bob jennings' WORLD O' RACING
Bobby U. and Penske on the Pole
(completed 04/21/98)
Bobby Unser, Roger Penske and Bobby's former wife, Marsha, after Unser qualified at 200.546 mph to win Pole position for the 1981 "Indianapolis 500"
Bob Jennings
I purchased my first 35 mm camera at the beginning of May 1981. It was a Minolta XG1; a very nice camera. I also bought a Minolta F1.7 55 mm lens and a Vivitar 200 F3.3 200 mm lens at the same time, from Central Camera, at Jackson and Wabash, in the Chicago Loop. If I looked at the receipts, from that purchase, I'm sure I'd discover that my total expenses were less than $400.00.
Throughout Winter 1981, it seemed as if my mind was completely occupied with getting to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in May, to photograph the sights of the 1981 "Indianapolis 500; a huge expectation!
This photo, taken from the Tower Terrace, behind the south end of the IMS pit area, was from one of the earliest rolls I shot.
In 1981, "500" Pole day qualifying extended into the second weekend, as rain limited the first day's qualifiers to nine, A.J. Foyt, Johnny Rutherford and Al Unser among them.
Bobby Unser's run came on the second Saturday, under beautiful sunny skies. This photo isn't great, but it brings forth loads of images and memories. I was able to sneak away from my wife, in South suburban Chicago, at dawn that morning, for the drive to Indianapolis. I met Bill Correll, whose friendship dates back to late 1962, at the Speedway. Bill is a longtime real estate agent, in Carmel, Indiana and he always seemed to be more interested in the demographics about the drivers than anything that was going on at the Speedway. Bill wanted to know where the drivers were from, how many kids they had, what their annual income was; real estate stuff. His preference was to sit behind the area where the drivers stopped for their post qualification interviews and photos.
1981 was one of those years when the Pole Position qualifier didn't have the fastest speed. Tom Sneva, in a brand new March - Cosworth, entered by George Bignotti and Dan Cotter, qualified at 200.691 mph. Sneva had actually passed up his pole opportunity and was forced to start 20th. Unser was unhappy too, that his pole speed had been beaten, but claimed, to the media, that he wasn't running his Norton Spirit Penske PC9B - Cosworth anywhere near its performance potential.
Of course Bobby Unser gave Roger Penske the third of his ten Indianapolis wins, in 1981, although it was October before a three man panel would return the "500" victory to Unser after his famous infraction of passing 13 cars, coming out of the pits, under the yellow flag.
I was an Al Unser guy and Bobby was always the competitor I most wanted little brother Al to beat. That was often difficult to do. If Bobby Unser wasn't one of the two or three best drivers of his era, I don't know who was.