A sixth member of the Unser clan qualified to drive for the
first time this year at Indy, and the rookie has an
advisory committee that boasts a collective nine wins in
the 500. Robby Unser, 30, the youngest son of three-time
Indy winner Bobby, nephew
of four-time winner Al and cousin of two-time winner Al Jr.,
will start in Row 7 on
Sunday.
"Dad has been helping me with the driving part—my
line around the track; Uncle Al has been making suggestions
about the settings of the car; Little Al has just been
there for support, telling me to relax and just be
smooth," said Robby. "I couldn't ask
for better
help."
"This isn't the first goat-roping contest we've been
to, you know," joked Bobby. "We don't have any
disagreements or arguments. Everybody's pulling in one
direction. Isn't that
nice in a
family?"
The committee also lends support to Johnny Unser, 39, son
of Bobby's and Al's elder brother, Jerry, who died of
injuries suffered in a crash during practice at the
Brickyard in 1959. Johnny—a junior high teacher and
coach in Sun Valley, Idaho, who's not
as active in racing as his kin—will be making his
third consecutive Indy start, this time in Row
9.
Al Jr., 36, will be sitting out the 500 for the fourth
straight year. After winning in '94, he failed to qualify
in '95, and has stuck with his Roger
Penske CART team since the split with the Speedway in
'96.
"It would be nice to be back driving here," said
Al Jr. "We
[CART drivers] all want to be here—Michael Andretti, Jimmy
Vasser,
everybody."
Little Al will compete in CART's Motorola 300 near St.
Louis on Saturday. "I doubt I'll be back here for race
day," he
said.
Al Jr. made his Indy debut at age 21 in in 1983.
"Robby's a little bit older, but he's not
too old, that's for sure." said Bobby of his son, who had
to negotiate a long path through short-track stock and
sprint car races, winning four off-road titles in the
Pike's Peak Hill Climb. "It's tough to get to this
place. Robby's had to come here on his
own. Daddy didn't buy him his ride, and Little Al didn't
give him the money for it. He's had to go out and do a
reasonable amount of hustling on his
own.
"I was 29 years old when I came here," Bobby
added. "And I didn't think I was ready then, or that
I'd ever make it. But I managed to win at this joint three
times, and made myself internationally known because of
Indianapolis Motor Speedway." Both Bobby
and Al got their final Indy wins at age
47.
"Actually I'm very happy that I'm here when I'm
here," said Robby. "There's a lot of pressure
here, and I think I'm more mature, to deal with it. I may
be the least talented Unser, but I think I'm the
smartest."
"His Uncle Al wants his record to be broken in the
family," said Bobby. "We all want Robby to win it
five
times."
Issue date: May 25, 1998
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