{"id":252134,"date":"2026-01-22T18:05:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T18:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/252134\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T18:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T18:05:08","slug":"phoenix-open-test-to-salute-unser-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/252134\/","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix Open Test To Salute Unser Family"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The incredible legacy of the Unser family at Phoenix Raceway will be honored when the NTT INDYCAR SERIES conducts an Open Test on Feb. 17-18 at the desert oval in advance of the series\u2019 highly anticipated return to the track.<\/p>\n<p>The Unser INDYCAR Open Test at Phoenix Raceway is open to all teams as they prepare for the Good Ranchers 250 on Saturday, March 7 as part of a buzzworthy weekend alongside NASCAR, providing a joint showcase of North American racing in partnership with FOX Sports. It\u2019s the first INDYCAR SERIES race at the historic, 1.022-mile Phoenix oval since 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Cars will be on track from 2-6 p.m. ET (noon-4 p.m. MT) on Tuesday, Feb. 17, with testing scheduled for 11 a.m.-2 p.m. ET (9 a.m.-noon MT) and 3:30-6:30 p.m. ET (1:30-4:30 p.m. MT) Wednesday, Feb. 18. The Wednesday sessions will be open and free to the public, with an autograph session at 2:45 p.m. ET (12:45 p.m. MT).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe name Unser is synonymous with Phoenix Raceway,\u201d INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles said. \u201cWe\u2019re honored to salute this family\u2019s incredible accomplishments at their home track for this important Open Test, which sets the stage for INDYCAR\u2019s return to Phoenix in March. As a longtime fan of the sport, I also really appreciate that the logo for this special test features some familiar colors from cars driven by Al and Bobby, which I\u2019m sure will bring back many great memories for our loyal fans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Phoenix was the home INDYCAR SERIES track for the Unser family, which lived in and proudly represented Albuquerque, New Mexico. And no name is more linked with success at the desert oval.<\/p>\n<p>Al Unser won a track-record six INDYCAR SERIES races at Phoenix since the track first started hosting series events in 1964. He also won six poles at the track as part of an illustrious career that included three series championships and a record-tying four victories in the Indianapolis 500.<\/p>\n<p>Bobby Unser took the checkered flag four times at Phoenix but powered to a track-record 11 poles at the tricky desert oval. He also won two series titles and three Indianapolis 500s.<\/p>\n<p>Two-time series champion and two-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser Jr. finished runner-up at Phoenix four times.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll speak for our family and say how pleased we are to be honored in this way by INDYCAR,\u201d Al Unser Jr. said. \u201cDad simply loved racing at Phoenix, and no one took it to the edge in qualifying there quite like Uncle Bobby. It was exciting to see the track added to the schedule this year, and the Open Test will be crucial for drivers and teams as they get ready for the race in March. I can\u2019t wait to see the NTT INDYCAR SERIES back at Phoenix.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Live timing and scoring from both days of the Open Test will be provided on INDYCAR.com and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA. Fans unable to attend the test also can follow along on INDYCAR social channels.<\/p>\n<p>The 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season starts Sunday, March 1 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The incredible legacy of the Unser family at Phoenix Raceway will be honored when the NTT INDYCAR SERIES&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252135,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-252134","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}