Loni Unser Proud to Carry on One of the Most Famous Names in Racing

Loni Unser carries a last name that made auto racing almost mandatory.

Generations of the Unser family have excelled in motorsports, highlighted by the success of Al Senior, Al Junior and Bobby in open-wheel racing and virtually the entire family in the famous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

Loni, 26, has been a racer for eight years. She is competing in the Porsche Sprint Challenge this year, where she is currently third in the Cayman Pro-Am Class standings. And, like so many of her relatives, she has raced up the mountain at Pikes Peak. She became the second woman from the Unser family—after Bobby’s daughter, Jeri—to challenge Pikes Peak.

Daughter of Johnny Unser, also a racer, Loni is targeting a driving career at higher levels but didn’t jump into motorsports as a kid despite the family ties.

“I grew up in a small town in Idaho and didn’t have opportunities to drive because there were no tracks nearby,” she said. “My parents tried to steer me away from it. When I was a senior in high school, I went to a two-day driving school. Even after the first day, I was hooked. I said, ‘I have to do this.’ I kept poking at my dad, and he helped me put together a program.”

Now living in Boulder, Colorado, Unser has pursued various forms of racing while swimming through the toughest part for every aspiring racer—funding.

“For me it comes down to the love of driving,” she said. “I just love being behind the wheel. I’m like my family members. They ran anything. I want to be the same way. This year I’ve been getting a bit into off-road racing.”

Unser’s exposure to auto racing began in elementary school when she attended the Indianapolis 500, which she described as “a family reunion. I always jumped at an opportunity to go to races with Dad. I grew up around family members, getting to look up to these legends of the sport. It was a motivating factor. When I was in elementary school, Al Senior took me in an Indy pace car ride. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. It gave me such an appreciation for everything they’ve done.

“Of course, there’s pressure. People look at me and see the last name and they expect things. It’s such an honor to be an Unser.”