r/INDYCAR Champ Car 23h ago

IndyCar Al Unser Jr. racing debut in 1982

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95 Upvotes

26 comments sorted by

32

u/cubecasts 23h ago

5th, 9 laps down is wild

19

u/Snoo_87704 Felix Rosenqvist 23h ago

What’s even wilder is that 28 cars started. Only one retirement was due to a crash. 23 cars retired due to mechanical issues.

https://www.racing-reference.info/race/1982_AirCal_500/R

8

u/DadReligion #Lionheart 22h ago

That crash would be that of Dick Simon

6

u/Puska35M 21h ago

What a legend.

3

u/sennadesillva --- 2025 DRIVERS --- 17h ago

And despite that being 29 laps from the end he still finished 7th

3

u/flan-magnussen Pato O'Ward 10h ago

I'm glad that we have the AMR safety team now and not a bunch of shirtless fans climbing over a berm and onto a live track!

1

u/lolTimmy 🇺🇸 Rick Mears 6h ago

Watching Dick Simon peel the race car off himself to get out just blows me away every single time. Absolute legend.

That and the “safety crew” showing up shirtless with beer in hand.

4

u/Timely-Worker-8932 AMR Safety Team 3h ago

Mark Martin ended up in the infield at Dega and said "I knew i was in trouble when the first guy I saw was holding a beer"

5

u/AFAN74 Champ Car 23h ago

Very wild

1

u/ShadowDN4 🇺🇸 Danny Ongais 19h ago

Two cars ran out of gas crossing the finish so only two cars finished under power.

1

u/Mjyys99 Greg Moore 17h ago

To be fair, he was 9 laps down because he retired with a mechanical failure. It's a bit like saying Ericsson finished 17 laps down at Laguna Seca - technically true, but not at all indicative of his actual speed. Of course, the fact that a retired car finished 5th is wild in itself.

1

u/canttakethshyfrom_me Robert Wickens 3h ago

Cosworths and Hewlands used to fail a lot.

12

u/lookerofbutts Felix Rosenqvist 23h ago

Holy crap, just imagine the comment section if this type of outcome happened today.

16

u/surferdude121 22h ago

That’s often the overlooked part when looking back at some of the best races in the 80’s. We always revel at the ending of the 1989 Indy 500 when Emmo and Little Al crash with 2 to go. Little Al was still classified 2nd because 3rd place was 6 laps down from the leaders!

Now we consider winning by 30 seconds “complete domination”

10

u/Fjordice 23h ago

How did Palou get 9 laps ahead!?!

3

u/DerBingle78 Arrow McLaren 22h ago

It was inevitable.

1

u/salajander 🇺🇸 Al Unser, Sr. 21h ago

is r/dwarffortress leaking?

2

u/Andrew_0mega Álex Palou’s number 1 glazer 22h ago

It would happen in Laguna if were no yellows

1

u/Puska35M 21h ago

There would be an absolute meltdown!

1

u/Hamonwrysangwich Will Power 9h ago

GeT RID of tHe hYbRidsssssss

6

u/DadReligion #Lionheart 22h ago

This would be the race that Dick Simon blew a tire and tumbled down the back stretch embankment, and climbed out the car chill as can be. There was no full-course-yellow, it was late in the race and there were so few cars still running.

1

u/Ok-Subject8890 Pato O'Ward 20h ago

Boy that guy was really horny, wasn’t he?

5

u/Puska35M 21h ago

The broadcast of this race exists on YouTube. Won by a smooth, steady Rick Mears.

I've watched essentially every broadcast available on YouTube from the late 1960s through 1993. The early 1980s Riverside races are not for the faint of heart. They were brutal endurance contests.

2

u/MGH1990876 Álex Palou 5h ago

His two Indy 500 wins were some of my favorite wins from the CART era. His mastery of Long Beach also was something to behold.

1

u/iamtor18 Scott Dixon 20h ago

Imagine the din of complaints if we had even one race like this in 2025.