IRL lets alcoholic run untested

When former Indiana Pacer Stephen Jackson got caught up in the Club Rio imbroglio, the overwhelming sentiment was that he was bad news — the word "thug'' was thrown around liberally — and should be run out of Indianapolis on a rail.

So, tell me, how exactly is Al Unser Jr. (pictured right) different?

Why is his a heartwarming story of redemption and recovery, Little Al beating back his demons and returning to the warm embrace of the track he's mastered twice before?

Take the personalities out of it, take race out of the equation, and consider just the facts:
Unser was charged in 2002 with striking his girlfriend while the pair were driving home from a Southside gentlemen's club. The charges were dropped.

And less than one month ago, Unser pleaded not guilty in Nevada to charges of driving under the influence, misdemeanor hit-and-run, failure to render aid in an accident and failure to report an accident.

So why isn't anybody screaming that Unser should be run out of Indianapolis Motor Speedway?
Why aren't there questions about his physical and mental fitness when, despite his 107 days of sobriety come Sunday, he has continued to show he has problems with alcohol?

More to the point, why hasn't Unser been tested for drugs and alcohol this May?

Incredibly, Unser has never, ever been subjected to an Indy Racing League drug and alcohol test. He was tested by his former boss, Roger Penske, during a time in the late 1990s when Unser's excesses were common knowledge. But there was no IRL test after the 2002 incident. And there was none after his most recent run-in with the law, which occurred in January.

After Sunday's qualifying, a day in which Unser was bumped from the bubble and forced to re-qualify next weekend, race steward Brian Barnhart was asked, why hasn't Unser been tested?

"How do you know he hasn't?'' he responded.

Barnhart was told Unser had said he had never been tested.

The race's chief steward replied he was limited in what he could say by medical privacy laws.
The fact is, the IRL has the power to test if it has reasonable suspicion somebody in the garage area has a drug or alcohol issue. And yet, it has never tested Unser. Never. More at Indy Star