's. I don't remember who produced the bottles, Seagram's, Schenley, someone like that. There were two bottles commemorating each of the two Johnny Lightning cars, both the 1970 and 1971 model. The detail was pretty good. Although the 1971 Johnny Lightning car was essentially an evolution of the 1970 car, there were some subtle differences. The whiskey bottles captured those differences. I think that's pretty neat. I bet the Johnny Lightning bottles would both cost a small fortune to buy at one of those collector conventions that are so popular these days.
I worked in Battle Creek, Michigan from November 1972 through May 1976. Although the south central part of the state of Michigan is a lovely place with interesting natural scenery, Calhoun County and the community of Battle Creek wasn't for Bob Jennings. Maybe if I'd been born there I might feel differently.
Fortunately I was within 225 miles of Indianapolis, which was about four hours in the MG-B roadsters I drove throughout my time in Battle Creek. Every opportunity I had, I made the trip south to Indianapolis on Interstate 69. I followed this practice even during the period between late 1973 and early 1974 when there weren't any gas stations open on Sundays due to the fuel crisis. Fortunately my little MG didn't use much gas and I could make the trip on a half tank.
I wanted to be in Indianapolis in the worst way during the Battle Creek years, seeing my parents and hanging out with my friends. I recall Saturday night's at Ben's Island, watching John Dailey drink beer, warbling and working an old mechanical pinball game. Not being a pinball player or a heavy beer drinker myself, but still wanting to hang out, I'd be at Ben's Island until the wee hours of Sunday morning, on an almost weekly basis. Tammy Wynette, George Jones or Merle Haggard would be playing on the jukebox. I'd sit at the bar drinking bourbon, while John continued to warble like a whippoorwill and shake the pinball machine, all the while puffing on a Camel cigarette and drinking another beer. While I was sitting at the bar I'd look at those commemorative whiskey bottles and think about racing or how much I dreaded going back to Battle Creek.
In addition to the two Johnny Lightning cars they had a bottle molded in the likeness of Mark Donohue's 1972 "Indianapolis 500" winning Sunoco McLaren - Offy. Another bottle featured a likeness of the Olsonite Eagle - Offy that Bobby Unser qualified on pole for the 1972 "500." There were also bottles depicting Gordon Johncock's 1973 Indianapolis winning STP Eagle - Offy and the Sugaripe Prune Eagle - Offy driven to second place in the 1973 "500" by Billy Vukovich.
I love to have my memory running free while I write these things! That's the fun of this entire process.
How about the Al Unser's Viceroy cars? They had a slick commercial look to them, perhaps a message of things to come in race car graphics. Parnelli Jones once bragged that it cost $125,000 each to paint the Viceroy cars. They had too much red (for me) but I liked the primary paint job which featured an antiseptic white base accentuated by red, with blue numbers and gold trim. That was as white a white as you could ever find. I'm reminded a little bit of the old Viceroy cars when I see Ryan Newman's C.E. Lewis Drinan number 39 midget racer. Al Unser only had a couple Indy car wins driving Viceroy painted cars for Vel and Parnelli. But he spent four seasons in those cars and they became a familiar sight.
Among my favorites were the American Racing Wheels Parnelli - Cosworths Al Unser raced in 1976 and 1977. That car was a smaller package than prevailing designs, with a color scheme of white at the bottom and deep metallic blue at the top. The Parnelli VPJ Indy car was a variation of a Maurice Phillippe Formula One design. Mario Andretti introduced the F1 Parnelli at the 1974 Grand Prix of Canada. I was at Mosport that day and saw Mario run the new Parnelli as well as seeing Mark Donohue introduce an equally new Penske F1 car. Al Unser won the 1976 500 miler at Pocono in the Indy version of Mario's F1 car. It marked the first Indy car win for the DFX turbo version of the original three-liter engine Ford Cosworth V8 engine that had been introduced to Formula One in 1967. Al also won races at Milwaukee and Phoenix in the Parnelli - Cosworth DFX in 1976.
John Barnard, who would go on to Formula One fame, produced the design for the 1977 Parnelli chassis. It refined the lines of the original Phillippe design and made for what was arguably the fastest racing car in the world at the time. There were some reliability problems however. By half season 1977, when Al Unser was running, he was usually in first place. Al put together a strong win at Ontario Motor Speedway in the "California 500" on Labor Day weekend. Unser finished a close second to Gordon Johncock in the Indy car season finale at Phoenix.
In October 1977 when I heard Al Unser was walking away from Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing and the Parnelli VPJ, I was perplexed. Why would he give up a car that good? It seemed to me Al had a car capable of taking him to victory in the 1978 "Indianapolis." As things turned out Big Al knew what he was doing.
The last time I looked, the First National City Travelers Checks Lola - Cosworth was the only one of Al Unser's four "Indianapolis 500" winning cars housed in the Hall of Fame Museum at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Lola is my favorite Al Unser car. Al won all three Indy car 500 milers in 1978 with the Lola. The First National City Chaparral Lola was created at the very end of the pre-ground effects era in racing car design. It's a good example of what state of the art racers looked like before they began sprouting side pods. My basic impression when looking at Eric Broadley's Lola T500 design was the car was designed to be uncomplicated, clean and efficient.
The Jim Hall entry looked different than any other car on the track in 1978. It featured a narrow tub with a high center of gravity. Unser's Lola was painted in a patriotic color scheme of dark blue on the tub and white with red trim on the cockpit and engine cover. When I visualize Al sneaking in unexpectedly and stealing the 1978 "Indianapolis 500" I still get a smile on my face. Not many people were expecting that win. But Unser had his primary competitors Danny Ongais (driving Al Unser's "old" Parnelli) and Tom Sneva covered.
It was more than 90 degrees at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday May 29, 1978. The grass was parched inside turn one across from where I was watching the race. Unser bent the front wing, hitting a tire on his final pit stop with 20 laps to go in the "500." If he hadn't built such a large margin on Tom Sneva prior to the stop, he would've lost the race. Otherwise the day went like a charm. I love the memory of Al's silver helmet shining as he smoothly guided the narrow car number 2 into the corner. It's one of my favorites!
What about the "ultra exotic" Pennzoil Chaparral Al ran for Jim Hall the following season? The first time I saw the bright yellow exotic shape of the Chaparral gleaming in the afternoon sunshine at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 1979, I almost passed out with excitement. I was sure Al had the car to repeat his "Indianapolis 500" win from the previous May. Had it not been for an oil leak at the halfway point of the 1979 "500," the Chaparral would've been unbeatable.
The Pennzoil Chaparral "yellow submarine" was revolutionary, the first full ground effects Indy car. Al Unser's buddy from the Parnelli - Cosworth seasons, John Barnard designed the Chaparral. Al led a lot of races in 1979 but it wasn't until the season finale that he won, leading from flag to flag at Phoenix.
A few weeks after Unser's win in Phoenix, I was astonished to hear that Al was abandoning the Chaparral to go with Bobby Hillin's Longhorn team. While Al made a good choice to leave Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing at the end of 1977 for Jim Hall's new team, his decision two years later was incorrect, at least in my mind. But Al has always claimed the choice was proper when asked about it, citing disagreements with the way Hall was running the team. Maybe Jim Hall wasn't paying Al on time.
The McLaren team (then headed by Teddy Mayer and Tyler Alexander) pulled out of Indy car racing after 1979 to concentrate on its Formula One program. This left Johnny Rutherford to take the ride in the Pennzoil Chaparral after Unser walked away. When Rutherford accepted his prize at the victory celebration for winning the 1980 "Indianapolis 500" in the Chaparral, he wondered aloud whether he should give Al Unser one third of his prize.
Actually I liked what Bobby Hillin was trying to do, when he came up with the brand new Longhorn LR01 chassis for Al Unser in 1980. Hillin purchased the blueprints for the design of Patrick Head's Williams FW07 chassis. The FW07 won the 1980 Formula One championship with Australia's Alan Jones driving. Hillin hired Formula Ford chassis constructor Ed Zink to put the FW07 plans on wheels. The LR01 didn't look much like the Williams FW07 though. Still it had an original look, painted all white, with sort of a boxy angular shape.
The Longhorn LR01 became a better racing car as the 1980 season progressed. I went to Milwaukee in August 1980 for the 200 mile Indy car race. Al qualified the LR01 on the front row, next to his "old" Pennzoil Chaparral, which Rutherford qualified on pole. They added a fire stripe graphic at the bottom of Al's Longhorn at Milwaukee. The progressive yellow, orange, red and black stripes against the car's white background added some personality the LR01 had been missing earlier. In the Milwaukee race, Al had things working well. He led Rutherford by a few car lengths at the start of the race and remained in front until there were less than 20 laps to go. I think Al lost a wheel and crashed but the Longhorn might've broken down also. Where are the record books when you need them? The CART website used to have terrific statistics but like the rest of the organization, it's not much anymore.
The Longhorn LR02 was introduced for 1981 and it really did look like the Williams FW07. In fact Patrick Head actually came to Indianapolis for a few days in May 1981 to assist Al Unser and the Hillin Longhorn crew with the new car. I liked the looks of the LR02. It was an Indy car copy of the FW07 even down to the graphics on the side pods. Both the Williams and the Longhorn were painted white. The only difference was the FW07 was trimmed in dark green while the LR02 was trimmed in blue.
Al had a couple good races with Bobby Hillin's Longhorn LR02 in 1981. He had a fast car during the early laps of the 1981 "Indianapolis 500." A prolonged pit stop to fix loose bodywork put Al several laps behind. He was leading both the June race at Milwaukee and the first 500-miler at Michigan International Speedway when the LR02 broke.
It's too bad. I think the LR02 had some potential and could've been a winner. Bobby Hillin was paying the bills out of his own pocket because he never found any substantial sponsorship. The money wasn't there to compete with Roger Penske and Pat Patrick. That's what had to be done to be successful in Indy car racing in 1981.
The Newman - Haas team with Mario Andretti and the Truesports team with Bobby Rahal would both emerge within two years. In 1981 however even Jim Hall was struggling to keep pace with Penske and Patrick as the Pennzoil Chaparral was beginning to show its age. Dan Gurney had some money from Pepsi Cola and was trying to make a winner out of his Eagle with Chevy V8 stock block power. George Bignotti was building a new team for Dan Cotter with Tom Sneva driving. But it was mostly Penske and Patrick. Bobby Hillin was on a futile mission but he sure tried. Bobby Hillin had "balls."
The 1982 Longhorn LR03 can best be described as junk. That car didn't have any sponsorship and it was butt ugly. Designer John Ward was trying to find an alternative way to direct air under the Longhorn LR03. The rival Penskes, Marches and Wildcats used the prevailing conventional venturi tunnel side pod setup. Ward's approach to ground effects was to channel air to the area between the rear wheels. Ward employed the same principles in the design of Dan Gurney's Eagle the previous year. Mike Mosley drove the Gurney Eagle from last to first to win at Milwaukee in June 1981. Unfortunately Ward's Longhorn LR03 didn't work and Al was a helpless passenger in a nasty car. That Unser could persist to a fifth place finish in the 1982 "Indianapolis 500" with the LR03 was testimony to his brilliance as a race driver.
During the seasons in which Al Unser was associated with Roger Penske he was often treated like a "red-haired stepchild." Al Unser gave the Penske team an Indy car championship in 1983 in a Penske PC11 that was so bad it had to be vacated in favor of the previous year's PC10 model before the season concluded. At the end of 1984 Al lost his full time Penske ride to Danny Sullivan. From that time on Al Unser was only a part time race driver.
That didn't turn out to be the case for 1985 however. Unser was pissed off when Roger Penske told him at the 1984 CART season finale at Las Vegas that he was being replaced. Al responded with his best drive of the season in Penske's red and white Miller High Life March - Cosworth. He led most of the race around the Caesar's Palace parking lot before bumping wheels with eventual race winner Tom Sneva and going into the fence. After the race Al announced he was resigning from the Penske team even though he'd been offered a part time ride for 1985.
Penske made conciliatory statements to the media saying he hoped Al would change his mind. Rick Mears had been hurt seriously in September 1984 at the small Sanair oval in Quebec. Penske knew there was a good chance Mears would be recuperating for at least part of the 1985 season and a substitute would be needed. Unser later agreed to terms with Penske for 1985. Al stepped in for Mears in late June. Despite missing the Portland race, Al won the 1985 Indy car title by one point from Al Unser Jr. How long has it been since you've thought about that?
So how did Roger Penske reward Al Unser for winning two Indy car championships in three seasons? Penske hired Al to drive the "test mule" for 1986. Al was designated as the driver of the brand new Penske PC15 powered by the equally new Ilmor Chevrolet V8 turbo engine. Alan Jenkins designed the PC15. Al qualified the new car seventh or eighth in its maiden voyage at Phoenix, which was pretty impressive. However the PC15 failed to start when the race began which didn't bode well for Indianapolis in May.
The new Penske model had nice lines, varying a bit from the Marches and Lolas of the day. At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Al put the car among the speed leaders during practice for the "Indianapolis 500." On "500" Pole day Al put in a run at 211.530 mph for sixth grid position. Mario Andretti qualified fifth at 212.300 mph. However when Mario crashed during the second week of practice he had to switch to his spare car, which placed him near the back of the starting grid. That moved Al's yellow Hertz number 11 into the middle of row two.
Guy Nadeau decided that we should each wear a yellow shirt with a blue number 11 to the 1986 "500" to show our allegiance to Al Unser. So he purchased three shirts (Guy, Tim Pendergast and I) to wear to the race. Guy persuaded Tim's wife Jeanne to iron the numbers on the shirts. Tim and I were embarrassed to wear them but we went along with the scheme to please Guy. We did that a lot. Although the 1986 "500" was delayed six days by rain, Guy made sure we all had our "official Al Unser" shirts on when the race was run on May 31 despite the efforts from Tim and I to divert Guy's attention.
I wasn't confident about Al Unser's chances for the 1986 "500." I knew the car had some speed but reliability was another question. Guy was more excited. I think a lot of Guy's enthusiasm had to do with the newness of Al's PC15. Unfortunately once the "500" got under way Al's number 11 went backwards. It was easy to see he wasn't having any fun in the race. It was almost a relief when he dropped out after 149 laps with a car that was vibrating so badly Al could barely hold on to the steering wheel.
I rank Al's win in the 1987 "Indianapolis 500"as my all time number one racing moment. Racing has given me thousands of "thrills and chills" over the years. I could fill volumes reliving all of them. Actually that's what this web site is about. But I've never had as much adrenaline rush through my body the way it did during the final 20 laps of the 1987 "Indianapolis 500." It's the classic racing story like it was scripted in Hollywood!
Roger Penske dropped Al from his team for 1987 in favor of money from Teddy Field to run Danny Ongais. Ongais crashed in practice the week before qualifications and was sidelined for the month.
The Penske PC16 chassis was junk. The new car's prospects for qualifying at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway were remote. Roger Penske recognized the PC16 was hopeless. Alan Jenkins' short time as the chief designer of Penske racing cars was over.
The Penske team readied a 1986 March for Rick Mears on Thursday before the opening weekend of qualifications. An Ilmor Chevy Indy V8 engine was put in the March for Mears. Rick responded by qualifying for the outside of the front row at 211.460 mph. After Mears qualified, the crew set about getting another 1986 March - Chevy ready for Danny Sullivan to qualify the next weekend.
Roger Penske wanted to hedge his bets and run three cars in the "500." He called on Al Unser to replace Ongais. The March chassis Rick Mears qualified on pole for the 1986 "Indianapolis 500" and drove to third place in the race was sitting in a hotel lobby in Reading, Pennsylvania near the Penske Racing headquarters. This was the only March remaining in the Penske inventory. The car was dispatched from the hotel lobby and brought to Indianapolis for Unser.
There weren't enough spare parts to assemble an Ilmor Chevy V8 engine for Unser's March. That meant Clive Howell and the testing crew for the Penske team had to install a Cosworth DFX engine. Unser wasn't able to try the car until Wednesday May 13, three days before the second weekend of "500" qualifications. I was at the Speedway the day Al Unser took his first practice laps in the 1986 March - Cosworth. The number 25 car didn't get on to the track until after 5:30 PM. After a few shakedown laps the car was put away for the day.
I recall what a relief it was to have Al Unser back in a car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The first week of practice days and the opening weekend of qualifications in 1987 were bleak without Al on the track. Unser was the primary focus of the media on May 13. ESPN had a crew at the Speedway shooting footage and interviewing Al. At that point I was mainly thinking about Al getting into the starting field during the coming weekend of qualifications and not much more.
Tim Pendergast and I were leaving the Speedway after the track closed at 6 PM. Tim made the statement "Al is going to win the race isn't he" as we walked to our cars. It seemed unlikely until I began to think about it. Al was in a year old car. New cars had won at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway every May since 1980 when Johnny Rutherford took his third "500" win in the Pennzoil Chaparral. May 1987 had a different feel though. It was difficult to get a handle on. Mario Andretti's Hanna Car Wash Newman Haas Lola - Chevy had the field covered. But Tim's comment made sense to me given Mario's approach to running 500 miles and his poor record of finishing at Indianapolis.
When the 1986 March - Cosworth number 25 was brought to the pits on May 13, the yellow car was essentially bare with only a few graphics. The name of Unser's usual sponsor Hertz was spelled in black letters on the side pods. The next day Hertz was replaced with Cummins. The Columbus, Indiana manufacturer paid a reported $500,000 to sponsor Al Unser's car in the "500." I heard figures of $250,000 and $125,000 quoted as Al's up front money to race the car. Those Unsers are "money-makers."
I was shooting photos inside turn three when Al Unser made his qualifying run early on Saturday May 16, 1987. There weren't any spare cars for Al if he had problems with the March. I had my fingers and toes crossed, and I was saying my prayers when Al made his run. He qualified fifth fastest on the day at 207.420 mph. That placed Al in 23rd spot on the "500" grid. But he moved up one position for the race when Emerson Fittipaldi crashed his originally qualified car on Carburetion day.
One of these days I'll put down my feelings about the 1987 "Indianapolis 500" and Al Unser's fourth win in even more detail. That will probably be one of the longer pieces I'll ever do. It was quite a day. Mario Andretti dominated, leading 170 laps. Al moved steadily through the field after nearly being wiped out by Josele Garza going into turn one at the start of the race. As the race moved into its final laps Unser was running third behind Mario and Roberto Guerrero, although one lap down.
With 20 laps to go, Andretti's red number 5 Lola slowed. Al had also fallen one lap down to Guerrero a few laps earlier when he made his final pit stop. But it was like the gods were smiling on the yellow car 25. Guerrero stalled when he pitted, allowing Al to not only get back on to the lead lap but move into the lead.
The final laps of the 1987 "500" were not only the most exhilarating thing I've seen but also the most nerve wracking. It seemed like it took an hour to run the last few laps but Al Unser got the job done to win. It was excellent! Racing and life were at their best on Sunday May 24, 1987. Nothing could've been better!
After the initial excitement eased a bit, I sat in the Tower Terrace behind the pits to get my breath. I began to think about the implications of what I'd seen. As I calculated the number of laps led, I saw that Al Unser had 18 laps in front. I did the quick math to discover that Unser and 1915 "Indianapolis 500" winner Ralph DePalma shared the all time record for laps led during the "Indianapolis 500." Al and DePalma each had a total of 612 leading laps. Al Unser had unfinished business at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for 1988.
Often the reality of a situation pales in comparison to the initial perception. In the original context of this piece that's the situation. I got on the "Indianapolis 500" web site to verify Al Unser's career stats recently. What I discovered was news to me. Al's lap leading total in the 1983 "500" was 61, rather than the 60 laps I'd always credited him with. What does that mean? It means that when Al took the checkered flag to win the 1987 "500" he also passed Ralph DePalma as the all time lap leader. I didn't know that before.
When were the stats changed? How come I didn't know about it? The new reality tends to invalidate the photo caption on my web page listing all time lap leaders of the "Indianapolis 500," which was actually the original premise for this piece. Unfortunately I was well into writing this when I discovered the facts. I'd have to replace the photos on this page and on the lap leaders page, with photos of Unser during the 1987 "500." I want to use photos of Unser in 1987 in another context when I add them to Bob Jennings World O' Racing.
I'm going to leave everything as is. Why not? The story line that Al Unser came back to lead the 1988 "Indianapolis 500" and therefore break his tie with Ralph DePalma is more interesting than the new found reality.
Perhaps you're thinking the 1986 March - Cosworth that carried Al Unser to his fourth "Indianapolis 500" win ought to be the all time Bob Jennings favorite race car. Of course I love that car. I'd pay a lot of money for a die cast model of the number 25 Cummins-Holset March. It ranks with the two Johnny Lightning cars on my list of favorites. The one thing that sort of takes away from the aura of Al's 1987 "500" winning car however is that it was a year old model. There were a lot of 1986 March Indy cars around at the time. So car 25 didn't have the unique personality of Al's 1978 First National City Chaparral Lola - Cosworth for me.
Roger Penske promised Al Unser a car for the 1988 "Indianapolis 500" on May 24, 1987, while he was celebrating Al's fourth "Indianapolis 500" win in "Victory Lane." For most of the summer following the 1987 "500" however, there was speculation Unser would be defending his Indianapolis win in the new Porsche Indy car. I found this exciting.
In June it was announced that Unser would race the new Porsche in the final three events of the 1987 CART season with a possible full season deal for 1988. As summer1987 progressed I began to visualize Al Unser running some kind of sleek looking Porsche race car, resplendent in Quaker State sponsor green, at Roger Penske's new Nazareth oval in September. Things didn't quite turn out that way.
There were the usual problems and the Porsche prototype wasn't ready for Nazareth. Roberto Guerrero was critically injured in a testing crash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway little more than a week before Roger Penske's brand new Pennsylvania one mile tri-oval was due to open for business. Vince Granatelli asked Al Unser to race the STP True Value March - Cosworth in Roberto's place.
The new Porsche Indy car was on display at Nazareth, under an awning behind the grandstands. At the time there were rumors that Mario Andretti was also under consideration to drive for Porsche in 1988. Mario had a guy working for him named Don Henderson. Henderson was a personal assistant or something like that. I think people sometimes call these people "gofers." When I went to look at the new Porsche I remember Henderson being there and acting possessive about anyone looking too closely. It was like he was protecting Mario's interests.
It was no big deal though. Upon first sight it was apparent the new Porsche didn't have anything for the Marches and Lolas of the day. I recall an observation at the time claiming the new Porsche Indy car looked like a 1984 March. That seemed accurate to me. When Al Unser finally did race the Porsche at Laguna Seca, the car was "unfriendly." It was so bad that Al actually seemed happy about the car breaking down early in the race. Unser refused to race the Porsche in the CART season finale in Miami.
Al Unser had a history of "firsts" when it came to racing new equipment. He was the first driver to use Cosworth V8 power in the Indy cars. Parnelli Jones decided to adapt the three-liter Ford Formula One engine for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Cosworth Engineering opened an engine shop in Torrance, California near the Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing headquarters to support the project. The new Parnelli - Cosworth was brought to Indianapolis in May 1975 for Unser to test. The car wasn't raced until the 1975 season finale at Phoenix, where Al finished fourth or fifth. A.J. Foyt won that Phoenix race by the way.
Al was the first driver to race a full ground effects Indy car when the Pennzoil Chaparral made its debut in the 1979 "Indianapolis 500." He was the first driver to race the Ilmor Chevy V8 in 1986. He was the first driver to race for Porsche in Indy cars.
The Hertz Penske PC17 - Ilmor - Chevrolet pictured on this page was one of those great looking cars Al Unser raced. During the seven plus seasons that Al drove for Roger Penske, more often than not he drove bright yellow cars, usually with royal blue numbers and black lettering. When the sun was shining on the Pennzoil yellow on the car and the metallic royal blue on Al's helmet, there wasn't a more striking sight in the world than seeing the car roll into turn one at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Unser's steady hands. The next lap I could easily spot Al's car coming out of turn four. But of course I was always looking for Al Unser when he was on the track.
Roger Penske provided a fast racing car for Unser at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1988. Of all the successes Roger Penske had at Indianapolis, the two most notable efforts came in 1988 and 1994. In 1994 Penske came to the Speedway with the Ilmor Mercedes Benz turbo pushrod V8 engine that caught the racing world by surprise. His drivers Emerson Fittipaldi, Paul Tracy and Al Unser Jr. had everyone else covered. Little Al won pole position. Fittipaldi led 145 laps of the race before crashing on lap 184. Emmo's crash passed the win to Little Al.
Penske hired designer Nigel Bennett away from Lola in 1987. Compare the Penske PC17 to the photo of Mario Andretti's Lola featured elsewhere on this website. The PC17 is probably what Bennett had in mind for 1988 had he remained with Lola. It was left to Bruce Ashmore to pick up the pieces at Lola after Bennett's departure. As a result there's not much external physical difference between the 1987 Lola and the 1988 model.
The Chevrolet Indy V8 engine from Ilmor was in its third year by 1988. Most of the bugs had been worked out. Racing teams needed Chevy power to win the "Indianapolis 500" in 1988. Although Newman Haas was into its second season with the Ilmor Chevy Indy V8 there's little doubt Penske was getting the best units from Ilmor. Roger Penske was a 1/3 partner in Ilmor along with General Motors. The Ilmor founders Mario Ilien and Paul Morgan retained the other third share.
Penske was the guiding force behind the engine. Knowing Roger
Penske's reputation, who do you think was getting the best Chevy engine?
Remember Mark Donohue coined the phrase "the unfair advantage" when discussing what it takes to win in racing. Donohue was not only Penske's driver he was Penske's early racing partner. Despite Donohue's death in August 1975, his definition of racing success epitomized the Penske approach to racing throughout the golden seasons for Team Penske
I remember how much fuss was made in May 1958 when three cars built by A.J. Watson filled the front row for the "500." Dick Rathmann (145.970) won the pole in a chassis Watson sold to Lee Elkins of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Ed Elisian (145.920) and Jimmy Reece (145.510) drove for Watson's employer John Zink. Roger Penske did that one better 30 years later. Rick Mears (219.190), Danny Sullivan (216.210) and Al Unser (215.270) made the front row of the 1988 grid an "all Team Penske" affair.
The 1988 "Indianapolis 500" was an all Penske affair too. The only question was which of the three Penske cars would win. I felt good about Al Unser's going into the "500." The only guy I could visualize beating Al was teammate Rick Mears. I wasn't as concerned about Danny Sullivan. I should've been. When the race started, Sullivan's gold and white Miller PC17 took off like it was shot into first place.
At the same time, Mears faltered with a poor handling car. Race day 1988 was hot and the Indianapolis area was in the midst of a bad drought that would last all summer. The track surface was greasy and slick. Apparently Peter Parrott and the crew on Rick's Pennzoil car were off on the setup with car 5. This caused Mears to make repeated stops throughout the first half of the race to work on the car's handling. By lap 80, he was running one lap off leader Sullivan's pace.
The 1988 race was a mess. Roberto Guerrero, Scott Brayton and Tony Bettenhausen crashed coming off turn two on the first lap. That set the stage for one wreck after another. Teo Fabi, Tom Sneva, A.J. Foyt, Ludwig Heimrath Jr., Steve Chassey, Johnny Rutherford and Rich Vogler all made contact with the concrete walls at one time or another during the race. Had it not been for the numerous laps under caution, Rick Mears wouldn't have stood a chance. With the continuous yellow flags, the Pennzoil crew was able to attend to the car on a regular basis until they had it set up to Rick's liking. Without all the laps under caution, Mears would've probably finished one or two behind the winner.
Al Unser pulled into second behind Sullivan during the early laps of the race. When Danny pitted the number 9 car on lap 31, Unser moved into first place. That was it, the moment when Al officially became the all time lap leader in the "Indianapolis 500." Of course we now know that really wasn't the case. When it happened in 1988 however, it was real. I felt another Al Unser sense of accomplishment. As these things usually go, I immediately shifted to the next goal, for Al to win his fifth "Indianapolis 500."
Unser pitted on lap 34, relinquishing the lead to Sullivan. Danny looked in control of the race. Unser wasn't able to keep up with him. Roger Penske was calling Mears' race from the pits as usual. In the Penske team pecking order, Rick was at the top of the list. There was competition between the three Penske crews and it became apparent that Penske was going for a Mears win, even at the expense of Sullivan and Unser. Penske team manager Derrick Walker was calling Danny's race from the pits. At the 200 mile mark Penske instructed Walker to keep Sullivan out of the pits. Penske wanted Mears to pit under the yellow flag.
This was perfect timing for Mears because it allowed Rick to get back on the lead lap. Penske's obvious favoritism angered Danny's girl friend Julie Nini. Sullivan's car pushed into the wall coming out of turn one on lap 102. Danny had just retaken the lead when Jim Crawford pitted. An angry Nini implied on the ABC telecast of the race that unfair tactics had been employed in the Penske pits. Going against Roger Penske isn't wise especially when you're on his payroll. The results were predictable. From that point forward, Julie Nini wasn't allowed in the Penske pits again.
With Sullivan out of the race, it opened the door for Mears. To be honest I'm not sure Danny could've beaten Rick even if he hadn't crashed on lap 102. Using the numerous yellow flags, his mastery of chassis setup and Roger Penske's divine intervention, Mears took excellent advantage of every opportunity that came his way. It was an example of true race craft in the grand tradition of A.J. Foyt, one of the greatest race tacticians of them all. By the halfway point of the 1988 "500," Mears' yellow Pennzoil number 5 was running perfect. I don't think Danny Sullivan at his best could beat Rick Mears at his best at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in most situations.
Mears assumed the lead as he went by Sullivan's wreckage. Rick stopped on lap 104 which put Crawford back in front again until he stopped on the next lap. Jim Crawford led eight laps during the 1988 "500" in Kenny Bernstein's Mac Tools Lola - Buick V6. His laps in front were the only ones by a driver not running for the Penske team.
When Crawford stopped on lap 104, Unser went back into first. That made me happy of course but I'd pretty well sized up the situation by then. Al's number 1 Hertz Penske was running okay but he didn't look like he was going to beat Mears. Still he added to his lap-leading total with eight more laps in front when he made a pit stop on lap 113.
Al led one more lap (122) during another pit stop sequence, giving him a total of 12 for the race. As Unser was leaving the pits later, during yet another caution, his car number 1 was picked up by the pace car. This led to a mix up by USAC. Scoring placed Al's car one lap down, in fourth place behind Mears, Crawford and Emerson Fittipaldi. In actuality, I believe Al was in second place as the cars followed the pace car past the checkered and yellow flags to finish the race. But he was scored third behind runner up Emerson Fittipaldi, one lap down to race winner Rick Mears.
I was pleased with his 12 leading laps but I left the 1988 "Indianapolis 500" in sort of an empty mood. Driving out to the Speedway with Tim Pendergast that morning I was in high spirits. Going home after the race I was disappointed. My mind kept going back to one year earlier and the ecstasy I was in after Al Unser had won his fourth "Indianapolis 500." I felt a big sense of letdown.
Most people who bother to read this piece probably know that Ray Harroun won the inaugural "Indianapolis 500" in 1911. They may also know that Tommy Milton became the first multiple winner when he added his 1923 victory to his win in the 1921 "500." Louis Meyer became the first three-time "500" winner in 1936. Wilbur Shaw was the first driver to win consecutive races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1940. Almost everyone knows that A.J. Foyt was the first four-time winner of the "Indianapolis 500" with his 1977 victory. One and four lap "500" qualification records have changed hands repeatedly throughout the history of the "500." Rene Thomas broke the 100 mph barrier at the Speedway in 1919. In 1962 Parnelli Jones was the first driver to travel the Speedway in less than one minute at 150 mph. Tom Sneva broke the 200 mph barrier in 1977.
Ralph DePalma held the longest standing record, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. DePalma competed in ten runnings of the "500" from 1911 through 1925. The final time DePalma was in front in the "500" was 1921 when he led 108 laps. So DePalma's lap leading record remained intact from 1921 until the 1988 (oops - sorry I forgot - 1987) "500." That encompasses a longer period than either of Babe Ruth's two big records, the single season (1927) home run mark of 60 or the all time career home run record of 714.
Am I right on that 714 number? Right now I can visualize images of Hank Aaron swinging at a baseball with the number 714 somewhere in the corner of a television screen.
I wanted Al Unser to have the "Indianapolis 500" lap leaders record in a big way! The only thing more important was another "500" win which would've given Unser another all time record with five wins. Al's lap leaders record is something I'm still excited about and proud of.
My original intent was for this piece to be a caption for the photo on the web page featuring all time lap leaders at the "Indianapolis 500." Then I decided to write about some of the cars Al Unser raced during his long career and more importantly their effect on me. Next I became more ambitious. Before too long I was getting hung up in how Al Unser won the 1970 "Indianapolis 500" and so on. At the rate I was going it would've been June before I completed things to my satisfaction. This thing would've printed 50 pages and taken a couple hours to read.
Al Unser's career had such a large impact on me and generated countless
memories and rushes of adrenaline. So his career deserves a lot of attention at
least on Bob Jennings' World O' Racing. I need at least one chapter apiece
for each of Al Unser's "Indianapolis 500" victories. There are cars
Al Unser raced, other than the ones I've written about here, which merit
attention too. This piece only covers one aspect of Al Unser the racing driver.
Stay tuned.
So how did Al Unser run 644 laps in first place at the "Indianapolis
500" to set the all time record? I'm going to tell you. Below is the sequence
of laps Al Unser was in front at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
|