The third son of Jerry and Mary Unser, born in 1934, Bobby (Robert William) Unser began his racing career driving his father’s cars in the annual Mexican road race at age 15 and by the time he was 18 he was winning races and championships. His goal in his early days of racing was to win at Pike’s Peak. He accomplished this at the young age of 22 in 1956.
Bobby then pursued a wider range of racing and became known as an outstanding Sprint car driver. He learned to fly airplanes in order to get to distant races quickly. Bobby made his first trip to Indy in 1963, and had his first win there in 1968. He went on to win the Indy 500 in ’75 and ’81 as well. He was a 2-time USAC-CART national champion (1968, 1974) and ranks 5th on all-time CART list with 35 career wins. Bobby was the father of two sons, Bobby Jr. and Robby, and two daughters, Cindy and Jeri.
After retiring from Indycar driving in 1982, Bobby did developmental work for Audi, lapping one at 206.8 MPH. And in 1986, after a 12 year absence from the Pike’s Peak race, he won his event for the tenth time driving an Audi Quattro, breaking the tie he had with Uncle Louis for nine overall victories apiece. The 1986 win brought Bobby’s total number of Pike’s Peak victories to 13, including two stock car class victories (1969 and 1974) and a single sports car class win (1963).
Bobby continued to pursue his interests with energy and passion. He was a commentator for ABC television at many Indycar races and in 2003 he published a book, “Winners are Driven: A Champion’s Guide to Success in Business and Life”.
The last few laps of Bobby’s life were difficult, beset with mechanical problems, but in true “Uncle” Bobby fashion he finished his final race in high gear, a champion to the end. Bobby passed away in 2021 at the age of 87.
