Unser May Need to Go Slower on New Course

By MARTIN HENDERSON

Aug. 9, 2002 12 AM PT

Al Unser Jr. will race this weekend at Sparta, Ky., in the Belterra Casino Indy 300, less than a week after leaving an undisclosed rehabilitation center for alcohol abuse.

The Indy Racing League driver resurfaced Monday, only 18 days after he had voluntarily begun the program July 18.

“I am Al, the grateful alcoholic,” Unser said at a news conference Thursday at Kentucky Speedway. “My recovery program didn’t end earlier this week. That’s just the beginning. I have a program that I’m following today, tomorrow, next week, next month and for the rest of my life.”

Speed may be Unser’s life, and though he and team owner Tom Kelley apparently believe he is ready to return--he was also cleared by the IRL’s medical director, Dr. Henry Bock--there’s at least some reason to believe 18 days were not enough for the two-time Indianapolis 500 champion to receive the care he needs to beat his problem.

According to Dr. Anne Linton, chief medical officer of the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, the nation’s leading rehabilitation hospital, an 18-day inpatient stay is short.

“Our traditional inpatient program is four weeks,” she said. “And we started a professional recovery and relapse program, which is a three-month program for people in high-profile professions such as pilots, doctors, nurses and lawyers.”

Race car drivers, she added, would fit into that category.

“What we found with the professionals is, they have bigger defenses and it’s harder to get to them in a shorter period of time. Their denial and defenses are so huge, it takes time to break that down and make behavioral changes so they don’t have to drink.

“What we know too about making behavior change, it takes three months of repeating the same behavior and then it becomes ingrained.”

Unser, 40, was arrested in Indianapolis on July 9, after allegedly striking his girlfriend in the car and leaving her at the side of the highway.

Prosecutors later dropped domestic violence charges, but the incident brought to light a problem that was known in the paddock but never surfaced on race day.

His car sponsor, Corteco, made arrangements for Unser to enter the undisclosed “nationally recognized substance-abuse center.”

Unser said he was comfortable with being a role model for those with substance-abuse problems, that his alcohol indulgence took place away from the racetrack, and that this is a race he is going to win.

Had Unser remained in rehab for four weeks, the minimum at the Betty Ford Center, he would have missed three of the IRL’s 15 events. With four races remaining, he is ninth in the standings, 54 points out of the top five.

“The biggest misconception with alcohol is that it is [not] a disease.... ,” Unser said. “The tough part for me was admitting I was powerless against that disease and needed help.

“That race car is the best therapy I could go into. It’s certainly not too soon.”

NASCAR

Winston Cup driver Tony Stewart’s wish apparently was Home Depot’s command.

When Stewart was fined $10,000 by NASCAR for punching Indianapolis photographer Gary Mook in the chest after Sunday’s Brickyard 400, Stewart said it should have been more.

“I think what NASCAR fined me was not stiff enough, given my past,” he said.

Thursday, Home Depot, which sponsors the Pontiac Stewart drives for Joe Gibbs, fined Stewart $50,000 and, as NASCAR had done earlier, put him on probation for the rest of the season.

“This was my heart attack, my wake-up call,” Stewart said. “There is no excuse for what I’ve done.... “Meeting with Mr. Mook is now my first priority. He didn’t deserve any of this and my apology to him needs to come face to face, as soon as possible.”

And as Unser was getting out of treatment, Stewart was looking for some in the form of an anger management program.

“I need to do something to make it where I can control my anger better,” he said. “It’s obvious over 3 1/2 years, I can’t do it on my own, so I’m going to seek professional help and get somebody that can help me learn how to control my emotions.”

Stewart also ended last season on probation, after arguing with a Winston Cup official and slapping a tape recorder from a reporter’s hand. He was fined $10,000 for that incident, as well.

With Petty Enterprises hiring Christian Fittipaldi as a Busch driver for next season, with the intention of his running a full Winston Cup schedule in 2004, Kyle Petty--son of Richard Petty--could be stockpiling some of the biggest surnames in the sport.

Petty said he also hopes to retain his current driver, John Andretti, nephew of Mario Andretti, for next season. Fittipaldi is the nephew of two-time Formula One world champion Emerson Fittipaldi.

“If you’ve been around our organization, you know that personality becomes a huge factor in what we try to do,” said Kyle Petty, driver of the No. 45 Dodge. “Christian fits the mold as what we see being a Petty Enterprises driver. His family goals, his family orientation, the tradition he has behind him. I think in every shape and form he matches what we want at Petty Enterprises, and that’s a blessing. To get an opportunity to have him, we couldn’t pass it up.”

Speedway

Racing on an Arrowhead Speedway dirt oval conducive to passing, four former American Motorcyclist Assn. national champions with nine titles among them lead a stellar field into Round 1 of the AMA U.S. National Championship on Wednesday at Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino.

Three-time champion Mike Faria of Reno and two-time champion Bobby Schwartz of Costa Mesa will be racing, as will Billy Hamill of Monrovia and Greg Hancock, formerly of Costa Mesa. Hamill has been riding in the British League for the Coventry Bees. Hancock lives in Sweden and is head coach of the British Speedway Promoters Assn.-backed National Training Academy. Hamill and Hancock have each won two AMA national titles and one Grand Prix world championship, and will be trying to fend off Josh Larsen, Chris Manchester and Bart Bast, as well as other regulars who compete at Costa Mesa, San Bernardino and Victorville.

Two of Hamill’s Coventry teammates, Ryan Fisher of Norco and Billy Janniro of Benicia, will also compete.

Hamill won at San Bernardino on July 31, and Larsen won the scratch main Wednesday.

Racing begins at 8 p.m.

Passings

Mike McCabe, an early member and employee of the NHRA and its Safety Safari, died July 28 at his home in Las Vegas. He was 67.

Last Laps

The Featherlite Southwest Series returns to Irwindale Speedway on Saturday at 7 p.m. with a 150-lap, 75-mile race. There have been 10 winners in 10 races this season, and eight in nine series races at Irwindale since it opened. Late models, American race trucks and super trucks are also on the schedule.... The L.A. Kart Club will be at Irwindale at noon on Sunday.

U.S. Auto Club Western States Midgets and Ford Focus Midgets will race Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Perris Auto Speedway. Last

week, the Ventura Racing Assn. sprinters competed at the track for the first time, with Chris Wakim of Simi Valley winning the main event.

Costa Mesa Speedway will feature freestyle motorcycle jumping in addition to its regular show Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Orange County Fairgrounds.

Seven-time Supercross champion Jeremy McGrath was married Saturday to Kim Maddox, his girlfriend for more than four years, in Monarch Beach.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

This Week

WINSTON CUP

Sirius Satellite Radio at The Glen

When: Today, qualifying (Speed Channel, noon); Sunday, race (Channel 4, 10 a.m.).

Where: Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, N.Y.

Race distance: 220.5 miles, 90 laps.

2001 winner: Jeff Gordon.