When Al Unser Jr took a savage dig at Emerson Fittipaldi's Indy 500 ritual on David Letterman's show

Two-time IndyCar champion Al Unser Jr featured on the Night Show with David Letterman in 1994. Little Al was questioned by the late-night show host about his then-teammate Emerson Fittipaldi’s routine before the iconic Indy 500 race. Unser Jr. grabbed the opportunity and took a savage dig at his teammate.

Former F1 champion Emerson Fittipaldi moved to race in IndyCar (then CART) in the late 80s and teamed up with Al Unser Jr at Team Penske for the 1994 season. The two drivers were involved in a tight title fight during the season as Fittipaldi finished runner-up and Little Al won the 1994 championship.

At the late-night show, David Letterman asked Al Unser Jr about Fittipaldi’s routine before the Indy 500, where the Brazilian sat in the car for hours and visualised the track. Letterman asked,

“Emerson Fittipaldi, your teammate, told me that the day before the race, for two and a half hours, he sits in the car that he's going to drive the next day, and to me, you know, that's whacky.”

“Well, I guess he needs to practice,” replied Unser Jr

However, the 1994 champion said the same in a jovial tone as the host, along with the audience, burst into laughter. Letterman then joked about Unser Jr trying to ask Fittipaldi for help after the ‘needs to practice’ jab. The late-night show host then questioned Al Unser Jr about his routine before the Indy 500.

“Well, what we usually do is, first off, we wake up in the morning, you know, and then. And then actually we hunt for a song of the day. Well, it just, I don't know, it's just something that, you know, I like music an awful lot,” replied Little Al

Unser Jr won the 1994 Indy 500 after starting the race in pole position. However, it was his teammate Fittipaldi who dominated most of the race and led the most laps (145).

Al Unser Jr on sharing the stage with Mario Andretti at the 2025 Long Beach Grand Prix

Al Unser Jr and Mario Andretti were the co-grand marshals at the 2025 Long Beach GP. The two drivers were honoured on the occasion of the race, celebrating its 50th anniversary. Little Al spoke about the same on the Pit Pass Indy podcast as he said,

“Our families have known each other for many, many years. And for us to go up and for both of us to have the success that we did here at Long Beach and then to be honored is a great honor and I love being next to him...... he is a true legend.” (9:25 onwards)

Unser Jr holds the record for most wins at the Long Beach GP, closely followed by Mario Andretti, who won an F1 and three IndyCar races at the venue.