Unser Jr.’s Fast Ride Reaches End of the Road

Al Unser Jr., a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 who sometimes matched his speed on the racetrack in life’s fast lane, retired Wednesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Unser, 42, made his announcement at a news conference at the track where he highlighted a career that put him among open-wheel racing’s elite drivers.

Long before NASCAR had assumed the throne in American auto racing and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had become a superstar, “Little Al” was a household name, a second-generation driver, living up to the exploits of his father, four-time Indy winner Al Unser, and his uncle Bobby Unser, a three-time Indy champion. Unser raced Saturday in the Indy Racing League’s SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway but was embarrassingly slow, pulling off the racing line to let other cars pass. He finally pulled into the pits and got out of the car for the last time after 119 of 250 laps on the three-quarter-mile track.

“I have always said that I would get out of the race car if driving stopped being fun and I felt that I was no longer competitive on the track,” Unser said. “After careful thought, I came to this conclusion just after the Richmond race and knew that it was time for me to retire.”

A native of Albuquerque now living in Henderson, Nev., Unser got a late start this season after breaking his pelvis in an off-season all-terrain vehicle accident.

Driving for U.E. “Pat” Patrick, who switched from Champ Car to Indy Car this year, he made his season debut at Indianapolis in the season’s fourth race. Unser finished 17th in a Chevrolet-powered Dallara.

In three races this season, he never cracked the top 10 and never finished on the lead lap. His best finish was at the Bombardier 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, where he was the defending champion. He finished 11th, two laps back.

“My decision is purely based on my feelings as a race car driver,” Unser said. “It is no reflection whatsoever on the Patrick Racing team. Patrick Racing is a great team with a great owner.... While I will not be behind the wheel, my intentions are to remain very active in racing in some capacity with Patrick Racing in the IRL and, of course, in support of my son Al’s racing activities.”

It was also announced Wednesday that Unser’s son, Al III, 21, also known as “Just Al,” would make his debut in the IRL’s development series, Menard’s Infiniti Pro Series, Saturday with Keith Duesenberg Racing.

“Al was the consummate racer who could drive anything and win in anything,” said team owner and former driver Bobby Rahal. “He was also one of the fairest racers. He didn’t block you or chop you. He always drove with a lot of class.”

Late in the 1989 Indianapolis 500, Unser and Emerson Fittipaldi were locked in a duel for the lead. With less than two laps remaining, they touched wheels in Turn 3, Unser crashing out of the race and Fittipaldi going on to victory. As Fittipaldi, a former Formula One champion, drove by the crash site on the last lap, Unser gave the Brazilian the thumbs-up signal. For that, Unser was selected sportsman of the year in Europe.

Unser started 327 races over a 22-year career in Indy cars, including a record 192 in succession. He drove for 17 years in Championship Auto Racing Teams before switching to the IRL for the last 4 1/2. He won 34 races, 31 of them in CART.

Driving for Rick Galles, he won the Indianapolis 500 in 1992, by 0.043 of a second over Scott Goodyear in the race’s closest finish, then won in 1994, driving for Roger Penske.

Unser enjoyed remarkable success in Southern California. Known as “King of the Beach,” he won the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach six times, including four in a row, and finished second twice, third once and fourth twice in 15 races.

He was CART’s champion in 1990 and 1994. He also won the International Race of Champions title in 1986 and 1988, an all-star series featuring champions from various series in identically prepared muscle cars, and was a two-time co-winner of the Daytona 24-Hour race for sports cars.

Wild times, however, mostly involving alcohol, followed him throughout his career. He began drinking when he was 16 and driving sprint cars.

“I went from being a sophomore in high school to being an adult overnight,” he told The Times last year.

He admitted to being an alcoholic after he hit his girlfriend and left her by the side of a road in July 2002. He was arrested on suspicion of, but not charged with, domestic battery and violence, and sat out two races while in an alcohol treatment center.