April 30, 2001 -
NEW YORK -- Al Unser Jr., who just competed in last week's zMAX 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, continued his conversation with NYAutoRacing's Kevin Ma about his current progress with Galles Racing team, and the safety aspect of open wheel racing after a horrific accident in Atlanta, where all drivers walked away from serious injuries after the drama.
KEVIN MA: First of all, welcome to New York. Let's talk about the accident last Saturday night in Atlanta. How did you see it?
AL UNSER Jr.: Gosh. I mean accidents happen and we do everything we can to make the car safer. I think going out and using your head while you're driving and being sensible about things. You know, you've been doing everything you can to make that, but you are still pushing the envelope because you are in the race, and you are still trying to go as fast as you can, so accidents happen, mistakes are made, and so on. You know really what triggered off the accident Saturday night down in Atlanta was there was an engine failure of the guy that was in front of the pack, and it was Cory Witherill, who is out in front and then [Felipe] Giaffone and then myself, and then Dr. Jack Miller, he is behind me. So really, it was Cory Witherill's car quit for whatever reasons and he slowed drastically and then we all started slowing down and by the time we got back to Jack he was the fourth car in line, it was too late for him and it just started a chain reaction and collected a bunch of guys. It was one of the things that is going to happen when you are trying get around side-by-side in a pack of cars. If somebody bobbles on the front of that pack, he is going to take everybody with him. Basically that's what happened.
KM: It was Witherill's first race in the IRL. Did inexperience play a part of it?
AU: Well, not that it happened all of the sudden. He was doing good until that point, his engine just quit, so there was nothing to do with him; it wasn't his fault of anything like that. I mean the engine quit in the middle of the turn it is going to stop and everybody is going to get checked-up, that is basically what happened.
KM: Could this kind of frightening accident being avoided in the future?
AU: I don't think so. It is something that nobody ever wishes will happen and no one ever wants it happen at all. It is just one of those things – we now have cables on the suspension pieces and onto the wheels to make sure they don't go off into the crowd. As far as I know there was no debris leaving the track at all, they were all contained within the racing surfaces, so the cables did their job and the fencing did its job. As bad as the accident that happened down there, everything that was designed for safety came in the play and it worked. There was no debris up in the stand, none of the drivers were hurt, except for the concussion that Dr. Jack had. He flipped a lot of times, he is going to get out of that car with a little beanie head to begin with, but on and off I think everything went off well.
KM: What are the safety developments, in terms of car and track safety, that have taken place in recent years?
AU: There has been a lot being done actually -- they are spending a lot of time around the head area, and coming up with restraints as we go forward, and crushable materials for the sides and the back of the head, and with the cables on all the suspensions pieces and other pieces trying to keep them intact with the car, they come out with better and taller fencing, not only taller in height, but it's also angled in into the track and reaches out over the track by a lot further than we had in the past, all of the things worked really well the other night.
KM: There were many talks about the HANS device recently. Did it play a part of it during Saturday's accident?
AU: The HANS device, I don't know if anybody had one on because it was not mandatory in the IRL, and myself, I didn't have one on and I don't know if any of the drivers had one on. The HANS device really is a good device, I think the safety aspect of it is very good. I haven't put one on yet because I haven't really found one is comfortable yet. They can still allow me to do my job out there, so we keep trying new things and see what happens.
KM: How important to have the sanctioning body stepping up and take action in terms of safety?
AU: It is very important for the sanctioning body to always be on top of safety, not only to the drivers but also the crews in the pits and garage areas also. The sanctioning body has the key role in overseeing how safe it is out there for everybody, I feel that most sanctioning bodies out there – you can take drag racing, NASCAR, CART or IRL, the World of Outlaws, Sprint Car Racing, all of these sanctioning bodies, the first thing they are concerned about is the safety of the competitors and the fans, and they are happy with it then they think about the show, the rules for the cars, how fast they should go and all sorts of things. My personal opinion is sanctioning bodies of all the top organizations in the world, they are on it big time because safety definitely comes before anything else.
KM: Speaking of safety, CART cancelled its race at Texas Motor Speedway due to incredible speed of the cars running on the 1.5-mile oval. What's your thought on that? Was it too late to call off the race on CART's behalf?
AU: I think they should have done it way earlier than Sunday morning. I applaud the drivers for standing up and saying it is too fast, and we are not going to run. I think they had every right to be doing that because those cars should not be on that circuit with they way their formula is. They definitely did a good job standing up and said they are not going to play today, and because they were going too fast. Really, what should have happened, it completely falls on CART's shoulders, that they should've done most testing, they should've done it with other teams, they should' ve taken more of an interest and thought more about it before they show up down there. About the speed that they are going to run – CART is a great sanctioning body and there is nothing wrong with CART, safety-wise that I am talking about. I've known the sanctioning body for a very long time with smart people over there, but they really didn't take the time to figure out how fast they would actually go there. They should've done their homework better.
KM: CART tried to lower the boost and increase the wicker bill on the rear wing Sunday morning, was it simply a quick-fix action?
AU: It wouldn't get the job done. You can come up with quick fixes that is going to knock off 20 mph, and that's what they needed to do, they needed to get rid of 20 mph, and really the only way there are going to able to do that is put big wings on the car, or take away a lot of horsepower and reconfigure their engines, and/or both of those things. I truly believe, Tony George and his vision has come through. His formula is, to put single-seat open-wheel racing on the ovals in America, basically the same track NASCAR runs at, and put on a good, safe, competitive show for everybody involved – the fans, the competitors the crews, everything. And I think his formula has come out true because our cars can go to Texas, our cars can go to Atlanta and they can race fast, competitively and safely.
KM: Moving on to the 500. Michael Andretti is returning to Indy 500 this year.
AU: Yeah he is.
KM: He recently mentioned on TV where he wants you to join him on the podium, but he would finish first and have you finish second.
AU: [Laugh] Likewise I want Mikey to be second too! But what can I say, Michael Andretti is a great race car driver who has had plenty of opportunities to win the 500, something went wrong that is out of his control, then the political war came into it, and we were all cheated out of the Indy 500 for five years, and it was political. I don't think the blame should have been laid anywhere, I just think the outcome is, there are some great crews, great drivers and great teams, that missed the opportunity to compete in the Indy 500. Now, things have settled a little bit, Penske is coming back, Michael Andretti is coming back, Arie Luyendyk has decided to come out of retirement, I think it is great. The more these guys have decided to do that, the better the Indy 500 is going to be. It is the greatest spectacle in racing anyway, no matter who comes in, no matter what the drivers' names are, the talent is going to be there for the win, it's about who work the hardest and so on and so forth, I think it is wonderful and I want everybody to be there. Quite frankly, I think the best is already there.
KM: Let's talk about the ongoing conflicts between CART and IRL. Do you think the engine side would find a solution, to have a formula where both series can get back together?
AU: I don't know. I don't know where the engine rule lies and all that sort of thing. Again, I am just a driver in the series, so I hope that they can get it together because they need to get underneath one umbrella, and the single seat open wheel racing in America, it is going to be tough for them to do because of the cost of a road racing car is quite a lot higher than the cars for ovals.
KM: Indy 500 is around the corner. Galles Racing hasn't been great in qualifying in the first three races, how does the team prepare for the all-important qualifying session in May?
AU: Well, what can I say. We went from one car to three cars, and it affected the team. We need to be prepared better than we are right now to get out there. But with all the practice and everything, we got set back for a little bit because of the accident that happened down in Atlanta, so hopefully we will be able to come back with barrels loaded and do the job.
KM: Is it going to be a tighter race this year?
AU: It is definitely going to be a tighter race this year. More guys are going to get the most out of their equipment and there are more teams that have the cars capable to do that, so it is going to be very competitive.
KM: Casey Mears cannot be here in New York due to the accident in Atlanta last Saturday. I have some questions for him, can you answer some of them on his behalf?
AU: [Laugh] I can't speak for Casey, but I'll try.
KM: How important was it for Casey to race in last year's CART finale at Fontana, where it was a 500 mile super speedway race? Do you think he gained the necessary experience and will be able to translate it in the upcoming Indy 500?
AU: Definitely. The experience that Casey got in the CART race at Fontana is definitely beneficial to him for the 500 miles in Indy, and also just oval racing in general. The more you do, the more you learn, the better you are on the ovals. Really, it is more mental than anything else because the speed you consistently running in high speed, and track [condition] changes and it affects you because you are going that kind of speed. The road course [track condition] changes a little bit it really doesn't make that much of a difference. [In Casey Mears' case], the more experience you get, the better off you can be.
KM: Casey's had a great fourth place finish for Team Rahal at the Fontana race. He was very patient during the whole race where at one point he was a lap down, but he got his lap back and came back strong. How important is it to have the patience when you race in a 500-mile race?
AU: It is very important to know when to go fast, when to risk everything in a race, you have to have the patience to know when not to risk everything and run the laps. If you car is not very well, then give what you can to the next pit stop. Casey definitely showed great maturity the way he did that [In the 500-mile race at Fontana]
KM: What do you see when you think about open-wheel racing in the future?
AU: The future is, I believe is Tony George's vision of close, competitive open-wheel racing that has the level playing field that you don't have to have a ton of money to be capable in winning the series, so I think Tony came up with a great formula, I think it is working well, and will work well into the future.
