Three
legendary names in motorsports have been chosed for induction into the
National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) Hall of Fame. Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner and three-time IndyCar champion driver Al Unser along with NASCAR (National
Association of Stock Car Racing) multi-championship
team owners Rick Hendrick and Joe Gibbs make up the 2016 NMPA
Hall of Fame induction class.
Hendrick
received 88 percent of the votes cast by NMPA members, while Gibbs received 76
percent and Unser received 66 percent. Curiously, fellow four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears also received votes but not enough for election
into the NMPA Hall of Fame.
Al Unser in 1987
The Unser
family name appears frequently in the annals of open-wheel racing history, with no
less than six family members who have driven in the Indianapolis 500-mile race,
but no member of the Unser family has achieved more racing success than Alfred
“Al” Unser.
The
Albuquerque, New Mexico native born May 29 1939 the youngest of four sons
enjoyed a career that most racers only dream about, including being one of only
three drivers (others are A.J. Foyt and Rick Mears) to win the legendary
Indianapolis 500 four separate times and is the only driver to have both a
brother (Bobby) and son (Al Jr.) as fellow Indianapolis ‘500’ champions.
Unser
made his first USAC (United States Auto Club) oval track start at the one-mile
Wisconsin State Fairgrounds in Milwaukee on August 23 1964 behind the wheel of
J.C. Agajanian’s unloved Offenhauser powered Troutman rear engine car. Al spent
most of the 1965 USAC season as the driver of Jerry Eisert’s #96 Harrison
Special, but his big break came at the 1965 Indianapolis 500-mile race when he
qualified Texan John Mecom’s Lola T70 in a last minute deal and went on to
finish in ninth place.
Unser
drove for the Mecom Racing team through the 1968 USAC season before
the team was sold and became Vel’s Parnelli Jones (VPJ) Racing in 1969. Behind
the wheel of a VPJ 'Johnny Lightning Special’ Colt/Ford, Unser won the 1970
Indianapolis ‘500’ in dominating fashion, as he led 190 of 200 laps. Unser went
on to win the 1970 USAC National drivers’ championship with 10 race victories
during the season.
Unser
repeated as the 1971 Indianapolis 500 champion, and continued to drive for the VPJ Racing team through
the 1977 season. In 1978, Unser drove Jim Hall’s ‘First National City
Travelers Checks Special’ Lola 78/Cosworth and captured his third Indianapolis
‘500’ crown.
After just two seasons, Unser left Hall at the
end of the 1979 season in a regrettable move to Bobby Hillin Senior’s Longhorn
Racing Team, and over the next three seasons, Unser and the uncompetitive team struggled and
notched no race wins. His replacement at Hall, drove the radical ground effects Chaparral/Cosworth to five wins in 1980, including the 1980 Indianapolis '500.'
Al’s
career rebounded when he joined Penske Racing in 1983 and in his first six
races with his new team, he never finished worse than third and by his
consistency won the 1983 CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) championship. In
1987, Al started the season without a ride, and only got his ride at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway after Danny Ongais destroyed his Penske PC-16/Chevrolet entry in practice,
suffered a concussion and was not medically cleared to drive.
After three days of practice, Al
qualified for the 20th starting position on the second weekend in a 1986 March chassis powered by a Cosworth engine which began the
month of May as an inoperable show car. Al dodged a first lap spin by
Josele Garza, and went on to win his fourth Indianapolis ‘500,’ as he and his Cummins/Holset Turbo sponsored entry led the last 18 laps after leader Roberto Guerrero stalled on his final
pit stop.
Al Unser
led 15 laps in Kenny Bernstein’s Budweiser Lola/Chevy in his 27th and what
proved to be his final Indianapolis ‘500’ appearance in 1993. Al was entered
for the 1994 Indianapolis ‘500’, in an underfunded Lola T9400/Ford, but announced his retirement on May 17, 1994,
just days before his 55th birthday. As
reported by the New York Times, Unser stated “I always said if the day
came when I wasn't producing the right way, if I wasn't happy, I'd get
out. I think the time has come. I'm not
all there with the race car, so I decided to pull back and retire." Al Unser Junior went on to win his first Indianapolis '500' on his father's 55th birthday.
Al
Unser’s career statistics at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are amazing: He
leads all driver in laps led with 644, is ranked second in the number of races
led with 11, and stands second in total race mileage with 10,890 miles (4,356
laps) completed. Al scored three season championships and 39
championship car victories on surfaces that included dirt ovals, paved ovals
and road courses. He remains active with
The Unser Racing Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Rick Hendrick, right, with Ray Evernham, left,
at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1994
Born in
1949, Joseph Riddick “Rick” Hendrick III was raised on the family farm near
Palmer Springs, Virginia, and at 27 became the youngest Chevrolet dealer in the
United States and built the Hendrick Automotive Group into an empire which is
listed as the sixth-largest automotive group in the country with 73 dealerships.
Hendrick was the inspiration for the “Tim Daland” character in the 1990 film Days
of Thunder.
Since its
first race, the 1984 Daytona 500 and its first win seven races later with Geoff
Bodine at Martinsville (Virginia) Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports has amassed countless
NASCAR records in its 32-year existence. Among the most notable: 14 NASCAR
driver championships, including 11 in the premier Winston Nextel and Sprint Cup
Series and 14 owner championships across three national series.
Joe Gibbs at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1994
Joe Jackson Gibbs’ eye for talent and the ability to mold
individuals into champions has made him successful in both the National
Football League (NFL) and NASCAR. In 16 seasons
as an NFL head coach, the Mocksville, North Carolina native compiled an overall
won-loss record of 171-101 and three Super Bowl championships with the
Washington DC NFL franchise.
In 23
seasons as a NASCAR team owner, Gibbs’ teams have won four NASCAR Cup-level
championships, with Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart and the 2015 series title with
Kyle Busch, and 128 Sprint Cup race wins. Joe Gibbs Racing once involved in
NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) team ownership has also compiled four Nationwide/XFINITY
Series owner and one driver championships also with Kyle Busch and 112 race wins.
The trio
of motorsports legends will be officially inducted in ceremonies to be held at
the Embassy Suite hotel in Concord, North Carolina on January 16, 2016. The
NMPA Hall of Fame is located on the grounds of Darlington Raceway in Darlington
North Carolina and is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday – Friday.
Some of the information contained in this article was
provided by the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) of which the author is a member.
The
photographs that accompany this article appear courtesy of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection in
the IUPUI University Library Center of Digital Scholarship.
