GREAT RIVALRIES: Al Unser Jr. vs Michael Andretti

In the early 1980s, Mario Andretti and Al Unser were still on top of their game, big draws and threats to win any Indy car race. But, looming in their considerable shadows, were their sons, Michael and Al Junior, getting prepped to carry on the tradition and rivalry of two of the most storied families in American racing history. 

The passing of the torch would take until the end of that decade but the rivalry was instantaneous between the second-generation racers, who were immediately formidable and locked in each other's gunsights.

From 1985-2002, they combined to win 76 races, 39 poles, three championships and a pair of Indianapolis 500s.

They were both badasses but with a different approach…eerily similar to their fathers'. Like Mario, Michael was always in top gear, on the attack with the take-no-prisoner mentality. Like Big Al, Junior could grab a race by the throat and run away but usually preferred biding his time before striking.

The hound and the fox chased each around the CART circuit for the better part of 20 years and became two of the most popular, highest paid and successful racers of the 20th century.

What they did not become, however, were enemies. It was a healthy rivalry, just not a mean one. They didn't socialize but they always knew where the other one was on the track. There was a sincere friendship but it was more respectful than the grilling out or going on vacation together. As much as some people longed for a chippy, frosty, wheel-banging atmosphere between them like an A.J./Mario or Rutherford/Johncock, it was never a possibility. They wanted to beat each other, not on each other.

“If there was one driver I wanted to beat every time, it was Michael but that's because he was the fastest guy out there,” says Unser, chuckling at his logic. “Don't get me wrong. Rick (Mears), Bobby (Rahal), (Paul) Tracy, Danny (Sullivan) and Emmo (Emerson Fittipaldi) were all tough. But, day in and day out, Michael was the hardest to beat and it seemed like we were always around each other at the end of the race going for the win.”

Andretti relished racing with his counterpart.

“I always loved racing against Al because he drove hard but fair and we always took care of each other,” says the 1991 CART champion. “He was always one of the guys to beat and we had a good, respectful rivalry. We had a mutual respect from Day 1.”

Unser's first full-time season was 1983 and Michael followed in 1984, yet it took Andretti longer (37 starts) to score his initial CART victory than Little Al (19 starts). And that initial win for Andretti at Long Beach in 1986 was one of the best duels they ever had.

“We went at it for the last 20 laps and he was all over me,” recalls Andretti, who had started seventh in his Kraco Stereo March. “If I'd have made one little mistake I'd have been toast. Al really made me work for it.”   

To which Unser responds: “Oh yeah, I was hunting him hard, especially those final eight laps. He never made a mistake or gave me an opening until the very last hairpin before Shoreline (Drive). He left the door open but I didn't take it, didn't force it and it was kinda cool that he got that first win with me all over his butt. I was proud to make him earn it.”

In 1987, Andretti pipped Unser again at Tamiami Park but they didn't have another 1-2 finish until 1989 when Al got the upper hand at Long Beach. “Mario had owned Long Beach, then Michael came along and then I got going really well there,” he says. “It was nice to be able to trade places with Mikey in '89.”

Despite their prowess, it was hit or miss in the late 1980s: Michael won four races in 1987 and Junior had none while it was Junior 4-0 in 1988. It was 2-1 in favor of Michael in 1989 but it was the dawn of the 1990s when they really started laying down the law.

Junior captured six races and his first title in '90 while Andretti won five times that year and the pair finished 1-2 in the championship. “It was a good battle in '90 with Mikey and we led the most laps and won most of the races,” says Unser. “But we only had one 1-2 finish and that was at Toronto,” says Unser, who wound up on top that afternoon. “I won the title and I think he had several DNFs which obviously helped my cause.”

Andretti suffered a total of 10 DNFs across 1989 and '90 before it all came right in 1991 and he earned his first and only CART crown with eight victories and eight poles. He beat Unser to the checkered flag at Road America and Laguna Seca, but neither were nail-biters.

“Mikey was on a different planet that year,” said Unser, who wound up third in the point standings with two wins.

The galvanizing moment of their rivalry, which also was a microcosm of their careers to some extent, came at Indianapolis in 1992. It was no contest for most of that afternoon, as Andretti led 160 laps and was long gone, turning laps in excess of 229mph. Unser, in second place, was driving his out-manned Galmer chassis for all it was worth but still was a lap behind when Michael broke down 11 laps from the finish.

“My greatest day was Michael's worst one,” says Junior, who staved off Scott Goodyear by a few feet at the checkered flag. “I'd lost a heartbreaker in 1989 so I knew how he felt but I drove as hard as I could that day.”

Andretti, who would lead 431 laps at Indy without ever pulling into Victory Lane, isn't damning his luck anymore than he is trying to embrace it.

“Nothing against Al because he was a great driver but, for whatever reason, it seemed like whenever I had bad luck he was there to capitalize,” says Andretti, who led a staggering 1,136 laps in '92 but finished second in the championship to Bobby Rahal after several unreliability issues with the brand-new but powerful Ford Cosworth engines. “Al and Rahal collected on a lot of my misfortunes but, hey, that's part of racing.”

Following his year in Formula 1, Andretti returned to CART in 1994 and managed to win twice for Chip Ganassi but this time it was Unser and Team Penske (ABOVE) who were the class of the field. Junior took eight wins (including Indianapolis again) and another title.

“Al had a season like I did in '91 and the only two races I won in '94, he had trouble in,” says Andretti.

Their last memorable duel came in 1996 at The Milwaukee Mile.

“Al was dominating that day and I got lucky with a late caution and a restart,” says Michael.

“I was having a helluva run and had a pretty good lead on Michael,” agrees Unser. “But then we had a yellow and that was the year they went to double-file restarts with the lapped cars on the outside row. I remember looking at Michael in my mirror on the restart and figuring the last few laps were going to be a dogfight and then he passed me on the outside of Turn 1 and that was it. I took second, dammit!”

By coincidence, it was in Wisconsin, this time at Road America, when they had their only altercation, in 1995.

“Michael started in front of me but I got a great run on him down that long straightaway and he didn't see me, so he pulled over and we locked wheels,” said Unser. “We were lucky not to get hurt. But it scared the s**t out of both of us!”

Andretti admits: “It was a mistake but nothing intentional. It's pretty amazing – we raced each other hard all those years and only had one incident.”  

As Firestone was flexing its muscle and sidewalls in the mid-'90s, the two veterans were stuck on Goodyears but Michael somehow managed five wins in '96 (second in the title race again) while Unser got shut out as Penske struggled to combat the Reynards and Lolas.

In fact, Junior was shut out of Victory Lane from 1996-'99 before heading to the Indy Racing League where he picked up single wins in 2000, '01 and '03. He and Michael, who scored his final CART win in 2002 at Long Beach before he and his Andretti Green Racing team also switched to the IRL, last competed against each other at Indianapolis in 2007 but by then, each was doing the “500” as a one-off, and neither was truly a factor.

Looking back now at their 20-plus years in Indy car cockpits, we can say that they both handled the pressure of their ancestry flawlessly and carved out their own brand of brilliance.

“I was always aggressive, like dad, and Al drove a lot like his father,” reasons Michael, who led a staggering 6,607 laps of competition to go with 42 wins in his 18 full-time seasons. “I've got nothing but good things to say about Al because he was a great driver and a champion who I always enjoyed racing against.”

Unser, who scored 34 triumphs while leading 3,113 laps on his way two series titles and two “500” wins, figures their heritage helped shape their on-track relationship.

“Because of our fathers, we knew to be extra careful around each other and it showed throughout our careers,” he says. “That didn't mean we didn't race each other hard or didn't want to beat the other guy more than anything, but we had this mutual respect.

“There was nobody I'd rather beat than Mikey but there was also nobody I'd rather run into a corner next to, either."