Al Unser Jr (1962 - ) Unser was named the SCCA Rookie of the Year in 1981 after winning the Super Vees championship with wins at Charlotte, Milwaukee and Brainerd. "Little Al" won his second consecutive title for Rick Galles in 1982, this time competing in the Can-Am series.
In 1984, Unser won his first PPG Cup event on Father's Day at Portland and placed sixth in the PPG point standings. Unser lost the closest point battle in Indy Car history (151-150) to father, Al Unser, in 1985, and he became the youngest IROC champion ever in 1986, with wins in two of four events.
In 1989, he battled for the Indy 500 lead with Emerson Fittipaldi until Fittipaldi clinched the win late in the race. In 1990, he scored his first PPG Indy Car World Series championship, earning six wins in 16 races and being named `Driver of the Year.' In 1992, he won his first Indy 500, by history's closest margin, 0.043 seconds over Scott Goodyear.
1994 was a banner year for Unser, featuring eight wins, his second Indy 500 win and second PPG Cup He won more than $3.5 million for his efforts and was named ABC Wide World of Sports "Athlete of the Year"
Unser's four top-five and seven top-10 finishes in a CART PPG Cup series season might be a good showing for some drivers, but it falls below the expectations of Al Unser Jr., who has not won since the Molson Indy Vancouver in 1995, more than 30 races ago. "Little Al" went winless in 1996 for the first time since 1987.
