Who Is Al Unser Jr? Indy 500 Two-Time Winner Arrested For OWI

Retired two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. was arrested Monday in central Indiana and charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated. The 57-year-old was booked into Hendricks County Jail after an Avon police officer observed him going 59 mph in a 45 mph zone and drifting from his lane, according to a police report.

After stopping Unser Jr., the police officer noticed that his eyes were red and glossy and his speech slurred. Unser Jr. said he was not drunk and refused to take a field sobriety test. But he staggered to the rear of the vehicle after exiting the car, lost his balance, fell to the ground and rolled down an embankment, the report said.

The arresting officer, identified in the police report only as “J. Schwartz,” wrote that Unser Jr. complained about the handcuffs placed on him. Unser Jr. is the son of four-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser and the nephew of three-time Indy winner Bobby Unser.

“At the police department, Unser Jr. complained about the tightness of the handcuffs on his wrists,” the officer wrote. “Tightness was checked multiple times and after continued complaints I slightly loosened them further.” He again complained about the handcuffs as he was being taken to a hospital to have his blood drawn.

“I stopped my vehicle and checked for tightness again to find the tightness of the handcuffs appropriate,” the officer wrote. “During my entire interaction with Unser Jr., he was consistently verbally hostile toward assisting officers and I.”

The Harding Steinbrenner Racing team, where Unser Jr. is a consultant, issued a statement following the incident.

“The entire Harding Steinbrenner Racing organization is saddened to learn of Al Unser Jr’s arrest on an OWI charge," the team tweeted. “Alcoholism is a disease and a continuing battle for those struggling with it. At this time, we do support Al in any way that he needs.”

INDYCAR and Indianapolis Motor Speedway also released a statement, saying, "Al Jr. is loved by the racing community. Everyone at INDYCAR and Indianapolis Motor Speedway is with him and his family and stand ready to provide the support he needs."

Unser Jr., who competed in the Indianapolis 500 19 times, winning the race in 1994 and 1992, also won two CART points titles and two IROC championships.

This is not his first run-in with law enforcement. In 2011, Unser Jr. was arrested in New Mexico on drunken and reckless driving charges. At the time, authorities in Albuquerque said Unser Jr. was driving more than 100 mph while drag racing against the driver of another vehicle. He pleaded no contest to a charge of driving under the influence stemming from a January 2007 crash on a Nevada freeway. Nevada authorities said Unser Jr.'s blood-alcohol content was three times the legal limit and he failed field sobriety tests.

In 2007, Unser Jr. spoke out about his battle with alcoholism following a DUI arrest months earlier.

“I had been in and out of drinking, and any time I was drinking, bad things happened, and when I wasn't drinking, good things happened,” he told Newsweek at the time. “And so, why? I had had my stretch, after learning about the disease, and still trying to figure out another way around the corner, and it wasn't working, and so I dug deep inside and said, I'm an alcoholic. I cannot pick up one drink. I have the disease.”