Q 6

PLAYBOY: Was there ever any kind of head-to-head confrontation between the two of you? It's not uncommon for teenaged sons to tell their fathers to fuck off.

Al Unser, Sr.: No, never. I wish there had been, because I would have knocked the shit out of him. I can go back to my own father, who did the same thing to me.

Q 7

PLAYBOY: When he was young, could you really see Little A as potentially a great racer, equal to yourself? His progression to faster and faster cars--from sprints to a SuperVee Championship, the Can-Am Championship a year later, then Indy cars at the age of 21--has been extraordinary.

Al Unser, Sr.: To a certain extent, yes. But he's come along so quickly--and it usually doesn't happen that way. Many drivers have the ability but not the smartness, and Al, you see, has rarely gotten himself into trouble. Myself, I didn't reach that until I was 30 or 32, maybe. I was still pulling stupid deals, and my brother pulled them until he finally won Indy.

Q 8

PLAYBOY: Were there problems when you and Bobby ran against each other, especially early on, when the two of you were "pulling stupid deals"?

Al Unser, Sr.: I always wanted to outrun my brother, but Bobby was five years ahead of me, so at first, he was in another class. I didn't sit back and say, "I'm going to let him win because he's my brother," though--no way. None of us has ever done that, just as we haven't let ourselves get carried away, either. That's what makes a racing driver: controlling yourself, knowing where the limit is. It's not fear; it's experience. You learn to tell yourself, "I've extended myself far enough. If I go any further, I'm going to wreck the car."

Q 9

PLAYBOY: Fire, mechanical failure, another competitor's losing control in front of you--these are the commonly cited dangers of running at today's superspeedways. Which one troubles you the most? How do you reconcile that with the need for being in control?

Al Unser, Jr.: Call it the law of averages--it's gonna get you. You're racing wheel to wheel, and pretty soon you're gonna hit one of those wheels, whatever the circumstances. You live with it and hope it doesn't happen, at the same time doing everything in your ability to keep it from happening. But that's what's most dangerous about everyday driving, too--the other guy hitting you. You have to drive defensively. And you're on guard with everybody. As much as I trust Dad, we may be going into a corner and his car may not be working as well as mine. So you really have to stay on your toes with everyone.

Q 10

PLAYBOY: What's that special quality in race drivers--talent, anticipation, judgment?

Al Unser, Sr.: It's something you can't teach. It's the ability to know what's going on around you and, simultaneously, to know where you're at. It's a form of concentration, I suppose--the ability to take things in.

Q 11

PLAYBOY: Foyt said of Indy, "The cars are going too fast. You're going down the straightaway at over 200 mph, and if something happens in front of you, boy, school's out." Are the cars going too fast? Has technology eclipsed the capabilities of even the best drivers?

Al Unser, Sr.: In 1960, Parnelli Jones ran 150 mph at the speedway. Now we're at 215. The race track has stayed the same, there's the same banking, yet the cars are safer and easier to drive today than five years ago. If we were to jump from today's race car into Parnelli's 150-mph front-engine dinosaur, it'd scare you so bad, you'd be saying, "I don't know how he did it."

Al Unser, Jr.: I can't tell the difference between 180 and 210.

Q 12

PLAYBOY: How phenomenal was Danny Sullivan's recovering from his spin at Indy last year, regaining control at 200 mph and going on to win?

Al Unser, Jr.: How many times have you seen that done? That's how phenomenal it was, a real fluke. And Sully would sit here and tell you the same thing.