Al Unser Jr. Starts 2 Rows Ahead of His Father Today

The Unsers, father Al and son Al Jr., will start back in the pack today in their race for the CART/PPG World Series of Indy Cars driving championship.

Little Al, needing three points to catch his father and gain the $300,000 winner’s bonus in the final confrontation of the 15-race series, will start from the fourth row in the Beatrice Indy Challenge, a 200-mile road race through Tamiami Park. Big Al, seeking his third national championship, is two rows behind his son.

Bobby Rahal, CART’s premier qualifier, won his seventh pole position of the season with a last- minute lap of 113.856 m.p.h. in the Jim Trueman-owned March. Only moments earlier, Geoff Brabham had temporarily wrested the No. 1 starting position from Rahal with a 113.600 in another British-built March.

As has been the case this year with half of CART’s races on road circuits, foreigners dominate the starting grid. Thirteen of the 28 starters are from out of the country, including five of the front seven.

Al Jr., a 23-year-old freckle-faced redhead from Albuquerque, N.M., who is carrying the Unser racing tradition into a third generation, was denied an opportunity to improve his position in the final qualifying session because of a broken exhaust header. Junior, who stood fifth after the morning session, slid back to eighth when he could not improve on his 110.899-m.p.h. speed.

“When you break the header, it causes a big loss in power, so there was no point in staying out on the track,” Al Jr. said. “I’m positive I could have gone faster in those last 15 or 20 minutes because the track was getting quicker. It was dang frustrating having to sit in the pits and watch yourself get knocked down the grid.”

The problem was repaired, and Al Jr.’s Lola was back running at top speed during a later practice session.

Al Jr., wearing a blue T-shirt that read, “What’s My Favorite Game Show? FAMILY FEUD,” sent a parting message to his dad: “Tell him we got it fixed and we’re ready to go racing.”

The senior Unser, 46, is not a quick road-race qualifier and was content with his 109.912.

The father and son are the only drivers who remain in contention for the end-of-season bonus.

Rahal and Brabham verified Al Jr.’s contention that the track was getting quicker later in the sunny afternoon as they improved their speeds more than a mile an hour from the morning runs.

“The track got a little better because there was more rubber laid down,” Rahal said. “But I also think much of our improvement came from the crews and the drivers learning about the track. It’s a temporary circuit, and we came here yesterday not knowing what to expect. We only had two hours to figure out the right setups. We were still making changes today. I think it was a combination of things. Now, we have to go back and get the right combination for 200 miles.”

Drivers were almost unanimous in lauding the 1.784-mile road course designed by Miami promoter Ralph Sanchez, using existing park roads.

Rahal said: “I like it. It’s fast and it’s rewarding if you and your car are running strong because you don’t get backed up by slower drivers where you can’t pass. It’s a great driver’s course and should be a good spectator course, too.”

Brabham said: “The track is excellent. There are more places to pass than I ever dreamed of for a temporary circuit. It’s unlike Meadowlands, where it seems like you’re in a corner all day long, or Caesars Palace last year, where passing was at a premium.”

Mario Andretti, former Formula One and Indy car champion who is in the fifth row, said: “I’ve had the good fortune to race at many of the world’s famous tracks and I can honestly say Tamiami Park compares favorably with the best of them.”

Even former Indy car champion Tom Sneva, despite a head-on crunch into a crash barrier in his No. 1 car, a Lola, praised the new facility.

“Something let go in the left front suspension going down the long straightaway,” Sneva said. “I couldn’t steer it, so we headed straight into a tire barrier at about 75 m.p.h. My last thought was that my legs would be broken in three places and I’d be a cripple for life. I thought my legs were gone for sure when I hit. The car slid forever, so I had a long time to think about how bad it was going to be. When we hit, the car jumped up and down like crazy.

“When things settled down”, Sneva said, “I had the biggest smile on my face I’ve ever had. That tire wall did a hell of a job absorbing the blow. I went from being a cripple to no injury at all.

“The course is challenging because there are no Mickey Mouse corners like there are at some temporary courses.”

Sneva and Ed Pimm, who crashed Thursday in practice, failed to qualify Dan Gurney’s Eagles in the final session, but Sanchez used his promoter’s option to place them at the rear of the field. They are the only two American-built cars in the race.