4-time Indy 500 Champ, Unser Sr., dies at 87
Al Unser, legendary Indy Car driver has died at the age of 82, losing his 17 year-long battle to cancer. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced the death over the weekend; he was one of 4 racers to have won the Indianapolis 500 on 4 separate occasions: 1964, 1965, 1978, & 1987. . In his 27 starts at Indianapolis 500, he finished in the Top 10 fifteen times.
Al Unser grew up in New Mexico and was part of a family which had raced both cars and motorcycles as long as they had been in existence. At the age of 18, Unser first became a professional race car driver, and did not retire from the sport until 1994.
His son, Al Unser Jr. participated in his first Indy 500 as a driver, in 1983. From that point, Unser would then be known as Unser Sr., or ‘Big Al’. Al Unser Jr. won the Indianapolis 500 in 1992 and in 1994, making the Unsers the only father-son champs
Big Al is survived by his wife, Susan Pine Unser.
Jordan Avenue on IU Campus officially renamed
The Indiana University Board of Trustees approved the renaming of the IU-owned portion of Jordan Avenue, from just north of the railroad tracks near Law Lane to 17th Street in Bloomington, as Eagleson Avenue. The vote came during the October 2020 meeting of the IU Trustees, to remove the name of IU’s seventh president, David Starr Jordan, from Jordan Hall, Jordan Avenue Parking Garage, and Jordan River based on perceptions that Jordan’s views conflicted with the IU values.
The Eagleson family has a long history with the University, the region, the state, and the nation.
The Arts Alliance Center seeks submissions for monthly Featured Youth Artist
The Arts Alliance Center highlights a Featured Youth Artist each month on a rotating basis. Youth Artists must live in the Greater Bloomington area and must be in high school to apply. Featured Youth Artist works will be revealed on the second Saturday of the month and kept on display for one month.
Click here for the submission form
This Week in Hoosier History
1888 – Vice President-Elect Levi Morton and his wife Anna arrived at Union Station in Indianapolis. They were taken by carriage to the home of President-Elect Benjamin Harrison where they had dinner and discussed the issues facing the new administration.
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