Unser Wants to Be There at End

INDIANAPOLIS —  Al Unser Jr. knows how to win the Indianapolis 500, having reached victory circle in 1992 and 1994. But this year, his primary goal is more modest.

“Starting where I’m starting, the whole objective is to finish,” said Unser, who at 44 came out of retirement to drive the race once more today. He qualified 27th in the 33-car field.

“That’s going to be on my mind when the green flag falls and we all go into Turn 1,” he said. “Those first couple of laps are all about getting through without any incident and then start running the race.”

“Little Al,” son of four-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser, outlined the rest of his approach:

“We’re going to have to be real sharp on our pit stops, real sharp on our strategy and we’re going to have a lot of luck as far as the yellow [flags] falling in the right place. Meaning, before the leaders lap me, the yellow needs to come out.

“As fast as the top four are running and as fast as I’m running, it could possibly happen before our first stop,” said Unser, whose average qualifying speed was 219.388 mph, compared with pole-sitter Sam Hornish Jr., who qualified at 228.985 mph for Marlboro Team Penske.

“That would be a bummer for me,” Unser said.

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Another driver hoping to quickly move up from the rear is Torrance native P.J. Jones, son of racing legend and 1963 Indy 500 winner Parnelli Jones.

Jones starts 32nd after qualifying at 215.816 mph, and he conceded that “we’re definitely in an underdog situation.”

“If it’s an all-out speed race, were not going to beat the [Roger] Penske or [Chip] Ganassi cars,” he said. “But if gets hot or slick and people start making mistakes, and if we can stay focused and keep our car handling in those conditions and not make mistakes, I think it’s conceivable we could steal a top-10 [finish].”

“That would be a success for us,” he said, adding that his father will be here for support.

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Unser is the most experienced driver in the field, with 17 previous Indy 500 starts.

Michael Andretti, who also came out of retirement and is starting 13th, has led 426 career laps in the race, more than any other driver here this year. But he has never won the Indy 500.