Editing Al Unser (section)

===USAC and Indycar===
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He began racing in 1957, at age 18, initially competing primarily in modified roadsters, sprint cars and midgets. In 1965 he raced in the [[Indianapolis 500]] for the first time and finished ninth. His breakout year in IndyCar's was in 1970 when he joined [[Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing]], where he would drive for the next seven years.

He won the Indianapolis 500 in 1970, two years after his brother, Bobby. During the race, he led for all but ten of the 200 laps and averaged {{convert|155.749|mi/h|km/h}}. His quick pit stops were a factor in the victory, as well as the fact that VPJ had an insurmountable advantage over the field that year. That season, he won a record ten times on oval, road and dirt tracks to capture the [[United States Auto Club]] national championship. Unser competed in USAC's Stock Car division in 1967, and was the series Rookie of the Year.

In 1971, with Vel's Parnelli Jones, he won the Indianapolis 500 again, starting from the fifth position with an average speed of {{convert|157.735|mph}}, and holding off [[Peter Revson]]'s McLaren for the victory. Unser's bid to become the first three-time consecutive Indy 500 champion was thwarted when he finished second to [[Mark Donohue]] in the [[1972 Indianapolis 500]]. Unser would continue driving for the team up until 1977. During a few of those years, VPJ lost their competitive edge after changing their chassis, as well as their failed F1 bid. By 1977, the team regained competitive form, although Unser would announce his departure for [[Jim Hall (racing driver)|Jim Hall Racing]] at year's end. Unser would later say, in a 2020 interview, that his departure from VPJ stemmed from disagreements with Jones and his partners over the direction of the team, although Unser maintained a friendship with Jones.

Despite starting the [[1978 Indianapolis 500]] from the fifth position in a First National City Travelers Checks [[Chaparral Cars|Chaparral]] [[Lola Cars|Lola]], Unser's car was considered before the race to be a second-tier entry at best, if not an outright long shot to win. Moving to the front of the field for the first time on lap 75, he and opponent [[Danny Ongais]] engaged in an on-again off-again duel for 75 more laps, before an engine failure on Ongais' car on lap 150 allowed Unser to assume a commanding 35 second lead. Although suffering right front-wing misalignment due to impacting a tire on his final pit stop, a situation that led to the lead shrinking steadily over the race's final 20 laps, it nevertheless proved wide enough for victory by nine seconds to spare at the checkered flag.  Unser's race average speed of {{convert|161.363|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on}} ranked as the then-second fastest ever run (one mile per hour less than the then-1972 record), and would not itself be topped for second for four more years.

In 1979, Unser departed Jim Hall's team for the Longhorn Racing Team owned by Bobby Hillin Sr.. Although Unser went winless for three seasons, he would later say that driving for the Hillin family was his most joyful experience as a driver before his successful Penske years. The team folded operations after three years, putting Unser out of a ride.

In the 1983 season, Unser joined [[Team Penske]] and drove for four years in a Penske-owned car. Unser controlled the late stages of the [[1983 Indianapolis 500]], leading 61 laps. With less than 20 laps to go, Unser got challenges from [[Tom Sneva]] who led the most laps. With help from [[Al Unser Jr.|his son]] - who was several laps down - Unser began pulling away from Sneva. However Sneva got by Al Jr., and set sail for Unser Sr.. Sneva caught up to Unser within one lap of passing Al Jr., and passed him to retake the lead with nine laps to go. Sneva then easily pulled away to win the race by 11 seconds, avenging his firing from the team in 1978. After the race, Unser Jr. was penalized two laps for his actions as well as having passed two cars under caution on lap 170.

[[File:President Ronald Reagan during a photo op with Al Unser Jr., Bobby Unser, Al Unser Sr., Karen Unser, Shelley Unser, and Marsha Unser.jpg|thumb|right|Unser (center, holding helmet) visiting United States president [[Ronald Reagan]] in January 1986 along with his wife Karen, his brother [[Bobby Unser]] and his wife, and his son [[Al Unser Jr.]] and his wife.]]
Unser won the IndyCar championships in 1983 and 1985 by winning one race and then having several top-five finishes. In 1986, Penske decided to focus the team's attention on teammate [[Rick Mears]] when he healed from serious injuries. As a result, Unser cut down his schedule to only a few IndyCar races a year, which he would do going forward.