Bobby Unser

Bobby Unser
Unser in 2015
Nationality	American
Born	Robert William Unser (1934-02-20) February 20, 1934 Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.
Related to	Al Unser, Sr. (brother) Jerry Unser Jr. (brother) Louis Unser (uncle) Robby Unser (son) Al Unser, Jr. (nephew) Johnny Unser (nephew)
Championship Car
Years active	1955–1982
Starts	258
Wins	35
Poles	52
Best finish	1st in 1968 & 1974
Championship titles
1968 & 1974 1975	USAC National Champion International Race of Champions
Awards
1968, 1975 & 1981	Indianapolis 500 winner
Formula One World Championship career Active years 1968 Teams BRM Entries 2 (1 start) Championships 0 Wins 0 Podiums 0 Career points 0 Pole positions 0 Fastest laps 0 First entry 1968 Italian Grand Prix Last entry 1968 United States Grand Prix

Bobby Unser's 1979 Penske Cosworth Champ Car

Robert William "Bobby" Unser (born February 20, 1934) is an American former automobile racer. He is the brother of Al Unser, Jerry Unser and Louis Unser, the father of Robby Unser, and the uncle of Al Unser, Jr. and Johnny Unser. He is one of ten drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 three or more times, and one of only two (followed by Rick Mears) to have won the 500 in three different decades (1968, 75, 81). Bobby has also been a spokesman and advocate of many commercial products.

Early life

Unser was born in Colorado Springs Colorado, the third oldest of 4 brothers. When he turned 1, his family moved to Albuquerque New Mexico. In 1950 at the age of 15, he won his first championship in Southwest Modified Stock Cars. From 1953 to 1955 he joined the Air Force and became a top competition sharp shooter in military matches, though he later bitterly regretted it. In 1955, Bobby, and brothers Jerry and Al Unser decided to pursue racing careers in USAC. In 1959, his brother Jerry Unser died in an automobile accident at the Indianapolis 500.

Bobby is the father of two sons, Bobby Jr. and Robby, and two daughters, Cindy and Jeri.

IndyCar career

Unser came from a family of racecar drivers. He won numerous racing championships throughout his career, including three Indianapolis 500 titles.^[1][2] He debuted in 1955 at Pike's Peak, dubbed "Unser's Peak" because of his family's history of success at the hill climb.^[1] He finished fifth that year, behind his two brothers. A year later he won his first of a record 13 championships at Pike's Peak.^[3][4] He won six straight titles from 1958 to 1963. His streak ended in 1964 when his younger brother Al won the race.^[1]

Unser raced in his first Indianapolis 500 in 1963. He crashed early and placed thirty-third.^[5] His first Indy-car win came in 1967 at Mosport, Ontario.^[1] A year later, Unser won his first Indianapolis 500, setting the record as the first driver to race over 170 miles per hour at Indianapolis.^[1] In 1969 Unser won his first USAC National Driving Championship.^[2]

In 1972, Unser set another Indianapolis 500 record for the fastest qualifying time at 195.94 miles per hour.^[6] In 1974, he won his second USAC National Driving Championship and a year later he won his second Indianapolis 500 in a race that was rain-shortened on lap 174.^[1] From 1979 to 1981, Unser raced in the CART series for Team Penske winning ten races.^[3][4][7] In 1980 he became the first driver to win the California 500 four times. His career ended in 1981 following a debacle at Indianapolis.

1981 Indianapolis 500 controversy

Bobby was the center of one of the most controversial finishes in Indy 500 history at the 1981 Indianapolis 500. Unser won the pole in the #3 Roger Penske-owned car and led the most laps (89 laps).

On lap 149, during a caution period, Bobby and Mario Andretti made their pit stop and headed back to the race. Bobby passed eight cars during the caution, while Mario passed two cars. Unser went on and won the race, but was stripped of it the following morning in favor of second-place finisher Mario Andretti. After a 5-month lawsuit and protest by Penske, Bobby Unser was re-awarded the win in October 1981. But for his infraction, Unser was instead fined $40,000 ($105,000 in today's money).

But the controversy and financial impact (Unser once estimated that the commercial endorsements he lost because of the delayed result cost him $1 million) caused a bitter Unser to retire from racing at the end of the year. In a 1982 interview Unser refused to come out of retirement and said he retired because following the controversy he became disillusioned with auto-racing and lost his passion for driving race-cars. "Regardless of the outcome it's been ruined for me. I would paint out racing if I painted my future," said Unser in an interview at the time. Unser sat out the 1982 IndyCar season but planned to make a comeback in 1983 driving for Patrick Racing (ironically the team that was stripped of the win). However he changed his mind and retired in 1983.

In his autobiography Winners are Driven, Unser expressed his beliefs that the debacle was politically motivated and that USAC disqualified him (and benefited Andretti), hoping to start a falling-out between Pat Patrick, Mario's car owner & owner of Patrick Racing, and Roger Penske (owner of Unser's car); in order to destroy CART. He claimed that Patrick's team did not protest the finish and that Patrick was on Unser's side in the controversy.

Other achievements

Was the 1975 IROC champion.

Challenged Dan Gurney to improve the performance of his 1971 USAC car, leading to the development of the Gurney flap.

Won the 1993 Fast Masters championship.

In 1993 he set a new Bonneville Salt Flats record at Bonneville Speedway of 223.709 in a D/Gas Modified Roaster that stood for 18 years.

Leads the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with 13 wins setting a new track record 9 times.

After retiring from Indycar driving in 1982, Bobby did developmental work for Audi, lapping one at 206.8 MPH. And in 1986, after a 12-year absence from the Pike’s Peak race, he won his event for the tenth time driving an Audi Quattro, breaking the tie he had with Uncle Louis for nine overall victories apiece. The 1986 win brought Bobby’s total number of Pike’s Peak victories to 13, including two stock car class victories (1969 and 1974) and a single sports car class win (1963).

In 2003 he published a book, ““Winners are Driven: A Champion’s Guide to Success in Business and Life”.

Broadcaster

Unser became a television commentator for Indycar races after his retirement working for the ABC, ESPN and the NBC. In 1989 The National Academy of Televisions Arts and Sciences awarded ABC "Indianapolis 500" as "Outstanding Live Sports special" for the "National Sports Emmy Awards", Bobby receiving announcer honors with Paul Page, Sam Posey and others. He also broadcast several NASCAR events between 1986–1994 alongside Ned Jarrett and Bob Jenkins. The most famous NASCAR race Unser broadcast was the 1989 Winston in which Rusty Wallace won by wrecking Darrell Waltrip with 2 laps to go; Unser was the first broadcaster of the broadcasting team to spot the post-race fist-fight between Wallace and Waltrip's pit crews.

Awards

• He was selected as one of Sports Illustrated's "Top Five Athletes" in the popular magazine's first twenty years, along with the Martini & Rossi, and Olsonite "Driver of the Year" awards in 1974.
• He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990.
• He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1997.
• He was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1997
• Unser was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1994.
• 1999-Presented with Indy 500 Front Row Award. 9-time front row qualifier (68, 69, 71, 72, 73, 75, 77, 80, 81)

Federal criminal charges

On 20 December 1996, in Colorado, Unser and a friend became lost while snowmobiling near Unser's New Mexico ranch. They abandoned one stuck snowmobile before a storm blinded them both. When the second snowmobile stopped working, they spent two days and nights in subzero weather before finding a barn where they were found. Both men were suffering badly, his friend was suffering from hypothermia, and Unser had vomited blood during this time.^[8] Unser was later convicted of a Federal misdemeanor, "unlawful operation of a snowmobile within a National Forest Wilderness Area" (16 U.S.C. 551, 36 C.F.R. 261.16(a)), and was fined $75. Maximum penalties could have been up to six months in jail and up to $5,000.00 in fines. Unser appealed, claiming to have been lost before the accident, but the court ruled that maps were widely available and it was a public welfare offense, thus intent was not necessary.^[9] Unser appealed this decision all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, but his writ of certiorari was denied.^[10]

Racing record

American open-wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

USAC

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Rank	Points
1975	All American Racers	ONT1	ONT2 10	ONT3 2	PHX	TRE	INDY 1	MIL 2	POC 22	MIS 5	MIL2									3rd	2480
	Jerry O'Connell Racing											MIS2 3	TRE2	PHX2
1976	Fletcher Racing	PHX 1	TRE DNQ	INDY 10	MIL 3	POC 32	MIS	TWS	TRE2	MIL2 4	ONT 1	MIS2 4	TWS2 17	PHX2 21						6th	2080
1977	Fletcher Racing	ONT 15	PHX 17	TWS	TRE WD	INDY 18	MIL 16	POC 19	MOS	MIS 21	TWS2 15	MIL2 17	ONT2 30	MIS2	PHX2 8					35th	75
1978	All American Racers	PHX 18	ONT 16	TWS 13	TRE 20	INDY 6	MOS 19	MIL 17	POC 20	MIS 5	ATL 3	TWS2 8	MIL2 20	ONT2 13	MIS2	TRE2	SIL 8	BRH 13	PHX2 11	12th	1122

CART

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Rank	Points
1979	Team Penske	PHX 5	ATL1 7	ATL2 4	INDY 5	TRE1 1	TRE2 1	MIS1 Ret	MIS2 1	WGL 1	TRE3 2	ONT 1	MIS3 1	ATL3 3	PHX2 2	2nd	3820
1980	Team Penske	ONT1 Ret	INDY Ret	MIL1 1	POC 1	MDO Ret	MIS1 2	WGL 1	MIL2 3	ONT2 1	MIS2 2	MEX 2	PHX DNS			2nd	3714
1981	Team Penske	PHX1 2	MIL1 Ret	ATL1 13	ATL2 6	MIS1 Ret	RIV 9	MIL2 3	MIS2 7	WGL Ret	MEX Ret	PHX2 2				7th	99

Indy 500 results

Indy 500 qualifying results

Complete Formula One World Championship results

Unser participated in 2 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix.

(key)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bobby Unser.

• Bobby Unser Photos
• The Greatest 33