BOBBY UNSER, USAC’S ONLY 5 DECADE WINNER, PASSES AWAY AT 87
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (May 3, 2021)………Bobby Unser, the man who rose to fame on the hills of Pikes Peak's Hill Climb, a path which led him to becoming a legend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and as the only driver in USAC history to win main events in five different decades, passed away on Sunday, May 2, at the age of 87.
Bobby’s first USAC victory arrived on Independence Day, 1956, at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, where the Unser family legacy runs deep. The 54th and 55th of his USAC triumphs came during the 1993 season when the Fast Masters series brought many of the legends of motorsports out of retirement to compete weekly throughout the summer in equally prepared Jaguar XJ220s at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Unser won his preliminary round of Fast Masters, then turned around and won the finale of the series, which paid $100,000 to win, and placed him in exclusive company as the lone driver to win a USAC event in five decades, a feat that has remained unmatched ever since.
Between 1956-1974, the Pikes Peak Hill Climb was home to 12 of Bobby’s victories under USAC sanction. Versatility was no obstacle for Bobby who hit the oval tracks with similar success, making his debut in the champ cars at the Indianapolis 500 in 1963 for car owner Andy Granatelli where he started 16th and finished 33rd following a lap three crash.
Despite the setback, it was only the beginning for Bobby’s racing journey, scoring the first of his three career USAC National Midget wins less than a month later in June of 1963 at Ascot Park in Gardena, Calif. Subsequent USAC National Midget victories came in October 1963 at his hometown Speedway Park in Albuquerque, N.M. and in July 1964 at Sportsman Raceway Park in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Just as he did in the midgets, winning came naturally for Bobby on the USAC National Sprint Car trail as well, winning his first with the series in November 1964 at Ascot Park, the first of seven career wins with the division, five of which came for owner Jack Colvin.
In 1965, Bobby won thrice more at Baer Field Raceway in Fort Wayne, Ind., Reading (Pa.) Fairgrounds and a 100-lapper on the Salem (Ind.) Speedway high banks. In 1966, another victory came for Bobby at Reading, and the last two of his career with the series came in 1967, first for Mutt Anderson at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track and for the Wilke family in the Leader Card No. 2 at Altamont (Calif.) Raceway Park.
It was with Leader Card where Bobby found much of his early success on the USAC National Championship “IndyCar” circuit. While the first of his 35 career wins and 52 poles came at Pikes Peak in 1966 when it was officially part of the National Championship points standings, his first for Wilke came on the winding Mosport Park road course in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada during the 1967 season where he won both heats in a single afternoon.
He broke through in a big way in 1968, winning five times for Leader Card and also mastering the Brickyard for the first time in his career, where he’d ultimately capture three Indianapolis 500 wins, the latter of which came in the rain-shortened 1975 race for All American Racer and, finally, the controversial 1981 result for Roger Penske’s team.
The unprecedented 1981 race’s victory was initially awarded to Unser, then stripped in post-race after officials penalized him one lap for passing under the yellow flag. The win was thus credited to initial second place finisher Mario Andretti. After several protests and appeals, Unser was reinstated as the winner nearly four and a half months later.
Unser secured USAC National Championships in 1968 and 1974 and ultimately became one of the most popular and successful drivers of the era.
Bobby also found time to make a few starts with USAC’s Stock Car division, winning on five occasions between 1970-78 at the Milwaukee Mile in 1970, 1974 and 1978, at Wisconsin’s KK Sports Arena in 1971 and on the dirt mile of the Indiana State Fairgrounds later in 1971.
Unser was also the 1975 International Race of Champions titlist and became a television mainstay as a color commentator on IndyCar broadcasts throughout the 1980s and 1990s on ABC and ESPN.
Unser is an inductee of the USAC Hall of Fame (2013), the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame (1990), the International Motorsports Hall of Fame (1990), the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame (1997) and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (1994).
