Indy 500 2000 - Little Al is back home in Indiana

Little Al is back home in Indiana
Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS -- Al Unser Jr. was a little weary when he walked through Gasoline Alley and onto pit road.


	Al Unser Jr. celebrated his return to Victory Lane in March at Las Vegas.

It was the first time in five years he had crossed that hallowed ground to get into an Indy car, and preparations for his first day of practice had consumed his time and energy for weeks.

There was a mild hum of activity before Unser became visible to the people scattered through the sea of grandstands along the main straightaway at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

As Unser was recognized, a cascade of screams, cheers, people calling his name and welcoming him home washed over him.

"The word is 'overwhelming.' It was like they were breathing life into me," Unser said, a grin lighting up his face. "It just felt wonderful."

It won't take a third Indianapolis 500 victory to validate his racing career. Little Al just needed to be here.

"I was going to come back no matter what," Unser said.

Unser is definitely back. He will start 18th on Sunday in the 33-car field for the 84th Indy 500.

After qualifying at 220.293 mph, Unser said he could hardly wait for the green flag.

"I'm excited to be here," he said. "I'm happy to be home."

The bleakest moment in the second-generation driver's on-track life came in 1995 when, as the defending champion, he failed to qualify for the 500.

The disappointment was palpable. It was almost as if Unser had been spurned by a longtime lover.

Indianapolis has been a major part of Unser's life almost from his birth. His father came here as a rookie in 1965 and raced at Indy for 27 years, winning the race four times.

Uncle Bobby Unser won the race three times in 18 tries from 1963 to 1981. Another uncle, Jerry, ran in the 1958 race and died in a crash at the speedway during practice the next May.

Little Al was born to race here and he officially arrived in 1983, finishing 10th in the first of his 12 starts. The first victory came in 1992 and he backed it up with a runaway win in 1994.

There was no way for Unser to know that celebration would be his last at Indy for five years.

Unser, then driving for Roger Penske, got caught up in the boycott of Indianapolis by CART in its dispute with the rival Indy Racing League. He stayed away for the next four races and the absence gnawed at him like a constantly aching tooth.

During that unhappy period, his longtime marriage ended in divorce, 13-year-old daughter Cody became paralyzed with a rare infection in her spinal cord and Unser failed to win a race from September 1995 until taking the checkered flag last month in Las Vegas in his third IRL start.

	“	Where did the Unsers make their name? Where did A.J. make his name? It was at Indianapolis. This is where he belongs. ”
		— A.J. Foyt on Al Unser Jr.

"The lows that I felt didn't have anything to do with racing," Unser said. "They had to do with my family, and those were the lows that devastated me."

His father said, "Even racing didn't make him happy any more. It was a pretty bad time. But he's back now."

The 38-year-old Little Al insists he never lost his confidence on the racetrack.

When he and Penske agreed to go their separate ways after the 1999 season, Unser knew what he had to do.

"We talked to CART teams that were interested in me driving for them and I'd say, 'You know my No. 1 criteria is going back to Indianapolis,' and most of the teams just said, 'OK, enough said. We're not going to Indy.' "

He even considered taking a ride in NASCAR's Winston Cup series. At least he would have been at Indy for the Brickyard 400.

"That wouldn't have made him happy," said four-time Indy winner A.J. Foyt, who might be the only driver who loves the speedway as much as the Unsers.

"Where did the Unsers make their name? Where did A.J. make his name? It was at Indianapolis. This is where he belongs."

Rick Galles, the team owner who first brought Unser to the speedway and gave him his first 500 win, brought him back.

"In August, when Roger announced his new drivers, Rick was on the phone the very next day, saying, 'Hey, come drive my car."'

It's like old times for Galles, now operating an IRL team and trying to recapture the glory years when he and Unser were weekly contenders together.

"We still share the same philosophies of racing and we're just a little bit more mature," Galles said. "It's been a lot of fun getting back with him, but we always followed his career. ... We've always remained friends."

Everything has gone according to plan since Unser made that walk onto pit road. Now it's time to race.

"We've got 500 miles to go," Unser said. "It reminds me of my rookie year. I had butterflies in qualifying and I know I'm going to have butterflies before the race.

"But nothing has really changed since '94. It's the speedway and it's bigger than all of us."

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