Bridging Troubled Waters

The crowd of people surrounding Danica Patrick had no idea that if they had pulled themselves away from their scrum and looked over their shoulder, they would have seen a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner walk past them.

In fact, very few of those not taking part in the Danica scrum even realised that the man in the plain blue shirt and jeans was in fact Al Unser Jr, one of the former kings of American racing.

But his 1994 success at the Speedway was a long time ago, and Unser Jr is a different person to the man that took the dominant Penske-Mercedes package to Victory Lane on his way to a second title that year.

While he narrowly missed out on a third championship to Jacques Villeneuve in 1995, his career in Champ Car slowly fell apart in the years that followed. While he enjoyed a brief revival as he took three victories in four years in the Indy Racing league, personal problems began to take over his life.

Unser Jr announced his retirement from racing in 2004, but even as he battled alcoholism there was one race he could not live without. After just one year away he was back at Indianapolis last year, and in 2007 he could not resist the opportunity to come back again.

"The Indy 500 comes round once a year, and it's the greatest race in the world," he said. "The reason we drive these cars is to be a better driver at this race."

Al Unser Jr (Foyt Racing) © LAT

2005 was not the first time that he had missed the race, though. He failed to qualify in 1995, and then for several was denied the chance to put the disaster right due to the CART/IRL split in 1996.

"When I missed the race in the late 90s there was a big hole inside me," he said. "But when I retired in 2004 I didn't think I was going to miss it. Then '05 came, and I missed it a great deal. That's what brought me back in '06, and I had such a good time that I had to come back again."

But this year, there was more to the story than just Al Unser Jr racing at Indianapolis. He wasn't only making another one-off appearance in the race, but he was teaming up with another of America's biggest racing names, as he drove the number 50 car for AJ Foyt, who is celebrating the 50-year anniversary of his Indy Car debut.

"AJ told me that he couldn't think of anyone else that he wanted to drive his 50 car, and how can you say no to that?" Unser Jr. explained. "I grew up with AJ around me, and I've been honoured to drive for him here. But another thing is that his team has really stepped it up this year, so I knew he could give me a competitive package."

Even if Foyt's outfit has enjoyed an upturn in fortunes this year with Darren Manning, it's fair to say that the team is still lacking that little bit extra to push them right to the front, and Unser Jr's disappointing run to 26th place, five laps down, could easily deter him from coming back again.

With all of his previous success at Indianapolis, it would be easy for Unser Jr to feel a little underwhelmed by his month. However, he felt that it was not so strange to go to the race as an underdog.

"There's probably only two times I've ever come here and been the hunted rather than the hunter," he said. "Even when we won the race for the first time in 1992 we only qualified 12th, and that year we were all chasing Michael Andretti.

"So it's really no different. You go out there, you try to have a good day and make no mistakes. If you do that, you can run up the front. As long as we're competitive and we're having fun, I'm going to keep doing this race. If I don't crash, it's a good day too!"

Unser Jr laughed as he says that, and it was clear that he is a man very relaxed and happy with his life, after years of problems.

"I'm really happy, and I'm really excited about everything going on in my life right now," he asserted. "Everything is clicking, and I'm enjoying my life away from the racetrack a lot more than I used to."

Al Unser Jr signs autographs © LAT

Earlier this year Unser Jr made the headlines for all the wrong reasons when he was arrested and charged with several offences, which included driving under the influence of alcohol.

It wasn't his first visit to a police station due to alcohol though - that had come in 2002 after an argument with his girlfriend. While it made the former champion realise that he had a problem, it wasn't until this year that he really started to make progress.

"Everyday I stay sober is a good day," he says. "I do everything I can to help myself, because nobody can do it for you. I just wish I'd realised I had a problem earlier, because I could have been a better person, a better husband, a better father, and a better driver."

Unser Jr is now involved in campaigns about alcoholism, which he admitted are as much help to him as they are to the people he speaks to.

"Trying to spread the word about alcoholism has been very helpful for me," he said. "If we can help people before they make the mistakes I've made, that's great."

Before alcohol began to take over his life, Unser Jr had been enjoying his heyday at the same time as open wheel racing in America had been. But as he battled his own problems, the CART/IRL split was doing its own damage to the sport he loved.

But he doesn't think that unification is absolutely necessary for the Indy 500 to be a success, and he doesn't think it has made winning the race any less of an achievement.

"It's still the same challenge," he says. "That's why nobody has been able to win this thing multiple times in recent years. You need to prepare well, and you need a good car. One of the best-placed guys might be Helio (Castroneves). He's got two wins, and he's with Penske, who still have some of the best cars, so not a lot has changed.

"The race is not what it was in its heyday, but it's getting better. I've even noticed a difference in the attendance from '06 to '07, so I truly feel that it's gaining it's popularity back."

Al Unser Jr won his first Indy 500 in the closest ever finish over Scott Goodyear in 1992 © IndyCar

But while he believes that things are getting better, he certainly hopes that the split that has allowed NASCAR to dominate motorsport in North America will go away sooner rather than later, so that he might just get one more chance at racing in a unified Indy 500.

"I wish the unification would happen tomorrow," he says. "I hope things get back to the way there were in the '80s and the early '90s. Eventually this split is going to go away, but I just hope I'm still around when it happens.

"Indy means everything to me. Hopefully we can keep coming back here for years to come. We'll see what comes about, but if we're good and healthy and still aching to do it then we'll be here."

While Michael Andretti has hinted that 2007 was probably his last crack at Indianapolis, Unser Jr has no such plans at the moment, and if he hangs on long enough he might even get to join his son, Al Unser III, in the starting field one year like Andretti has been able to.