El Paso Times from El Paso, Texas • 12

11 it n. 4 i-wMvi i El Paso Times UU Sunday, June 23. 1991 Grand Pib: do lusrcz Uiiser cousins Mve op to their racing name By Bill Knight El Paso Times C7 and The name is the same 1 fr) 1 I i I 1 Xf 1 i.rfvCar Series Jf I iiiiiii mmmsmimm. "mmr.iSMrr -v -rniviw- it is a famous one. No one who follows auto racing will fail to take notice when the name Unser drifts into a conversation.

This weekend both Robby and Johnny Unser have drifted into Juarez to compete in the American IndyCar Series inaugural Grand Prix de Juarez. The two cousins have at least three things in common: One, obviously, is that name a moniker that spells a legendary racing heritage. Two, they are both striving to live up to that name, to reach the heights, to one day run in the Indianapolis 500 and to compete against the very best in the sport. Three, they are both in love with racing the speed, the competition, the excitement. Each driver already has had a great deal of success.

But each has come from a very different starting line. Robby Unser At only 23, the son of three-; time Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Unser, Robby Unser has a brilliant future spread out before him on the speedways. But, it seems, he was born to it. "I started driving when I was about 5," said the personable, fast-talking young man who grew up in Albuquerque. "My grandfather had a big ranch.

My Dad used to put me in his lap that kind of thing. I started racing go-carts when I was 7. I love it. I love racing. I hope to race until I die." But, while young Robby loved his racing, it also was something of a chore.

"It's something I wanted to do. Fun? Yes. But it's always been a lot of work, too. If you're looking for something to do on weekends as a kid, that probably wouldn't be it. For me, though, every week it was always the same always racing." Robby Unser has exploded onto the racing scene.

In 1988, at age 20, he ran seven races on the American IndyCar Series finishing first once, second three times, fourth an- other, fifth another and gaining yet another top 10 finish. In 1989, Unser really began to step into the edge of that big family spotlight. He won an amazing 12 American IndyCar and Robby Unser will both be racing in today's Grand Prix de Victor Calzada El Paso Times Juarez. give it up and go after racing" full time' Now, at 32, he is chasing the dream of making it to the top, like his father, like the rest of his family. Last year, at 31, he was the AIS Rookie of the Year and went into the last race of the season with a chance to overtake eventual champion Bill Tempero.

He finished second in that race to Tempero and second overall. But how does his mother feel about this change of careers? "She was happy I got my education. I think she was satisfied that I tried teaching, that I tried an alternative. Once I started racing, she's been very supportive." Johnny Unser doesn't think a lot about the accident that killed his father. He knows he is in a dangerous business, but "I always knew about my Dad.

I know my Dad was doing what he really wanted to do. And everybody tells me he was really, reaily happy." So is his son, Johnny, whose ready smile and boyish looks make him appear almost a decade younger than he is. "I want to go to Indy; that's my main goal; to race consistently there and to win someday. Indy Cars are my ultimate. The traveling gets old, being away from my wife (Shauna) gets old.

But, man, when you get in that race car and start racing, it makes it all worthwhile. "It's really a thrill to be able to take a piece of machinery a piece so sophisticated yet a piece that can be pretty diaboli- cal and combine all that power and speed it's a pretty incredible experience." The future Today, the cousins Unser will be zooming through the Chamizal Park in Juarez, trying to win yet another race, trying to gain more fun, more excitement, more thrills. On the Fourth of July they will be in Nashville, racing again. On July 23rd, the site will be Denver. Then Salt Lake City on Aug.

18. And on and on and on working toward a special Memorial Day weekend at Indianapolis someday trying to carve their own special niche in the Unser Hall of Fame one for Robby, one for Johnny. Until that time, all along the way, one thing seems certain: These guys will be loving every minute, every lap of it. Grand Prix notes Another Unser will be watching from the stands By Bill Knight El Paso Times Some famous names from the racing world will be on hand today for the Grand Prix de Juarez. Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Unser flew down from Albuquerque to watch son Robby compete.

Roger Ward, two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and two-time national champion, is the chief steward for the American IndyCar Series. And the man waving the flags is Johnny Shipman, the man who flagged at the Indianapolis Speedway for over 20 years. Shipman, who flagged his first race June 10, 1949, has flagged at every major track in the country. Eider racer Bob Tankersley of Lakewood, is the veteran of the AIS at 64. However, he's only been racing a little over 15 years.

"I started when I was 48," Tankersley said. "People ask why I started so late and I tell 'em I had to wait until I could afford it. I didn't want to hock the farm and the family to do it." Minor mishaps Both Tankersley and Ken Petrie of Parker, had crackups during practice Saturday. Neither was able to qualify. "I hit the wnll," Tankersley said.

"I was trying to increase my speed on the corner each time. I got little wide, got into the dirt and the car decided not to turn. I was just little off inc. A look at Robby Unser Background: is the 23-year-old son of three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Unser Today's position: He'll start in the No. 2 position in car No.

4X Career highlight Was the 1989 American indycar Series top driver and team champion Quote: "When you are fast and everything Is rolling, it's one great feeling." the faster you go, that line (margin of error) gets thinner and thinner." After a pause, Unser said almost reflectively: "When you are fast and everything is" rolling, it's one great H1 1 car burst into flames after Cousins Johnny Unser, left, be a little bit of a letdown," he said, shrugging. "Last year it was looking good that I might get a CART (Championship Auto Racing. Team) ride. But the sponsors and some other things didn't come through. Still, I won Pikes Peak and I won the one AIS race that I finished.

I had some success; I'd just have liked to have run more." The Pikes Peak Hill Climb has been a family favorite. Robby has won the race the last four years, but "I don't own that one yet," he said, grinning. "My dad won it 13 times, so I've still got a way to go." All the same, things seem to be falling into place for this young Unser. He hopes to reach Indianapolis in another year or two. And, even after all these years, Robby Unser still likes that taste of speed, that diet of competition.

1. r. 4 Race car driver Randy Lewis the Indianapolis Motor Raceway The difference While the veterans might be able to see the difference with a little more emotional clarity, the safety innovations are certainly not lost on the younger drivers. Of course, few could see it with more clarity than Johnny Unser. The 32-year-old driver was only 1 year old when his father Jerry was killed during firactice for the 1959 Indianapo-is 500.

"The car simply breaks away from around the driver," Unser said. "It dissipates the energy and speed. And there are the fuel cells instead of a ga9 tank. You could take an axe and not break one of those. And there are the Khutoffs, bo it won't just hik'W fuel everywhere.

And there are on board fire extin-guishers. And the uniforms and helmets. If i 1 Johnny Unser Racing is in his blood. He loves the feel. Yet Johnny Unser wasn't weened on race cars like his cousin, Robby.

When Johnny was only lyear old, his father, Jerry, was killed in practice for the 1959 Indianapolis 500. He grew up with his mother in northern California, playing football, basketball and baseball at Lodi Academy in Sutter Creek, Calif. He went to Sacramento State, played water polo and graduated with a degree in health sciencephysical education. He taught junior high school for two years in Idaho. But, about the time he was finishing school, just after his 21st birthday, Johnny began to yield to the thrill of auto racing.

"I started seriously when I was 21," he said. "I raced in the summers when I taught school, but it gradually started to overlap the school year more and more. Finally, I had to Associated Press hitting the first turn wall at tomobile Bafety on the highways. "It began almost 80 years ago," U.S. Race Coordinator Paul Louchart said.

"So many safety itemH have como from auto racing. The renr view mirror, for instance. It came about in the 1912 Indianapolis 500, the second one. A guy said ho couldn't see everybody olm coming after the firHt ono in 1911, so it got created. A look at Johnny Unser Background: When he was 1, his father, Jerry Unser, was kilted during a practice run for the Indianapolis 500 Today's position: He'll start in the No.

6 position in car No. 50 Career highlight Was the 1990 American Indycar Series rookie of the year Quote: "I always knew about my Dad. I know my Dad was doing what he really wanted to do." "It takes a lot of concentration out there everything happens a lot faster the car responds instantly to all your input everything happens so fast really, these cars are more stable at high speeds, but i -vv 1 nr. was not injured when his Indy earlier this year. The cockpit Perhaps the biggest innovation is the safety of the area around the driver, his perch, his little spot while he is hurtling through space at 150 to 200 miles per hour.

"The thing about racing cars," said Robby Unser, the 23-year-old highly successful son of Al, "is that you're uppinc your percentage of times you'll crash. But the times you crash and get hurt are way down. "The biggest thing is the way the cars are built. The parts just fall off and it takes the impact away. The biggest things arc the monococks the place where we sit.

It's a single piece of carbon fiber, just like a jet plane cockpit. It's a shell the driver sits in and everything else attaches to it," Whitesides said, "I call it a fuselage. It's just like the F-16 Series races in 16 tries, finished second twice, fifth once and in the top 10 the other outing. He won seven straight races, tying A.J. Foyt's Indy-car record set in 1964.

"Any year after that would Indy cars are safer than ever Surviving crashes now a way of life By Bill Knight El Paso Times Perhaps no one is more awafe of the evolution of Indy car safety than veteran drivers. For them, it is the difference between friends being around to laugh and joke with and simply being a memory. The legend today goes: You have more of a chance to survive a crash in an Indy car going 150 mph than you do in a street automobile going 50 mph. "That's very true," said Randy Whitesides, father of driver Kevin Whitesides and a veteran pit crew chief. "These cars are very crashworthy.

"Thank God we're not losing as many drivers as we did in the early 1960s and late 1960s. There's a lot of friends not around today that could have been. In fact, we're racing against the errors of dead racers. It's a sad thing but it's true." Roger Ward knows this lesson all too well. Ward, now the chief steward of the American IndyCar Series, is a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.

He won 26 Indy car races. He is a two-time national champion. "I retired in 19C6 at 45," he said. "I just didn't feel, at that age, I was ready to go out and go all out every time anymore. Today, you see guys like Mario (Andretti), Al (Unser) and A.J.

(Foyt) who are able to go out and run with the kids today simply because of technology. "You look at the ago of Home drivers today and if they were still driving the cars we used to well, they wouldn't be. around." "Thank God we're not losing as many drivers as we did In the early 1960s and late 1960s. There's a lot of friends not around today that could have been. In fact, we're racing against the errors of dead racers.

It's a sad thing but It's true." Veteran pit crew chief Randy Whitesides cockpit. Carbon fiber over aluminum. You saw Kevin Cogan at Indianapolis. He crn.shed and wound up in his cockpit, the parts all gone. And he walked away with only a minor injury." Innovations Just as discoveries from space travel have been translated into everyday life, many auto racing innovations have improved au.