AP News, May 18th, 2007
Al Unser Jr. laughed when he was asked if he would be nervous before going out to qualify Saturday for the Indianapolis 500. Unser is among about 13 drivers expected to compete for the 11 positions remaining in the 33-car field for the May 27 race.
"Heck, that's the least of my worries right now," said Unser, bumped from the lineup last Sunday, the second of four days of time trials. "I think we'll be just fine."
Most important right now to the 45-year-old two-time Indy winner is that he remains clean and sober.
"I've been down a long road with alcoholism," Unser said Friday, "It's 113 days today, the longest I've been without a drink since I was 16. I feel like I'm in my 20s. As the days go by, it feels better and better."
In 2002, Unser first underwent treatment for alcohol abuse after his girlfriend _ now his wife _ said he hit her in the face while drunk in Indianapolis. Prosecutors did not file charges against him in that case.
"I went 56 days without a drink after that," Unser said. "Even though I learned what I learned in that rehab, I refused to believe it. It finally overcame me again."
The relapse got Unser in trouble again.
He faces a trial July 11 after entering a not guilty plea to charges that include driving under the influence, misdemeanor hit and run, failure to render aid in an accident and failure to report an accident, all the result of a January crash in Henderson, Nev.
Wife Gina urged Unser to seek medical help and that, in turn, has led to a renewed commitment to recovery.
To give himself an even stronger sense of purpose, Unser has joined forces with a national initiative, "LIVE outside the bottle," that educates the public about the need for addressing and treating alcoholism.
"I definitely want to help," he said. "This program teaches people what alcoholism is, first of all, and it motivates them to get help. I really believe I can help people on a large scale.
"I'm just so happy, and I'm living proof you can live outside the bottle."
Unser said it was just a happy coincidence that he got a call from team owner A.J. Foyt about 30 days into his sobriety.
"I wanted to drive, but I really hadn't contacted anybody through the winter months," Unser said. "Than that (legal) issue I had in Nevada came up and I thought, 'That's it for '07.'
"At that point, I knew I had to come to grips with it. I said, 'I've got to come out of it, treat this disease seriously and admit I can't pick up one more drink.' I started down that road and, blam, A.J. Foyt calls me."
Foyt, a five-time Indy winner _ four as a driver and one as a team owner _ is celebrating his 50th anniversary at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He asked Unser to drive his second car here, joining the team's full-time driver, Darren Manning.
Manning qualified 15th among the 22 drivers who earned tentative spots in the race lineup last weekend. Unser, a two-time Indy winner trying to earn his 19th start in the 500, posted a 10-mile, four-lap qualifying speed of 220.963 mph that was later bumped by a faster car.
John Andretti, who got his ride with Panther Racing this week, was the fastest of the non-qualified drivers on Friday at 222.830, good for ninth overall. Unser was fifth among the non-qualified drivers with a top lap of 220.344 in Friday's practice.
Once the field is filled, the slowest cars can still be ousted by faster qualifiers until time trials end Sunday afternoon. But Unser said he is confident his car will be fast enough to make the lineup.
"We want to be 27th or higher on the grid and I think we can do that easily," Unser said. "We don't want to be in those last six spots because the last six could be bumped."
Thirty-one drivers made it onto the track Friday, the final full day of practice this month. Defending race winner Sam Hornish Jr. led the way at 225.006, followed by Scott Dixon at 224.458, Tony Kanaan at 224.340 and Dario Franchitti at 224.253. Pole-winner and two-time Indy winner Helio Castroneves was seventh at 223.212. All of them were among the first-week qualifiers.
Drivers hoping to qualify this weekend include Andretti, a seven-time starter who hasn't been in the race since 1994, rookie Milka Duno, trying to become the third woman in the field, twice-bumped John Herb, Jaques Lazier, Roger Yasukawa, Marty Roth, P.J. Jones, rookie Phil Giebler, Jimmy Kite, Alex Barron and Roberto Moreno. Several others were still searching for rides on Friday.
Barron and Moreno, picked to replace the injured Stephan Gregoire, were hired Friday. Barron got on the track for a handful of laps, but Moreno was not scheduled to make it onto the 2.5-mile oval until Saturday morning.
