Bobby Unser was inducted as a Legend of Riverside at the 4th annual celebration of the same name at California’s Riverside international Automotive Museum on the last weekend of March. As the event’s featured guest, Unser sat down for the traditional post-banquet interview with Ed Justice Jr., and happily told a number of entertaining stories about various aspects of his life in the sport. One of the questions concerned his multiple marriages, to which Bobby, gesturing toward his wife Lisa, provided the perfect rejoinder: “It took me a while to find the right one, but I have her now.”
A handful of significant cars from Unser’s career were on display in the museum, including the Norton Spirit Penske PC9B-Cosworth with which he won his third Indianapolis 500 in 1981, a replica of the 1968 Rislone Eagle-Offy he drove to his first Indy 500 victory, the groundbreaking 1972 Olsonite Eagle-Offy he used to obliterate the track records at Indianapolis and elsewhere, the Olsonite Eagle-Offy with which he won two races, took six poles and set four track records in 1971, and a Jorgenson Eagle 755-Chevrolet that he raced in Formula 5000.
Earlier in the day, veteran motorsports photographer Bob Tronolone presented a pictorial retrospective of Unser’s career, and told stories not only about Unser but also how photographers were once allowed access unthinkable these days. He related how he convinced a marshal at Laguna Seca to allow him to climb up into a tree at the top of The Corkscrew to gain a unique perspective for his photographs.
The event’s popular autograph session featured Unser and previous Riverside Legends Dan Gurney and Parnelli Jones, as well as George Follmer, Hershel McGriff, Tony Adamowicz, Scooter Patrick, John Morton, Allen Grant, Bill Pollack, Tony Settember, Jim Jeffords, Eric Haga and Linda Vaughn among others.
The Peter Bryant Award for engineering excellence was presented to Bruce Burness, who gave an insightful acceptance speech as tribute to the late Mr. Bryant. Dan Gurney was named winner of the Les Richter Award, and shared several humorous stories about the late “Coach” in his remarks.
Earlier in the day, VR editor/publisher Casey Annis hosted a panel discussion about the International Motor Sport Association (IMSA), featuring George Follmer, Tony Adamowicz, John Morton and Margie Smith-Haas. On Sunday, films from the career of Rex Mays were screened, and Bob Schilling—author of the new book about the two-time National Champion’s life—moderated a panel discussion, while a second session of the Women in Racing round table closed out the proceedings.
