By Jordan Richart

I pulled into the parking lot of Cummins Seymour Engine Plant thinking about what I’d ask legendary IndyCar driver and four-time Indianapolis 500 champion Al Unser Sr.

A small town newspaper reporter, I had been granted access to his question-and-answer session at the Seymour factory and knew I was going to get a sit-down interview with him later.

He was in Seymour to commemorate his fourth victory, which was in a Cummins-sponsored car, and attend a reception at Southern Indiana Center for the Arts, which had a display of his memorabilia.

Unser passed away from cancer Dec. 9 at the age of 82.

As an Indy 500 fan, I was thrilled for the opportunity. To make matters even more exciting, it was two days prior to the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 in 2019.

I walked into the Cummins security check-in and was told I’d have to watch a safety video before I entered.

“That’s OK. I’ve seen this video before, and it will give me a few minutes to think about what I will ask Al Unser,” I thought.

So I make my way into the video room and take a seat.

Then an older man and woman who had been standing in the back of the room made their way from the back of the room and sat near me.

Who was it?

It was Al Unser and his wife, who also had to watch the video. I never would have thought I’d meet him that quickly.

I remember Al Unser having fun with the video, making jokes throughout about some of the issues that were brought up.

Then he’d say something to me and I’d answer.

I remember thinking, “Is this real? Am I sitting here with Al Unser? Al Unser? For real?”

It was real. And Al was real.

What I mean by that is had I not known the legend, he would have never let on how big of a deal he was. I found out quickly that that was his nature.

Al Unser Sr. has led more laps than anyone in Indianapolis 500 history, but this legend insisted room was made for me on the golf cart so I wouldn’t have to walk all the way across the factory to the stage for his speech and question-and-answer session. That’s the kind of guy he was.

He was the oldest man to win the legendary race — as well as the only one to have a sibling and child win — and I saw him sign so many autographs for Cummins employees without stopping or hesitating. One person wanted him to sign four things, and Unser did it like it was his job because that’s how he thought of it. He loved his fans, a little bit of information he shared with me in our interview.

So then the day rolls along and I’m waiting for a call for a sit-down interview with the man himself. What I had experienced was already cool enough, but now, I got to sit and ask him questions for an article.

I received a call and was told he had just finished lunch at Larrison’s Diner in downtown Seymour and he’d be ready any time but that he only had a half-hour or so.

He started the interview — which happened to be 32 years to the day since his fourth win — with a joke about how he wasn’t going to talk with me.

The interview lasted about 15 minutes, and I truly was amazed by spending time with him hearing stories.

Unser told me a story that was just so crazy to me as an Indianapolis 500 fan that it was hard for me to fathom.

He told me he had been trying to qualify for his first Indianapolis 500 and the car he had “didn’t have enough motor in it,” but he was going to move forward in hopes of qualifying anyway.

That’s when A.J. Foyt — another four-time champion of the race — told him he had another car in the garage that would give him a better chance at qualifying.

“Really, I’m talking to Al Unser Sr. about A.J. Foyt? Pinch me already.”

Unser made the race, and it launched a legendary career.

The fact he shared that with me, a small town newspaper reporter, was so cool. I consider it the highlight of my time in journalism.

It was no secret Unser loved being behind the wheel of a race car. He told me in our interview that he wished he could go back 50 years and do it all again. I believed him. He absolutely beamed when our conversations shifted to racing and the Indy 500.

We then talked about life after racing, which leads me to my favorite moment of the interview.

At the time of our interview, it was only two days until the 2019 Indianapolis 500, which he was going to attend.

I asked him what his favorite part of the Indianapolis 500 was, expecting an answer like “the pageantry, the beauty, the tradition” or something along those lines.

“Winning,” he said with a deadpan face.

And he won. A lot.

Thank you, Al Unser Sr., for such an incredible interview and wonderful memory for me. I’m glad I later went to his exhibit at Southern Indiana Center for the Arts to meet him again and get his autograph, which I have framed.

Rest in peace, kind legend.