Robby Unser Has Family’s Best Rookie Start

Robby Unser’s third-place finish in the Indianapolis 500 was the highest finish of any of the six members of the Unser family in their rookie year.

Jerry Unser, Robby’s uncle, finished 31st in 1958; Bobby, Robby’s father, was 16th in 1963; Al, Robby’s uncle, was ninth in 1965; Al Jr., Robby’s cousin, was 10th in 1983; and Johnny, Robby’s cousin and Jerry’s son, was 33rd in 1996. “Robby is a perfect example of a child absorbing from adults through osmosis,” said Eddie Cheever, his car owner and tutor. Among them, the Unsers have won nine Indy 500s.

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Tony Stewart has not won the 500 in three starts, but each year he has been the fastest driver on the track.

In 1996, he turned the fastest leading lap in Indianapolis Motor Speedway history, 236.103 mph on the third lap. Last year he had the fastest lap of the race, 215.626, on lap 105. Sunday, he again had the fastest lap of the race, 214.746, on lap 19.

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For the first time in Indy 500 history, cars were permitted to return to the garage area for repairs for safety reasons and return to the track and the race.

This rule started at Las Vegas last October. When a car was taken into the garage area, two technical officials from the Pep Boys IRL accompany the car to ensure all work is performed within the rules. Raul Boesel pitted on the parade lap and twice more by the eighth lap, when his car was towed to the garage. His crew replaced a fuel pump and Boesel returned to the race 36 laps down. However, instead of finishing 33rd as the first car out, the Brazilian moved all the way up to 19th.

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Jack Hewitt, the 46-year-old rookie who said his 25-year dream was to make it into the Indy 500, was a happy warrior even though he finished only 12th.

“It was pretty good just to make the show,” he said. “Now I can say I’ve finished it. It’s unbelievable. I wish Dad could have been here to see it. First I got to make it. Then I got to start. Then I got my first lap. Now I can say I finished. I can only get better from here.”

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The start of the race was delayed more than 30 minutes because of difficulty in drying the track after Saturday’s all-night rain and the problem of chasing a large dog that ran the length of the front straightaway, eluding chasers, including the Purdue band. He finally disappeared across the Brickyard golf course.

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Jeff Ward suffered a couple of the most frustrating incidents of the race. First, he was coming out of his pit when he clipped Stephan Gregoire’s car and damaged his front suspension, causing the steering wheel to get out of position. Later a wheel nut stripped and his right rear wheel came off. The former motocross champion, finished 13th.

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(Southland Edition) PAST INDY 500 WINNERS

1911--Ray Harroun

1912--Joe Dawson

1913--Jules Goux

1914--Rene Thomas

1915--Ralph DePalma

1916--Dario Resta

1917--No race, World War I

1918--No race, World War I

1919--Howard Wilcox

1920--Gaston Chevrolet

1921--Tommy Milton

1922--Jimmy Murphy

1923--Tommy Milton

1924--L.L.Corum, Joe Boyer

1925--Pete DePaolo

1926--Frank Lockhart

1927--George Souders

1928--Louis Meyer

1929--Ray Keech

1930--Billy Arnold

1931--Louis Schneider

1932--Fred Frame

1933--Louis Meyer

1934--Bill Cummings

1935--Kelly Petillo

1936--Louis Meyer

1937--Wilbur Shaw

1938--Floyd Roberts

1939--Wilbur Shaw

1940--Wilbur Shaw

1941--Floyd Davis, Mauri Rose

1942-45--No races, World War II

1946--George Robson

1947--Mauri Rose

1948--Mauri Rose

1949--Bill Holland

1950--Johnnie Parsons

1951--Lee Wallard

1952--Troy Ruttman

1953--Bill Vukovich Sr.

1954--Bill Vukovich Sr.

1955--Bob Sweikert

1956--Pat Flaherty

1957--Sam Hanks

1958--Jimmy Bryan

1959--Rodger Ward

1960--Jim Rathmann

1961--A.J. Foyt

1962--Rodger Ward

1963--Parnelli Jones

1964--A.J. Foyt

1965--Jimmy Clark

1966--Graham Hill

1967--A.J. Foyt

1968--Bobby Unser

1969--Mario Andretti

1970--Al Unser Sr.

1971--Al Unser Sr.

1972--Mark Donohue

1973--Gordon Johncock

1974--Johnny Rutherford

1975--Bobby Unser

1976--Johnny Rutherford

1977--A.J. Foyt

1978--Al Unser Sr.

1979--Rick Mears

1980--Johnny Rutherford

1981--Bobby Unser

1982--Gordon Johncock

1983--Tom Sneva

1984--Rick Mears

1985--Danny Sullivan

1986--Bobby Rahal

1987--Al Unser Sr.

1988--Rick Mears

1989--Emerson Fittipaldi

1990--Arie Luyendyk

1991--Rick Mears

1992--Al Unser Jr.

1993--Emerson Fittipaldi

1994--Al Unser Jr.

1995--Jacques Villeneuve

1996--Buddy Lazier

1997--Arie Luyendyk

1998--Eddie Cheever