Johnny Unser (born October 22, 1958) is an American former race car driver and current race steward for the

USF Juniors The USF Juniors championship, also known as USF Juniors presented by Continental Tire for sponsorship reasons, is an American auto racing series running with U.S. F2000 National Championship, USF2000 cars (as of 2023). The series was inaugurated ...

series. He is the son of open wheel driver Jerry Unser Jr., cousin of Al Unser Jr. and Robby Unser, nephew of

Al Unser Alfred Unser (May 29, 1939 – December 9, 2021) was an American automobile racing driver, the younger brother of fellow racing drivers Jerry and Bobby Unser, and father of Al Unser Jr. He was the second of four men ( A. J. Foyt, himself, Ri ...

and

Bobby Unser Robert William Unser (February 20, 1934 – May 2, 2021) was an American automobile racer. At his induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1994, he had the fourth most IndyCar Series wins at 35 (behind his brother Al Unser, Al, A ...

, and first cousin once removed of Alfred Unser. Unser's father, Jerry, died in a racing accident when Unser was seven months old. He made 5 starts in

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs. A handcart ...

in 1993 and 1994 with a best result of 15th. He joined the

Indy Racing League IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two Auto racing, racing series: the premier IndyCar Serie ...

in its inaugural

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

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

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

and was not credited with completing any laps. In

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

he made his first start in the Indy 500 starting in the 35th position after League and Speedway owner

Tony George Anton Hulman "Tony" George (born December 30, 1959) is the former Chairman, 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. ...

added his and Lyn St. James' 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 and in his 14 career IRL starts he had a best finish of 9th in his first series start in 1996 at

Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix Raceway (formerly known as ISM Raceway from 2018–2020, Phoenix International Raceway from 1964–1973 and 1976–2017, and FasTrack International Speedway from 1973–1976) is a dogleg oval track in Avondale, Arizona. The track has ...

. His last major open wheel race was the

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Indy 500. On January 14 2008 Johnny Unser was named as the race director for the 2008 Champ Car Atlantic Championship.Johnny Unser named Atlantic Race Director
TSN.ca, January 14, 2008 He is currently a driver coach and adviser to the Mazda Road to Indy and racing adviser and spokesman for

Cooper Tire Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is an American company that specializes in the design, manufacture, marketing, and sales of replacement automobile and truck tires, and has subsidiaries that specialize in medium truck, motorcycle, and racing tires. W ...

. He is an official for

Indycar IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis ...

in Race Control and is also the owner of Unser Racing, Karting and Entertainment track in Denver, Colorado.

Racing record

American Open Wheel

( key)

CART

IndyCar

Indianapolis 500 results

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

Johnny Unser at ChampCarStats.com
1958 births American people of Swiss-German descent 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Champ Car drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers IndyCar Series drivers Living people Sportspeople from Long Beach, California Racing drivers from California Unser family {{US-autoracing-bio-stub Dale Coyne Racing drivers