Race legend visits

Auto racing legend Al Unser Jr. came to South Coast Plaza on Thursday night to greet a small group of fans and sign autographs along with young IndyCar drivers Graham Rahal and Ryan Hunter-Reay on the eve of the Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Unser Jr. will be the grand marshal of the race, which he won six times. His biggest racing accomplishment, however, was winning the Indianapolis 500 twice in the early 1990s.

The appearance at Macy’s Men’s Store was not widely publicized and most of the dozen or so fans standing in line at 5:30 p.m. had just stumbled across the event while shopping.

First in line was Grant Wiklund of Newport Beach, a racing fan who plans to head up to the grand prix track this weekend.

“I walked in to buy a pair of shorts for my kid and asked what it’s about,” Wiklund said.

The racers came to the shop to promote the new vintage IndyCar clothing line put out by sponsor IZOD and sold at Macy’s. They kept the expectant crowd waiting for 45 minutes as they joked around through media interviews in the back room, then they made their way down an escalator to cheers and claps.

Near the stage where they received fans sat a 1984 black race car with silver Coors Light decals and wide, slick tires that Unser Jr. raced at Long Beach.

Unser called the race the “mother of street racing in North America.”

“To run here and win here, the tradition here is better than anywhere else in the country,” he said.

Meanwhile, downstairs in the waiting area, Ruth Randle stood with a bag in her hand waiting for an autograph. She was just shopping for shoes with a friend and is by no means an auto racing fan, she said, but heard all the commotion and jumped in line.

“I have a brother-in-law who’s just nuts about this racing stuff,” Randle said.

Reporter ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].