Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Return to Indy rejuvenates Little Al

Friday, Nov. 26, 1999 | 9:50 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand's motor sports notebook appears Friday. Reach him at bh@vegas.com or 259-4089.

The Unser family is so inextricably linked to the Indianapolis 500 that Al Unser Jr.'s thoughts immediately turned to the Indy Racing League when he was told in August that he would not be driving for Roger Penske's CART team next season.

Unsers father, Al, won the Indy 500 four times while uncle Bobby won it three times and Junior twice.

After four years away from the famed Brickyard -- in an open-wheel car, at least -- Unser will get the opportunity to compete in the world's most famous race in 2000 after signing a five-year deal with IRL car owner Rick Galles.

The way Unser sees it, he has a score to settle with the flat 2.5-mile oval he affectionately calls "the billiard table."

"Really, it wasn't a very tough decision," Unser said of his move to the rival IRL. "What really kind of did it was I've got unsettled business at the Speedway.

"The last time I was there, I missed the show, I wasn't fast enough to qualify and I believe I'm the only defending champion to make three (qualifying) attempts and miss the show."

Failing to qualify for the 1995 Indy 500 took a heavy toll on Unser -- one that still weighs heavily on the 37-year-old.

"That was really the lowest I ever got in my whole life, really," Unser said, the pain still obvious in his voice. "I've been through a lot of things with everything ... and the depression that I felt was very strong at that point -- it was the strongest that (it) had been in my whole life.

"I came home and was just walking around my (Albuquerque) ranch like my head was cut off. It wasn't up until my daughter Cody got ill that I felt that kind of depression (again)."

Unser's 12-year-old daughter, Cody, was diagnosed earlier this year with a rare spinal condition called transverse myelitis, which has left her in a wheelchair. Unser said his daughter's prognosis is good, and expects her to make a full recovery.

"We're going to come back (to Indy) and we've got a strong team with us -- just like Cody," Unser said. "She's definitely going to be walking again so that's the inspiration that we have and that's going to be our strength."

Although many observers have speculated that Unser's driving skills have waned in recent years, leading to his dismissal from Team Penske, the Albuquerque native said the opposite is the case. In fact, he said, he plans to contend for the IRL championship next season.

"Actually, the last couple of years have kind of helped my driving skills," said Unser, who has not won a CART race since he notched four victories in 1995.

"It has made me realize how hard this business is and you have to work hard at what you're doing. What I see in CART and what I see in IRL is both of them are very, very competitive series. I'm definitely at the top of my game and we're ready to go racing and learn new things."

In addition to learning about the new IRL cars and some new tracks, Unser will have to adjust to a 10-race, all-oval schedule -- something he said will play to his favor. CART runs 20 races with 11 held on road courses or temporary street circuits.

"I'll be 38 in April and road courses are pretty tough -- they're more physically demanding than the ovals are, for sure," he said. "When I joined CART in '83, the average age of the driver was probably 35 years old and now if you look at the average age of the drivers in CART, it's 25.

"An all-oval series is welcome to me on that aspect. I guess you can call me one of those old-guard guys now, wise and so on, and the elder (guys) are going to outrun the youth on these ovals."

*NASCAR: Bob Kersee, who co-owns a Winston Cup team with his wife, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and Kurt Roehrig, said he still plans to debut the team at the Daytona next February despite the fact he has no major sponsor.

Kersee, who would be the only black owner of a full-time Winston Cup team, said he has held talks with some major companies, but still hasn't been able to come up with the estimated $8 million it will take to run the team in 2000.

"We've been very close to some companies, and we've been frustrated with some because I thought that a couple that we've talked to would maybe give us an opportunity," he said. "But they haven't given us an opportunity yet." ...

Irvan-Simo Racing and Team Gordon have joined forces to run a full 34-race Winston Cup schedule next season. The joint venture will see driver Robby Gordon return to Winston Cup racing in the No. 13 Ford Taurus.

Lee Morse, president of Irvan-Simo Racing, will manage the joint program from the team's Mooresville, N.C., headquarters. Team co-owner Ernie Irvan will oversee the team's technical development and co-owner Mark Simo will continue to direct Irvan-Simo's business and commercial operations.

"I'm looking forward to the growth experience, and to helping Robby become a better Winston Cup driver," Irvan said. "A key thing that brought Robby into this operation was our organization. The biggest selling point was our employees, the structure we have with the employees, the equipment, the building and everything. We have a really good team and they all work together. Having key people like that will help us to succeed with Robby."

* CART: CART's team owners voted unanimously last week to retire car No. 99 as a tribute to the late Greg Moore, who was killed in an accident in the final race of the season at California Speedway in Fontana.

Moore's car number joins A.J. Foyt's 14 as the only retired numbers by CART. ...

Henderson resident Richie Hearn and longtime girlfriend Brenda Nields were married last Saturday in Southern California.

Attendees from the CART community included drivers Jimmy Vasser and Bryan Herta. Motley Crue lead singer Vince Neil sang "Without You" for the couple's first dance as man and wife and the newlyweds held a money dance, the proceeds of which will benefit the Greg Moore Memorial Fund.

* IRL: Al Unser Jr.'s new partnership with team owner Rick Galles could leave Las Vegan Davey Hamilton without a ride to start the 2000 IRL season -- although Galles said he was working hard to get a program together for Hamilton.

Galles has teamed with Roger Elliott and Tommy Constantine to form a second team out of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Elliott said they are trying to get the proper sponsorship to campaign Hamilton next season.

"We have put our energy and efforts into putting the financing into place for Al's team but we certainly plan on trying to put things together (for a second car) and we're quite a long way down the line," Elliott said. "Our plan, subject to the necessary financing, is to run Davey Hamilton in our car."

Galles, who will own a minority interest in Elliott's program, said he didn't want to leave Hamilton out of IRL picture.

"I have a commitment to Davey Hamilton and one way or another, we're going to get him in a race car and hopefully it'll be our team's car in Scottsdale," Galles said. "Davey helped us with this program ... and we've worked real hard to develop Davey and we're not going to give that asset away.

"We have an understanding between us ... I don't want to put a program together for Davey that wouldn't be 100 percent, so what we've told him is that if we can't put this program together right now, that he will remain on retainer with us until we can or he has the right to go find something else that will help him. He wants to stay with us but he has that option. We're going to do whatever we can to get Davey taken care of."

* BACKMARKERS: Tickets for the inaugural National Hot Rod Association national event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will go on sale Monday, Dec. 6, at the Speedway ticket office.

Single-day tickets prices for the event, to be held April 6-9 on the soon-to-be-completed drag strip, range from $10 (children 5 and under) to $60 (adult reserved seat). A four-day pass will be available for $115 and admission to the Top Eliminator Club, which includes preferred seating and hospitality, is $275. ...

A replay of the IJSBA Skat-Track World Final jet-ski races, held last month on Lake Havasu, will be broadcast Sunday at 9:30 a.m. (PST) on ESPN2.

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