Al Unser Jr. Reflects on the Indy 500 Then and Now

While out at Carb Day 2026, Hammer and Nigel got a chance to sit down with two-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser Jr. to talk all things 500!

Unser Jr. talked about everything from weather conditions affecting race day as a driver to incredible advancements in racing technology, noting that the reliability of modern cars is a significant improvement over his racing days. “When I was racing, our engine rebuilds were every 550 miles,” he said. “Today’s engine runs 2,500 miles between rebuilds, and so you very rarely see today engines failing.”

Of course, Unser Jr. wanted to make sure we knew that he and Michael Andretti would have won more races if they had the same level of reliability as modern cars. “We would have won a lot more races, both of us,” he said.

We also touched on the topic of luck and how it seems to favor top teams. Unser Jr. shared Rick Galles’ philosophy, “You make your own luck. You prepare to go out there, and as long as you prepare the best you can to your ability, then on race day, all you have to do is just go execute what you prepared.”

Listen to the full interview with Little Al where we talk in more depth about the differences in the 500 today versus the 90s, how his iconic “you don’t know what Indy means” moment came to be, and more!