Bobby Unser by Johnny Rutherford

Bobby Unser (1934-2021) was a legendary American race driver. He was a three-time Indianapolis 500 winner (1968, 1975, 1981), a two-time USAC champion (1968 and 1974) and a ten-time winner of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb.

Johnny Rutherford remembers: “Bobby Unser was very good, bless his heart. He and I came together at the Speedway in 1963. He was a rookie. On the second or third lap he crashed in the first turn. But he was good.”

“It’s kind of funny, after the 1975 race I was interviewed and said if it hadn’t rained, I would have won the race. Oh Bobby was upset at that. He was mad. He let it be known.”

“The next year, we were at a Goodyear party and Bobby was there and he talked and said he was glad to win and so forth. I got up and said, ‘Next year, five years, 10 years and 20 years, if you look at the record books, it will say Bobby Unser is the winner. That’s the way it was.’ We walked down pit lane and I felt this hand on my shoulder. He looked at me and shook me and that was it. We were good friends again.”

Picture below: Bobby Unser in the Eagle-Offenhauser, at the rain-shortened 1975 (after 435 miles) Indianapolis 500, winner.