Alfred Richard Unser
Nationality	American
Born	(1982-10-23)October 23, 1982 (age 42) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Related to	Al Unser Jr. (father) Al Unser Sr. (grandfather) Bobby Unser (great-uncle) Jerry Unser Jr. (great-uncle) Robby Unser (first cousin once removed) Louis Unser (great-grandfather)
Indy Lights career
Debut season	2004
Former teams	Vision Racing Brian Stewart Racing Playa Del Racing American Dream Motorsports
Starts	20
Wins	0
Poles	1
Best finish	8th in2004
Previous series
2004–2006	Atlantic Championship

Alfred Richard Unser^[1][2] (born October 23, 1982) is an American former professionalrace car driver. Unser has competed in theIndy Lights series andToyota Atlantics Championship. He is part of the fourth generation of theUnser family.

Al Richard Unser is theson ofAl Unser Jr., and grandson ofAl Unser Sr. Due to hisfamily connections in auto racing, he has sometimes been known as "Al Unser III" or "Just Al." He is currently aRealtor inAlbuquerque atColdwell Banker Legacy.

Al Richard Unser is the son of two-timeIndianapolis 500 winnerAl Unser Jr.,grandson of four-time Indy winnerAl Unser Sr., andgrandnephew of three-time Indy winnerBobby Unser. Anothergranduncle,Jerry Unser, drove in the1958 race but died from injuries suffered in a crash in1959.

First-cousins-once-removed (Al Unser Jr.'s cousins)Robby andJohnny also drove in the Indianapolis 500. Often considered the thirdgeneration of the famous Unser racing family, Al Richard Unser is technically the fourth generation of racers to come out of the family. His great-grandfather Jerry Sr., and Jerry's brotherLouis, also were racers, but neither drove in theIndianapolis 500.

During his youngchildhood years, he was often nicknamed "Mini Al" by themedia and fans,^[1][2] all with the expectation that he might follow in his family's footsteps to race professionally. However, as a child, Unser had reservations about becoming a race cardriver.^[3][4] For superstitious reasons, his father (Al Unser Jr.) insisted he not be named with thesuffix "III".^[1][2] By that time both Al Sr. and Al Jr. were stars on the Indycar circuit. Al Sr. was becoming known by thenickname "Big Al." Al Jr. for a time was known as "Little Al," thus Al Richard Unser became known for a time as "Mini Al."

As he got older and reached histeenage years, he decided to eschew the "Mini" nickname, and became known as "Just Al." When starting his professionalcareer, he abandoned any sort of nickname, and has insisted on being referred to asJust Al (i.e., Al Unser), or by his full name, Al Richard Unser.

His first widely-noticedtelevision appearance was at the1992 Indianapolis 500 at age nine whenhis father won the race. Unser was seen greeting his father invictory circle. He also posed in official photos with hisfather andgrandfather when Al Jr. won the Indy 500 for the second time in1994. Unserguest-starred on an episode ofHome Improvement alongside his father and grandfather in1997.^[5]

Al Richard Unser began drivinggo karts at age ten, but stopped racing until after earning hisdriver's license at age sixteen. After attendingdriving schools, Unser competed in theSkip Barber Western Racing Series in 2002, winning six races and earning "Rookie of the Year" honors. A year later, he posted four top-ten finishes in the2003 Barber Dodge Pro Series.

In2004, Unser made hisToyota Atlantics debut, running in four events. His best finish was an 8th place atMontreal. Unser also ran in eight races in the2004Infiniti Pro Series. He posted five third place finishes, and won thepole position atMichigan.

Around that same time, Unser's father,Al Unser Jr. temporarilyretired fromdriving to help with his career.^[4]

Unser posted three top-ten finishes in the first four races of theInfinity Pro Series season, including a 4th place at theFreedom 100 atIndianapolis. He then returned to theToyota Atlantics, finishing the season 7th in points. He ran ten of twelve events with a best finish of 4th.

At the Indy Lights races atSt. Petersburg andIndianapolis Unser competed against fellow third-generation driverMarco Andretti of the famous rivalAndretti family. It was the only two times that Al and Marco raced together.

In 2006, Unser drove in twoAtlantics series events, but lost his ride to funding issues with histeam.

Unser was signed to drive forPlaya Del Racing in theFreedom 100 for2007. He drove in three other oval races, posting three top-tens in the four events.

For 2008, Unser was announced as the full-time driver in the #12 car for Playa Del Racing inIndy Lights. After five races, controlling interest in the team was sold to former Las Vegas restaurateurEric Zimmerman, who renamed itAmerican Dream Motorsports. After finishing 11th position atIndianapolis, Unser was reportedly released by the new owner and replaced byTony Turco, who broughtsponsorship to the program. The team posted an entry for the Milwaukee 100 on May 31, but the car never took to the track.

Unser's father (Al Jr.) drove during several seasons forGalles Racing, and Al Richard once worked for Rick Galles' Chevrolet dealership.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position)

• 1982 births
• American people of Swiss-German descent
• Living people
• Racing drivers from Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Indy Lights drivers
• Atlantic Championship drivers
• Barber Pro Series drivers
• Unser family
• Conquest Racing drivers
• Racing drivers from Phoenix, Arizona

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from April 2024