Al Unser Jr. 1994 Indy 500 Run For The Pole!

1994 Indy 500 run for the pole by Al Unser Jr. Listen to the roar of the crowd as Al Jr. goes faster and faster with each passing lap! Paul Page, Danny Sullivan and Bobby Unser show how it should be done in the broadcast booth as well!

[@johng7566]

30 years later I still get goosebumps watching that run. Getting faster each lap.

[@ernestmiller110]

The good old days!

[@trevorarens7143]

Look at the crowd for qualifying. Man to go back to those days.

[@ynp1978]

Yes! I was there on opening day in 1988. About 200000 in the stands for qualifying!

[@davidstout8604]

Yes, if only …

[@Mario_Ramirez]

Well, Tony George "fiexed" it

[@ccx806]

That car/engine combination were unstoppable

[@JGunit]

Yeah, too bad they banned it after this race. Bs

[@Saturn185]

@@JGunit that's not actually what happened, the engine itself stayed legal but the amount of boost allowed was reduced conciderably

[@royb.1441]

@jordonwelle5877 yep, the team even said all that HP made up for a good amount of poor handling

[@aaronersoy3888]

The sound of my childhood. Almost brought tears to my eyes remembering a more simple time!!

[@patrickkennedy2533]

This is a classic example of SANDBAGGING . That car was an absolute monster

[@kg0173]

Not the car, the engine.

[@robertsklenka5823]

Read the book “The Beast”

[@zlinedavid]

Just listen to the sound of that engine. The first time Tracy/Unser/Fittipaldi really got it up to full speed in practice, I bet there was more than a few people up and down pit road thinking "Yep, we're screwed."

[@gamblour]

THE BEAST!!! God, how I miss the days when the rules allowed for innovations and open interpretations. So glad I was able to enjoy it when it happened. Great memories.

[@ernestmiller110]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@mailson4526]

Mercedes-Benz engine was a beast in deed.

[@dks13827]

So beautiful !! All gone now.

[@williammoore3534]

Go back thru history. Nobody goes faster on each of four consecutive qualifying laps at Indy. Roger told Al to give the crowd a show and he obliged!

[@nathanwilliams2152]

Loved this era of AOWR, and the engine competition at Indy: The Ford XBs and the normal Ilmors almost screamed The Menards / Buicks emitted a low-pitched, powerful growl The Mercedes 500i, at 10,000rpm produced that gorgeous roar Fabulous.

[@robminmonaca]

Nathan Williams then tony George thought he was better than all the years of CART and fucked everything up.

[@weofnjieofing]

@@robminmonaca Totally agree. Tony George is the Devil incarnate. A series that could have potentially taken on F1 was destroyed by that moron. Indy Car still suffers today from his selfishness with spec chassis and boring, gutless V6 engines. Lets hope under Penske they can bring back high revving V8's and different chassis manufacturers. The current Dallara chassis looks terrible and severely dated.

[@JohnOffroader1999]

@@weofnjieofing The V8's won't be coming back but we can hope that innovation can comeback to Indycar racing.

[@Tim4706]

I live in Reading PA Home of Penske Racing for over 30 years they built the engines in total secret next door in the Penske Plaza truck shop in a empty bay on Riverfront Drive man those were great days I miss Penske Racing

[@lameduck3630]

Penske have always been built in England.

[@dzelpwr]

Penske is still around, just not in Reading.

[@brandond5209]

That was a pushrod engine, Penske found a loophole that allowed higher turbo boost if they used a stock block pushrod motor.

[@warrenself]

“Stock block” turned out to be a very grey area in the rule book.

[@RedPetrol76]

@@warrenself Yup, it was 100% purpose-built by Ilmor

[@simoneburini4036]

@@warrenself push rod engines could be bigger. Also, the "stock block" thing was removed from the rule book for the Indy 500. And they went for it.

[@djmohab2]

They had quietly relaxed the "stock" part of the rule between 1993 and 1994, and Roger and Ilmor went bananas as a result

[@sz5876]

I was in the main grandstand that day, I remember the crowd going nuts.

[@robminmonaca]

Scott E then tony George killed off the competition at Indy with the IRL.

[@davidstout8604]

@@robminmonaca Tony George was right, he just didn’t the know how.

[@joelimongelli792]

It truly was the peak of the Indy 500..........After scotty died in 96. It was all over. All these men AND women had balls.

[@LASTCARonBROCK]

Whoo - I just got chills. :)

[@bradenyoder4922]

Jade Gurss' book about these cars that Penske brought to Indy that year is a fantastic read if you get a chance. Just listen to the sound of that engine. It sounds like a plane ready to liftoff.

[@gamblour]

"Beast" is a fantastic book. Absolutely worth every minute.

[@randyjustrandy9937]

I miss the good old days at TF, Ernest. You were one of my favorite posters. I'm not there anymore either. I hope all is well with you. RR

[@bobhansen1322]

Thank you for the kind words Randy. Yes, the little dictators banned me. The good news? My blood pressure is way down! LOL

[@randyjustrandy9937]

@@bobhansen1322 good to know you're a ok in OK. TF is a ghost town these days. They ran all the good people off. Serves them right.

[@Pannieforever]

We were sitting above the flag tower and he just wasn't on it quick enough.The Mercedes was monstrously strong and when Lap 2 came in me and my Dad just looked at each other knowingly.......I think Al and Emmo WERE sandbagging that year in practice.

[@kieferclarkf1674]

I thought he hit a bird on lap 1.

[@andyharman3022]

This was the last Indy 500 I had an interest in from a technical standpoint. I went to qualifying that year just to see and hear the Ilmor 500i run. It was a unique mechanical creation built to take advantage of the higher boost pressure allowed for pushrod engines. Of course, the Speedway outlawed it for next year's race, but not immediately. Ilmor thought they would be able to run it again in 1995, and had manufactured about 30 new engines before the rules change was made. Wonder if I could find one of those engines and put it in my Camaro?

[@kartracer127]

For Next year? They outlawed right After First Training. They slowed them down like hell. They did 230+ in practise

[@douglasgantt9548]

No wonder why Penske couldn’t qualify in 1995.

[@djmohab2]

@@douglasgantt9548 They ran the DOHC Ilmor Mercedes...pushrod engine had nothing to do with it. Apparently they tried a different anti-roll bar configuration which worked at a Phoenix test or something but was liquid dogshit at the Speedway. Later in the year during a test they tried a more traditional configuration and would have easily been near the top of the field.

[@terrybrock4800]

I was there in turn one . The reason the first lap was so slow was he ran over a rabbit, the fans gasped and that's the last I heard about it

[@DJDouglasWarden]

Terry Brock Silly rabbit, tracks are for cars.

[@chargerfan2]

They were sand bagging that first lap, I don't think he meant to go that slow though. Those Penske cars had so much more power than the rest of the field that year. They were trying not to show just how much more. That car could compete today.

[@VampireYoshi]

That car would take the lead and pull away, today.

[@AlistairMaxwell77]

behold...the beast!

[@indyracin1]

Hellva Run!!!!

[@MrWdelrosar]

Al Jr.fan. Yeah he’s never a qualifier but he’s a driver’s driver.

[@maciekwysocki2009]

Penske C23 - Simply the beats

[@dks13827]

Those days were fun. It's not fun anymore.

[@healthyone100]

Penske owns IMS now things are going to change!

[@danielseneriz4739]

RIP Bob Jenkins

[@raiderbelacasa]

Noting snoring that engine Penske during qualifying, he by far somewhat resembles turbo current Indy. What do you think? Or is close to the IRL engines used between 2001 and 2007?

[@effend446]

I was actually thinking '01 - '11 minus the hiss of the turbocharger.

[@douglasgantt9548]

A great day in AOWR!

[@kg0173]

This run probably had the fastest trap speeds ever at Indy. Luyendyk was slower on straights, but much faster in turns (1996 record run).

[@o0Raine0o]

little did anyone knew they sandbagged up to 250hp that day lol

[@xtlm]

Shame that first lap was so off. Guess he did it to make it interesting lol

[@janeordway4841]

As I recall he hit a Bird on one of those laps.

[@jebediahgentry7029]

To think they couldve even went faster with that fantastic (ilmore? Dont know if I spelled it right) and Mercedes engine. They were even sand bagging on pole day! From what I've heard, when they finally opened that engine up they were running almost 250 down the front and back straights

[@Alexandros27]

Top speed was the parameter for pole ???

[@precesionnoreaster1507]

No average so they add together the turn entries and exits and then average it out to be a one lap and then they average all 4 laps together

[@streetcat957]

Mercedes sounds good

[@roadbeef]

Interesting saga this engine is surrounded by. An incredible technical achievement whose political ripples would grow into the wave that eventually split CART and IndyCar clean in two. Was it worth it, Roger? "Absolutely." - Roger Penske, probably.

[@TheArfdog]

Leave it to pride to let a technical achievement become a political weapon resulting in the destruction of an American icon being Indycar series.

[@TheSwanlake2009]

Indy car in 1994 was better than F1

[@garrettburkle8401]

The next year didn’t even make the race

[@sametozkan9175]

This is car is very faster than Williams FW43

[@armorgeddon]

Only in topspeed.

[@sametozkan9175]

@@armorgeddon Penske needs to bring back Mercedes engines in IndyCar and Dodge in NASCAR

[@armorgeddon]

@@sametozkan9175 I don't care about NASCAR at all, but Mercedes back in Indycar is pretty unlikely though I'd like to see it, too.

[@sametozkan9175]

@@armorgeddon Ok then.

[@brucemerryman7365]

And a year later they failed to qualify…..

[@alexfitzpatrick2509]

the speed hasn't gotten faster...

[@Jam5zW]

Alex Fitzpatrick It did get faster but two years after this they changed the engine rules and slowed the cars down and made them safer after Scott Brayton died.

[@VampireYoshi]

@@Jam5zW They didn't do it because of Brayton, they had already planned it beforehand, for the second year of the IRL, to try to dumb the cars down and get everyone to drive far more similar, and thus far more similar performance, cars. The advent of 1997 was nothing less than the imposition of socialism on American open-wheel racing.

[@robminmonaca]

VampireYoshi tony George thought he was doing a charity mission to Indycar racing but he caused his family to nearly go bankrupt.

[@V10ViperSRT]

Fastest pole speed ever this year 234mph

[@willp8003]

Buick/Menard still had more power......it wasn't until 95 l ola made customs parts to fit the Buick/Menard v6.....

[@NeoGraena]

Buicks were too unreliable

[@nolancain8792]

@@NeoGraena 1995 they seemingly figured it out with Arie.

[@antonsmith7235]

the Buicks didn't have 1000 horsepower now that the book is out on "The Beast" they finally revealed the dyno numbers, it had 1084 Horsepower as compared to Indy Chevys and Cosworths 750. It was stated in the book Emo once said "I looked down the track after I got out of turn 4 and wasn't looking what "car" i wanted to pass next but what "group" or cars! You can do that when you have 330 horses more!

[@Leon-Hardt]

Imagine the first lap at 228+ MpH? average will be.

[@maciekwysocki2009]

Even close to 229 mph

[@jamsstar2010]

That's what happens when you are allowed to bend the rules 🤣

[@ernestmiller110]

No rules were bent. Any owner could have done what Penske did.

[@antonsmith7235]

Never "bent any rules" GM actually lobbyed to have the word "stock block" taken out of the rule book. That was the only change. They ran 209 cubic inches, and 55 inches of boost instead of 45 for the Double Overhead Cam engines

[@anthonykernich1035]

then the next year he doesn't make the race!!

[@fgm1197]

these were real race cars. not like the formula 1 cars these day with their toy engines and electric driving aids wherever you look.

[@Thraser999]

Electric driving aids? are mad or what? TC was banned 11 years ago, and toy engines? seriously? because making 1000 HP is just from a toy, isn't it?

[@fgm1197]

@@Thraser999 1000 HP so what? I'm talking about cubic capacity. the average station wagon has more torque than a formula one car.

[@mickoholland1]

FGM11 that’s exactly what people said about the PC23 in 94, yearning for roadsters, flatbottom cars etc etc. Racing should always be about the cutting edge.

[@armorgeddon]

@@mickoholland1 Yes, though current F1 is far from cutting edge. All current race cars are sadly.

[@vinrusso821]

1994 was when this car cheated. It was a Mercedes 12 cylinder 1100 HP, specially made for the race.

[@X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X]

Wrong: It was a V8 with a single camshaft. A loophole in the regulations (of the Indy 500, not the CART series) allowed engines with that layout greater displacement and higher boost. Penske did not cheat, they simply build the best engine allowed under the 1994 Indy 500 regulations.

[@zlinedavid]

Cheated? Not hardly. Everything Penske and Ilmor did were 100% within the rules that USAC made. John Menard (who has a net worth nearly 7 times that of Roger Penske) could have easily done the same thing, but Penske beat him and everyone else to it, and did it flawlessly.

[@indyfan2]

This was a V8 pushrod engine.

[@CFster]

They didn't cheat but they screwed themselves for the following year. Because this car had so much power they really didn't have to focus on making it handle and turn like the rest of the teams. As a result, after the rules change forcing them to use a regular engine for the '95 500 they couldn't even qualify a car for the race. They didn't have any development in the chassis. Remember, Penske had its own chassis, unlike the rest of the field with their Lolas. It was sad - they didn't qualify a single car the following year...

[@SwineBrothers]

no it wasn't. stop being an idiot