Team Speedway’s Robby Unser and Al Unser Jr. put on a show for the hot rod fans Friday at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in the opening day of autocross action at the 15th annual Goodguys’ Meguiar’s Del Mar Nationals.
The two cousins of the legendary Unser racing family from New Mexico drove the 1965 Team Speedway Chevrolet Nova through its paces in front of a large Friday crowd enjoying the sun and incredible display of hot rods in the three-day spectacular north of San Diego.
The popular Team Speedway Chevy Nova was a crowd pleaser through the day and the Unsers kept the fans entertained with sensational wheel-squealing driving over the specially-designed course at the west end of the fairgrounds.
Robby, the nine-time Pikes Peaks Hill Climb champion, led the Team Speedway duo with a time of 59.883 seconds for fifth overall in the autocross pro class Friday. The former IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year had a stellar lap of 59.560 seconds going before his car slid into a course cone which forced a one-second penalty.
“I was upset with myself on that 59.5 (second) run because the car felt very good and I thought I had a chance for the second position in the class,” said the son of the three-time Indy 500 winner Bobby Unser. “You have to be so precise in the course and I just clipped that one cone. We are still working at getting this Team Speedway Nova to handle the way we want. But I think we are improving the car and we’ll have a shot at a good lap on Saturday.”
Al Jr., the 1992 and 1994 Indy 500 winner, is only his third autocross competition in the Chevy Nova but continued to improve his clocking with each run. The two-time IndyCar Series champion recorded a best of 60.800 seconds Friday at Del Mar.
“Wow, I can’t tell you how much fun I am having with the Team Speedway guys and the Chevy Nova,” said Al Jr. “My driving style is a little different than Robby’s but I am getting the hang of this type of competition. These Goodguys’ events are so fun and the people are really neat to talk to about the cars. I’m really enjoying the whole scene.”
Drag racing legend Don “the Snake” Prudhomme also stopped by the Team Speedway trailer Friday to say hi to the Unsers and Carson Smith. In fact, “the Snake” enjoyed the final runs of the day by Robby and Al Jr.