Johnny Unser is a former race car driver. He is the son of open wheel driver Jerry Unser

Jerry Unser

Jerry Unser was an American racecar driver. He was the 1957 USAC Stock Car champion....

, cousin of Al Unser, Jr.

Al Unser, Jr.

Alfred Unser, Jr. , nicknamed "Little Al", "Al Junior" or simply "Junior" is a retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.-History:...

 and Robby Unser

Robby Unser

Robby Unser is a former Indy Racing League driver and eight time winner of the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb. He was the IRL rookie of the year in 1998. Robby made two starts in the Indianapolis 500 with a best finish of 5th in 1998. He also finished second twice in the 1998 season, his best...

, nephew of Al Unser

Al Unser

Alfred "Al" Unser is a former American automobile racing driver, the younger brother of fellow racing drivers Jerry and Bobby Unser, and father of Al Unser, Jr....

 and Bobby Unser

Bobby Unser

Robert William "Bobby" Unser is a retired U.S. automobile racer. He is the brother of Al Unser, Jerry Unser and Louie Unser, the father of Robby Unser, and the uncle of Al Unser, Jr. and Johnny Unser...

, and first cousin once removed of Alfred Unser

Alfred Unser

Alfred Richard Unser is a professional race car driver in the United States, who competed in the 2008 Firestone Indy Lights Series through the Firestone Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May.-Family connections:Unser is the son of 2-time Indianapolis 500 race winner Al Unser, Jr.,...

. He made 5 starts in CART

Champ Car

Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...

 in 1993 and 1994 with a best result of 15th. He joined the Indy Racing League in its inaugural 1996

1996 in IRL

The first season of Indy Racing League competition consisted of only three races. Walt Disney World Speedway was completed in time to host the first race of the season, and the first ever event of the IRL. Phoenix International Raceway switched alliances from CART to IRL and hosted the second event...

 season but had a transmission failure during the pace lap of what would've been his first Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...

 and was not credited with a race start. In 1997 he made his first start in the Indy 500 starting in the 35th position after league and speedway owner Tony George

Tony George

Anton Hulman "Tony" George was the former President and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Hulman & Company, serving from 1989 to 2009. He was also formerly on the Board of Directors of both entities. He founded the Indy Racing League and co-owns Vision Racing...

 added his and Lyn St. James

Lyn St. James

Lyn St. James is a retired professional IndyCar driver with 8 CART and 5 Indy Racing League starts to her name. She is just one of seven women who successfully qualified for the Indianapolis 500, and became the first woman to win the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award...

' car to the field because slower cars than theirs were guaranteed starting positions because of prior races. He went on to finish 18th, his best "500" result in 5 starts. Unser drove the majority of his IRL races for Hemelgarn Racing

Hemelgarn Racing

Hemelgarn Racing was a racing team in the Indy Racing League owned by Ron Hemelgarn. The team won the 1996 Indianapolis 500 and 2000 Series Championship with driver Buddy Lazier. Along with A.J...

 and in his 14 career IRL starts he had a best finish of 9th in his very first series start in 1996 at Phoenix International Raceway

Phoenix International Raceway

Phoenix International Raceway, also known as PIR, is a one-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona. The track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually. PIR has also hosted the Indycar Series, CART, USAC and the Rolex Sports Car Series...

. His last major open wheel race was the 2000

2000 in IRL

The 2000 Indy Racing Northern Light Series season was another season that saw a high level of parity as only one driver, champion Buddy Lazier, won more than a single race. It also saw the beginning of the jump from CART as Al Unser Jr. moved to the series full time and Chip Ganassi Racing came...

 Indy 500.

On January 14, 2008 Johnny Unser was named as the race director for the 2008 Champ Car Atlantic Championship

Champ Car Atlantic Championship

The Cooper Tires presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda was a formula race car series with races throughout North America. It is often colloquially referred to as the Atlantic Championship, Champ Car Atlantics , Toyota Atlantics , or just Atlantics or Formula...

.

American Open Wheel

(key)

CART

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Rank	Points
1993 1993 CART World Series season The 1993 IndyCar season, the fifteenth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 16 races, beginning in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia on March 21 and concluding in Monterey, California on October 3. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion and Rookie of the Year was...	Coyne Dale Coyne Racing Dale Coyne Racing is a motorsports team in the IndyCar Series owned by former driver Dale Coyne. It was founded in 1986 with Chicago Bears great Walter Payton as Payton/Coyne Racing. The team fields the No. 18 Acorn Stairlifts and No...	SRF 1993 Australian FAI IndyCar Grand Prix The 1993 Australian FAI IndyCar Grand Prix was the opening round of the 1993 CART World Series season, held on 21 March 1993 on the Streets of Surfers Paradise, Australia. The race was won by series débutant Nigel Mansell, the first person to win his first race in the series.-Qualifying results:-...	PHX	LBH	IND 1993 Indianapolis 500 The 77th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 30, 1993. Emerson Fittipaldi took the lead with 16 laps to go, and won his second career Indy 500 victory...	MIL	DET	POR 18	CLE	TOR Ret	MIC	NHA 18	ROA	VAN Ret	MDO	NAZ	LS	44th	0
1994 1994 CART World Series season The 1994 IndyCar season, the sixteenth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 16 races, beginning in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia on March 20 and concluding in Monterey, California on October 9. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion and Indianapolis 500...	Coyne Dale Coyne Racing Dale Coyne Racing is a motorsports team in the IndyCar Series owned by former driver Dale Coyne. It was founded in 1986 with Chicago Bears great Walter Payton as Payton/Coyne Racing. The team fields the No. 18 Acorn Stairlifts and No...	SRF 1994 Australian FAI Indycar Grand Prix The 1994 Australian FAI Indycar Grand Prix was the opening round of the 1994 CART World Series season, held on 20 March 1994 on the streets of Surfers Paradise, Australia....	PHX DNQ	LBH DNQ	IND 1994 Indianapolis 500 The 78th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 29, 1994. Al Unser, Jr. won from the pole position, his second Indy 500 victory. Much to the surprise of competitors, media, and fans, Marlboro Team Penske arrived at the Speedway with a brand new, secretly-built...	MIL DNQ	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIC	MDO	NHA	VAN 15	ROA	NAZ	LS	39th	0

IndyCar

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Rank	Points
1996 1996 in IRL The first season of Indy Racing League competition consisted of only three races. Walt Disney World Speedway was completed in time to host the first race of the season, and the first ever event of the IRL. Phoenix International Raceway switched alliances from CART to IRL and hosted the second event...	Project Indy Project Indy Project Indy was a racing team owned by Andreas Leberle that competed in the CART Championship Car series and the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. Leberle was a former chief mechanic for Euromotorsport and like Euromotorsport, Project Indy's cars were often driven by pay drivers. The team was...	WDW	PHX 9	INDY 1996 Indianapolis 500 The 80th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26, 1996. This was the first Indy 500 contested by the Indy Racing League, under the overall sanctioning umbrella of USAC. It was the third and final race of the 1996 IRL season. Buddy Lazier won the race, his... 33									24th	56
1996-1997	Project Indy Project Indy Project Indy was a racing team owned by Andreas Leberle that competed in the CART Championship Car series and the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. Leberle was a former chief mechanic for Euromotorsport and like Euromotorsport, Project Indy's cars were often driven by pay drivers. The team was...	NHM DNQ	LVS 22	WDW	PHX								24th	107
	Hemelgarn Hemelgarn Racing Hemelgarn Racing was a racing team in the Indy Racing League owned by Ron Hemelgarn. The team won the 1996 Indianapolis 500 and 2000 Series Championship with driver Buddy Lazier. Along with A.J...					INDY 1997 Indianapolis 500 The 81st Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway over three days, May 25–27, 1997. It was originally scheduled Sunday, May 25, however, rain washed out all activities for the day. The race was started on Monday May 26, but rain halted the race after only 15 laps... 18					LV2 19
	Byrd-Cunningham						TXS 10	PPIR 21	CLT	NH2 13
1998 1998 in IRL The 1998 Pep Boys Indy Racing League season was one of relative stability compared to the previous two seasons. For the first time the season consisted of a single and complete spring, summer, and fall like all other forms of motorsport. 15 drivers completed the entire 11 race schedule, twice as...	Hemelgarn Hemelgarn Racing Hemelgarn Racing was a racing team in the Indy Racing League owned by Ron Hemelgarn. The team won the 1996 Indianapolis 500 and 2000 Series Championship with driver Buddy Lazier. Along with A.J...	WDW	PHX	INDY 1998 Indianapolis 500 The 82nd Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 24, 1998. This was the first Indianapolis 500 fully sanctioned by the Indy Racing League after the IRL relied on USAC to sanction the 1996–1997 races... 25	TXS	NHM	DOV	CLT	PPIR	ATL	TX2	LVS	40th	5
1999 1999 in IRL The 1999 Pep Boys Indy Racing League season was highly competitive and parity was the order of the year. Team Menard had a very good season with their driver Greg Ray capturing 3 race wins in a row and the series championship...	Hemelgarn Hemelgarn Racing Hemelgarn Racing was a racing team in the Indy Racing League owned by Ron Hemelgarn. The team won the 1996 Indianapolis 500 and 2000 Series Championship with driver Buddy Lazier. Along with A.J...	WDW	PHX	INDY 1999 Indianapolis 500 The 1999 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 30, 1999.-Recap:Robby Gordon and Team Menard take a major gamble late in the race, and try to stretch their fuel for the win. Gordon had last pit on lap 164, and attempted to run the final 36 laps on one tank... 32	TXS 15	PPIR 13	ATL 13	DOV	PPI2	LVS 23	TX2		27th	57
2000 2000 in IRL The 2000 Indy Racing Northern Light Series season was another season that saw a high level of parity as only one driver, champion Buddy Lazier, won more than a single race. It also saw the beginning of the jump from CART as Al Unser Jr. moved to the series full time and Chip Ganassi Racing came...	Indy Regency Indy Regency Racing Indy Regency Racing was a racing team owned by Sal Incandela who had worked with several Formula One and CART teams.The team made its debut in 1991 fielding a car in the Indy Lights series for David Kudrave. In 1993 the team made its move to the CART Championship Car series by fielding a car for...	WDW	PHX	LVS	INDY 2000 Indianapolis 500 The 2000 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 28, 2000.-Recap:Chip Ganassi Racing became the first regular CART series team to break ranks and compete at Indianapolis since the CART/IRL split in 1996, entering 1996 CART series champion Jimmy Vasser and reigning... 22	TXS	PPIR	ATL	KTY	TX2			41st	8

Indy 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish
1996 1996 Indianapolis 500 The 80th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26, 1996. This was the first Indy 500 contested by the Indy Racing League, under the overall sanctioning umbrella of USAC. It was the third and final race of the 1996 IRL season. Buddy Lazier won the race, his...	Reynard Reynard Motorsport Reynard Motorsport was at one time the world's largest racing car manufacturer. Initially based at Bicester and latterly at Reynard Park, Brackley, England the company built successful cars in Formula Ford 1600, Formula Ford 2000, Formula Vauxhall Lotus, Formula Three, Formula 3000 and Indy...	Ford-Cosworth	16th	33rd
1997 1997 Indianapolis 500 The 81st Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway over three days, May 25–27, 1997. It was originally scheduled Sunday, May 25, however, rain washed out all activities for the day. The race was started on Monday May 26, but rain halted the race after only 15 laps...	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993...	Infiniti Infiniti is the luxury division of automaker Nissan. Infiniti officially started selling vehicles on November 8, 1989 in North America. Marketing operations have since grown to include the Middle East, South Korea, Russia, Taiwan, China, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Infiniti began sales in additional...	35th	18th
1998 1998 Indianapolis 500 The 82nd Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis on Sunday, May 24, 1998. This was the first Indianapolis 500 fully sanctioned by the Indy Racing League after the IRL relied on USAC to sanction the 1996–1997 races...	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993...	Oldsmobile Oldsmobile Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...	25th	25th
1999 1999 Indianapolis 500 The 1999 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 30, 1999.-Recap:Robby Gordon and Team Menard take a major gamble late in the race, and try to stretch their fuel for the win. Gordon had last pit on lap 164, and attempted to run the final 36 laps on one tank...	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993...	Oldsmobile Oldsmobile Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...	30th	32nd
2000 2000 Indianapolis 500 The 2000 Indianapolis 500 was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 28, 2000.-Recap:Chip Ganassi Racing became the first regular CART series team to break ranks and compete at Indianapolis since the CART/IRL split in 1996, entering 1996 CART series champion Jimmy Vasser and reigning...	G-Force Panoz Panoz Auto Development is an American manufacturer of high-performance automobiles founded in 1989 by Dan Panoz, son of pharmaceutical and motorsport mogul Don Panoz. The company is located in Braselton, GA. Panoz products have included the Panoz Roadster and AIV Roadster, and the Panoz Esperante...	Oldsmobile Oldsmobile Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...	30th	22nd

External links

• Johnny Unser at ChampCarStats.com