John William Unser (born October 22, 1958) is an American former race car driver. He is the son of open wheel driver Jerry Unser Jr., cousin of Al Unser Jr. and Robby Unser, nephew of Al Unser and Bobby Unser, 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 five starts in CART in 1993 and 1994 with a best result of fifteenth. He joined the Indy Racing League in its inaugural 1996 season, but had a transmission failure during the pace lap of what would've been his first Indianapolis 500 and was not credited with completing any laps. In 1997, he made his first start in the Indy 500 starting in the 35th position after League and Speedway owner Tony George 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 eighteenth, his best "500" result in five starts. Unser drove the majority of his IRL races for Hemelgarn Racing and in his fourteen career IRL starts he had a best finish of ninth in his first series start in 1996 at Phoenix International Raceway. His last major open wheel race was the 2000 Indy 500.
On January 14, 2008, 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
His daughter Loni Unser is now a racing driver.
Racing record
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 Ref 1993 Dale Coyne RacingSRFPHXLBHINDYMILDETPOR18CLETOR17MICNHA18ROAVAN21MDONAZLS44th0 1994 Dale Coyne RacingSRFPHXDNQLBHDNQINDYMILDNQDETPORCLETORMICMDONHA15VANROANAZLS39th0
IndyCar Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rank Points Ref 1996 Project IndyWDWPHX9INDY33 24th 56 1996-97 Project IndyNHMDNQLVS22WDWPHX 24th 107 Hemelgarn Racing INDY18 LV219 Byrd-Cunningham Racing TXS10PPIR21CLTNH213 1998 Hemelgarn RacingWDWPHXINDY25TXSNHMDOVCLTPPIRATLTX2LVS 40th 5 1999 Hemelgarn RacingWDWPHXCLTCINDY32TXS15PPIR13ATL13DOVPPI2LVS23TX2DNQ 27th 57 2000 Indy Regency RacingWDWPHXLVSINDY22TXSPPIRATLKTYTX2 42nd 8
Indianapolis 500 results Year Chassis Engine Start Finish 1996 Reynard Ford-Cosworth 16th 33rd 1997 Dallara Infiniti 35th 18th 1998 Dallara Oldsmobile 25th 25th 1999 Dallara Oldsmobile 30th 32nd 2000 G-Force Oldsmobile 30th 22nd
24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Callaway Competition Enrico Bertaggia Frank Jelinski Callaway Corvette LMGT2 273 9th 2nd
References
External links Johnny Unser at ChampCarStats.com