Top 25 IndyCar drivers of all-time
By Asher Fair
Top IndyCar drivers of all-time: #8 – Al Unser Jr.
In recent years, Al Unser Jr. hasn’t necessarily been in the headlines for the right reasons. But we’re going to look at the positives stemming from his successful IndyCar career for the purpose of this article.
Al Jr. is one of three Unsers who earned a spot on this list, with the other two coming in a bit higher. The Unser family name is the most successful name in the history of the Indy 500, and Al Jr. played a huge role in that success, winning the race twice. In 1992, he held of Scott Goodyear to win by 0.043 seconds, which remains the closest margin of victory in the first 104 runnings of the race.
The family name is also arguably the most successful name in IndyCar history, ranking right up there with Andretti. Al Jr. won 34 races, good for ninth place on the all-time list, and two championships.
Among the trio of Unsers on this list, 34 wins is actually the smallest total. Two Indy 500 wins is the smallest as well, and two championships is tied for the smallest. Pretty impressive, to say the very least.
Despite having the “worst” stat line among this trio, Unser is a shoe-in for a top 10 spot on this list. Only two other drivers in American open-wheel racing history won more than 34 races, two Indy 500s and two championships.
One of them happens to be his father, and the other happens to be the greatest IndyCar driver of all-time.
And let’s not forget that Al Jr. is the only driver to win the Grand Prix of Long Beach on more than four occasions, and he won it four years in a row from 1988 to 1991. He is a six-time winner of the sport’s crown jewel street course event.