Louis Unser Jr. (March 16, 1896 – October 18, 1979) was an American

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

. He was the patriarch of the

Unser family Unser is a surname, and may refer to: People with the name * The Unser family, a prominent family of American auto racing drivers: ** First generation: *** Louis Unser (1896-1979), a nine-time winner of the Pikes Peak Hillclimb. ** Second generatio ...

of American auto racers. He was renowned for his hill-climbing career, winning the

Pikes Peak Hill Climb The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), also known as The Race to the Clouds, is an annual automobile hillclimb to the summit of Pikes Peak in the U.S. state of Colorado. The track measures and has over 156 turns, climbing ...

nine times between 1934 and 1953.

Oldest Indy car driver

Unser is officially the oldest ever

Indy car 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 5 ...

driver to have started a race. He raced the 1965 Pikes Peak Hill Climb at the age of 69 years 3 months and 19 days, however his record is often given to

A. J. Foyt Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American former racing driver who competed in numerous disciplines of motorsport. He is best known for his open wheel racing career, and for becoming the first four-time winner of the India ...

, who competed in the

1992 Indianapolis 500 The 76th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on Sunday, May 24, 1992. The race is famous for the fierce battle in the closing laps, as race winner Al Unser Jr. held off second place Scott Goodyear f ...

at the age of 57 years 4 months and 8 days. Unser is also the oldest Indy car winner. He won the 1953 Pikes Peak Hill Climb at the age of 57 years 5 months and 22 days, however his record is often given to

Mario Andretti Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an American former racing driver and businessman, who competed in Formula One from to , and American open-wheel racing, IndyCar from 1964 USAC Championship Car season, 1964 to 1994 IndyCar se ...

, who won at Phoenix in 1993 at the age of 53 years 1 month and 7 days.

Burial

Unser is buried at the Fairview Cemetery in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

Awards and honors

Pikes Peak Hill Climb Museum The Pikes Peak Hill Climb Museum (PPHCM) is an American non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and serves to promote and develop educational awareness of advancements in motorsports technology and automotive engineering while maintaining and preservin ...

Hall of Fame (1997) *

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is a hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles ...

(2025)

Motorsports career results

AAA Championship Car results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

References