Alfred Richard Unser^[1][2] (born October 23, 1982) is an American former professional race car driver. Unser has competed in the Indy Lights series and Toyota Atlantics Championship. He is part of the fourth generation of the Unser family.

Quick Facts Alfred Richard Unser, Nationality ...

Alfred Richard Unser
Nationality	American
Born	(1982-10-23) October 23, 1982 (age 41) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Related to	Al Unser Jr. (father) Al Unser Sr. (grandfather) Bobby Unser (great-uncle) Jerry Unser Jr. (great-uncle) Robby Unser (first cousin once removed) Louis Unser (great-grandfather)
Indy Lights career
Debut season	2004
Former teams	Vision Racing Brian Stewart Racing Playa Del Racing American Dream Motorsports
Starts	20
Wins	0
Poles	1
Best finish	8th in 2004
Previous series
2004–2006	Atlantic Championship

Close

Al Richard Unser is the son of Al Unser Jr., and grandson of Al Unser Sr. Due to his family connections in auto racing, he has sometimes been known as "Al Unser III" or "Just Al." He is currently a Realtor in Albuquerque at Coldwell Banker Legacy.

Al Richard Unser is the son of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr., grandson of four-time Indy winner Al Unser Sr., and grandnephew of three-time Indy winner Bobby Unser. Another granduncle, Jerry Unser, drove in the 1958 race but died from injuries suffered in a crash in 1959.

First-cousins-once-removed (Al Unser Jr.'s cousins) Robby and Johnny also drove in the Indianapolis 500. Often considered the third generation of the famous Unser racing family, Al Richard Unser is technically the fourth generation of racers to come out of the family. His great-grandfather Jerry Sr., and Jerry's brother Louis, also were racers, but neither drove in the Indianapolis 500.

During his young childhood years, he was often nicknamed "Mini Al" by the media and fans,^[1][2] all with the expectation that he might follow in his family's footsteps to race professionally. However, as a child, Unser had reservations about becoming a race car driver.^[3][4] For superstitious reasons, his father (Al Unser Jr.) insisted he not be named with the suffix "III".^[1][2] By that time both Al Sr. and Al Jr. were stars on the Indy car circuit. Al Sr. was becoming known by the nickname "Big Al." Al Jr. for a time was known as "Little Al," thus Al Richard Unser became known for a time as "Mini Al."

As he got older and reached his teenage years, he decided to eschew the "Mini" nickname, and became known as "Just Al." When starting his professional career, he abandoned any sort of nickname, and has insisted on being referred to as Just Al (i.e., Al Unser), or by his full name, Al Richard Unser.

His first widely-noticed television appearance was at the 1992 Indianapolis 500 at age nine when his father won the race. Unser was seen greeting his father in victory circle. He also posed in official photos with his father and grandfather when Al Jr. won the Indy 500 for the second time in 1994. Unser guest-starred on an episode of Home Improvement alongside his father and grandfather in 1997.^[5]

Al Richard Unser began driving go karts at age ten, but stopped racing until after earning his driver's license at age sixteen. After attending driving schools, Unser competed in the Skip Barber Western Racing Series in 2002, winning six races and earning "Rookie of the Year" honors. A year later, he posted four top-ten finishes in the 2003 Barber Dodge Pro Series.