From the Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
Alfred “Al” Unser, the second member of the Unser auto racing dynasty to win the Indianapolis 500 and the second INDYCAR SERIES driver in history to win four times at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, died Dec. 9 at his home in Chama, New Mexico, after a 17-year battle with cancer. He was 82.
Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on May 29, 1939, Unser followed his three older brothers and the generation of Unser brothers before them into auto racing. He was known as a quiet sponge, absorbing the lessons learned by his family members.
What a crushing loss to to the motorsports community to cap a year that included the death of broadcaster Bob Jenkins, journalist Robin Miller, and Unser’s brother and three-time Indy 500 winner in his own right, Bobby,, amongst too many others.
I had the good fortune of meeting Al at an event at the Speedway, IN Kroger on the day before the 2019 Indy 500. Accompanied by his wife, he was kind and friendly to the gargantuan line of fans that wrapped around the store and into the parking lot. When his son Al Unser, Jr. won his first Indianapolis 500 in 1992, the younger Unser said through tears to the reporter in victory lane, “You just don’t know what Indy means.” By all accounts, Al Unser, Sr. knew what Indy meant.
Perhaps the silver lining of this is Al being able to participate in the photoshoot of all four-time Indianapolis 500 winner after Helio Castroneves won his fourth in 2021. While that picture was iconic before, it’ll mean a lot more now that Al is gone.
Michael Miller 