Hall of Fame to Induct Unser and Agajanian

Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Unser and the late car-owner J. C. Agajanian will be inducted into the Auto Racing Hall of Fame next month.

Unser joins his younger brother, four-time winner Al Unser, in the Hall of Fame, along with such other drivers as Mario Andretti, Johnny Rutherford and A. J. Foyt.

Tony George, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, announced the selections today. The induction ceremony will be conducted May 11. Unser will be recognized the next day during a ceremony before the state of qualifications for the May 27 race.

Unser, the only driver to win the 500 in three separate decades (1968, 1975 and 1981), retired from racing after his third victory.

He called his selection to the Hall of Fame “the ultimate sign of success for a race driver.”

“Over time, the victories and the money have come and gone, but being inducted into the Hall of Fame is the only real permanent sign of success that you can leave behind,” he said.

Agajanian promoted hundreds of auto races on the West Coast for half a century and was one of the most prominent car owners through the 1950s and 1960s. He was the owner of two Indy 500 winning cars, with Troy Ruttman in 1952 and Parnelli Jones in 1963.