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Al's worst Unser's 29th-place finish marks a career worst at Indy
Posted: Sunday May 28, 2000 09:37 PM
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Al Unser Jr.'s return to the Indianapolis 500 went sour about the same time as his engine. In the race for the first time since his second victory in 1994, Unser finally pulled his car back into Gasoline Alley just past the midway point of Sunday's race, deciding there was no point continuing when he already was out of contention. “I didn't have anybody to race,” said Unser, whose 29th-place finish was the worst of his 13 starts at Indy. “There was no sense racing myself. I did that for a lot of years, but not anymore. “I didn't want to put a lot of drivers at risk or myself a risk, so I decided to park it,” he said. After starting 18th, Unser worked his way into the top 10 before running over debris left on the track after pole-sitter Greg Ray slammed the wall on lap 66. The radiator on Little Al's Oldmosbile Aurora was punctured, forcing him to go to the garage for repairs. He returned to the race on lap 78 but didn't last long. “This isn't NASCAR,” he said, referring to the series where heavy emphasis is placed on finishing races. “It's 220 mph Indy cars, and I didn't want to be a danger.” Unser failed to qualify in 1995 and didn't enter the race the past four years after the split between CART and the Indy Racing League. He switched to the IRL this year, giving him another chance to race at Indy. “I loved every minute of it,” he said. “I'm disappointed we had a problem. But there will be more years to come.”
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