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AUTO RACING COLUMN

'Little Al' Could Have Been Bigger

By TONY FABRIZIO

Published: May 9, 2007

Mark Martin is the all-time winner in IROC, the defunct all-star series that brought together drivers from different forms of American racing.

Asked last year who his toughest competitor was in 15 years of IROC competition, Martin didn't name Dale Earnhardt or Jeff Gordon.

"By far and away, Al Unser Jr. was absolutely incredible," Martin said. "Every time he strapped into one of those IROC cars, you had to beat him.

"He was phenomenal."

Unser, indeed, was phenomenal. From Indy cars to sports cars to stock cars, he could drive the wheels off of anything.

Even while Earnhardt was racing for his seventh NASCAR championship in the early to mid-'90s, Unser, arguably, was the more universally respected driver.

Looking back, we can only say, what a waste of talent.

Unser - back at age 45 to try for the 91st Indianapolis 500 with A.J. Foyt Racing - won America's most famous race in 1992 and '94. He won two CART championships, three IROC titles, the 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race at age 24.

He raced go-karts, World of Outlaws sprint cars, Super Vee and Can Am cars. In 1993 he drove a Hendrick Motorsports Chevy in the Daytona 500 and ran as high as fifth before crashing out.

He was exciting to watch, full of passion for his sport, personable and revealing.

He could have been one of the greatest of all-time. Instead, circumstances and self-destructive behavior turned him into a has-been long before chronological age would have diminished his abilities.

Unser smoke and drank. He drank to excess. He supposedly hit rock bottom in 2002, after he was arrested for hitting his girlfriend and leaving her on the side of an Indianapolis highway. Rehab followed.

But in January of this year, Unser was arrested after a highway crash in Nevada for driving under the influence, misdemeanor hit and run, and other charges. On April 26, Unser's lawyer entered a not-guilty plea and a trial date was set for July 11.

To be sure, Unser never had it easy. There was the pressure of living up to the Unser name and expectations - dad Al Unser Sr. won Indy four times and uncle Bobby won it three times.

"Little Al" endured an ugly divorce in 1998, and in 1999 his daughter, Cody, was confined to a wheelchair with transverse myelitis.

After winning Indy in 1994, Unser and Team Penske teammate Emerson Fittipaldi came with the wrong package for 1995 and failed to qualify.

The creation of the Indy Racing League and split with CART kept Unser out of the Indy 500 for another four years. Not getting to race at Indianapolis sapped Unser of his desire. When he moved to the IRL and returned to Indy in 2000, he was no longer a top-flight driver.

Unser hasn't driven an Indy car since last year, when he picked up an Indy 500 ride with Dryer & Reinbold Racing and had a respectable run going until running over a piece of debris and crashing.

He had no ride for this year's race until Foyt called a few weeks ago and offered his second car, which will commemorate his 50 years of racing by carrying the No. 50.

It's a somewhat unlikely pairing because Foyt, though he says he has always admired the Unser family, fired a salvo when Unser and Michael Andretti came out of retirement to race in last year's 500. "They're kidding themselves," he said.

A lot of time has passed since Unser first encountered Foyt as a 6-year-old while walking through the pits on a rainy day.

"I had the gumption or the stupidity to splash water on A.J. with my foot," Unser said. "I stomped in a puddle. What did A.J. do? He stomped right back in the next puddle and got me wet."

Between Unser and Foyt are six Indy 500 wins. Also between them, however, is barely a threat of hope of winning this year's race.

Unser hasn't had a top-10 Indy-style finish since 2003. Foyt's team doesn't have the resources to challenge powerhouses Penske, Ganassi and Andretti Green Racing. And the best of Foyt's people are going to be working for his regular driver, Darren Manning.

With Al Unser Jr., you can't help but wonder about what could have been. He's 45, but that's three years younger than Al Sr. was when he won his fourth Indy 500 in 1987. It's three years younger than Martin is now, and Martin nearly won the 2007 Daytona 500.

Maybe, just maybe, there's something left.

HOT LAPS: Kenny Brack, who won the 1999 Indy 500 for Foyt, will be back for this year's race - but not as a driver. He'll perform with his band, Brack, before a preliminary race. … When Dale Earnhardt Jr. ripped NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow on Monday, he also criticized Richmond International Raceway for not sealing the track surface. His comments carried so much sting that RIR responded with a 510-word news release Tuesday that, among other things, pointed out that Earnhardt liked the track fine when he won there last spring.