Auto Week question: You win the race in 1981 after one of the most controversial race days in Indy 500 history. You finish first, but the win is taken away and handed to Mario Andretti because you passed cars under caution.
Then the next day, the call is reversed and you regain the win. Does all that still stick out for you?
Bobby Unser reply: It stuck in me for a long time -- really hard.
Mario was one of my very closest friends. He was hard to beat. He went fast.
But he cheated by saying I passed all those cars, which I damn sure did. He passed them all, too!
It turns out I was totally right. It was legal. But Mario got excited seeing me get away like that.
I was going to beat him. I had passed him three or four times in the race. My car was faster than any of the other cars. Jackie Stewart talked about it on TV and said what I did was illegal.
That stirred it up. If Bobby was wrong, how could Mario be right? It was all on tape.
My recent hospital stay was bad, for four or five days, it was pretty close. Guess who I got a phone call from?
First time since 1981, from Mario. He just wanted to talk.
It went really good. I hate to say it, but I’m a hard person. I know that. I can be pretty ornery.
But I got a tear in my eye. I really did. He knows I like him. He knows how close we used to be. We used to room together on the road.
You can’t believe how much better it made me feel talking to him. I hadn’t talked to him in so many years, I didn’t recognize his voice.
I asked who it was. He said, “Damn it, it’s me, Mario.”
You know, I don’t need another car or another airplane. Talking to Mario did me good. It was good for my health. Got me over some of the grudge I had.
http://autoweek.com/article/indycar/inside-unserville-visit-racing-legend-bobby-unser-his-home-albuquerque
Then the next day, the call is reversed and you regain the win. Does all that still stick out for you?
Bobby Unser reply: It stuck in me for a long time -- really hard.
Mario was one of my very closest friends. He was hard to beat. He went fast.
But he cheated by saying I passed all those cars, which I damn sure did. He passed them all, too!
It turns out I was totally right. It was legal. But Mario got excited seeing me get away like that.
I was going to beat him. I had passed him three or four times in the race. My car was faster than any of the other cars. Jackie Stewart talked about it on TV and said what I did was illegal.
That stirred it up. If Bobby was wrong, how could Mario be right? It was all on tape.
My recent hospital stay was bad, for four or five days, it was pretty close. Guess who I got a phone call from?
First time since 1981, from Mario. He just wanted to talk.
It went really good. I hate to say it, but I’m a hard person. I know that. I can be pretty ornery.
But I got a tear in my eye. I really did. He knows I like him. He knows how close we used to be. We used to room together on the road.
You can’t believe how much better it made me feel talking to him. I hadn’t talked to him in so many years, I didn’t recognize his voice.
I asked who it was. He said, “Damn it, it’s me, Mario.”
You know, I don’t need another car or another airplane. Talking to Mario did me good. It was good for my health. Got me over some of the grudge I had.
http://autoweek.com/article/indycar/inside-unserville-visit-racing-legend-bobby-unser-his-home-albuquerque
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