The thought of anybody having to buy Al Unser Jr. a ride is truly unimaginable, especially if you're familiar with his body of work in open-wheel racing the past 20 years.

The fact it happened just a little over a week before the Indy Racing League season opener makes it even harder to comprehend.

But the reality of this story is that until a member of Tony George's staff found Unser a sponsor and put them together with Tom Kelley's team, this two-time Indy 500 winner had nothing for 2002.

That is correct. The driver brought into the IRL by George in 2000 to raise the bar, add credibility and sell more tickets had been shopped around the league like an add-on instead of an icon.

At one time in the not too distant past, if Unser Jr. had been on the open market he would have been snapped up in a matter of hours. But this is a different time and a lot has changed since Junior dominated the 1994 CART season.

In the past few months, since Rick Galles folded his tent and left Junior with his thumb out, A.J. Foyt, Chip Ganassi, Eddie Cheever and John Menard all took a pass on this former champion before Kelley signed him to a one-year contract Thursday.

"Yeah, the past few months it's been bleak at the brightest of times," said Unser, who knocked '99 IRL champ Greg Ray out of Kelley's seat when a company named Corteco came to his rescue. "I must say it wasn't looking too good."

Nor was the 39-year-old veteran until recently.

His face and body bloated by hard living, his family life shattered in a nasty divorce and the indignation of being let go by Roger Penske after 1999 were the lowlights of Unser's fall from grace.

George offered him big bucks (reportedly $20 million over five years) to come to the IRL in 2000 but he's hardly been the star -- with just two wins in two years against much less formidable competition that he faced in CART, where he twice won the title.

He spewed the IRL party line (after badmouthing the all-oval track series in 1996-97) and really embarrassed himself by suggesting Juan Montoya didn't have the proper respect for Indy and could be carried out in a body bag in May of 2000 (oh, by the way, Montoya drove to a dominating victory in his first-ever start).

Some of his close friends and family denied there was anything wrong with Junior, while others professed to know better yet he still remained that crowd-pleasing "Little Al" to most fans.

For anyone who ever marveled at his prowess, savvy and smarts behind the wheel it was tough to watch this overall deterioration.

And tougher when you remember how full of life he was while standing in Victory Lane with his kids at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1992 and '94.

Nowadays, you don't ask how Cody (his oldest daughter who was paralyzed by a virus three years ago) is progressing or if Mini Al's (his oldest son) racing career is coming along because, frankly, you're not sure if Al could answer either question.

But what is obvious is Unser's dramatic physical renaissance. He's shed 30 pounds after a tough training program and he looks better than he has in years.

Kelley didn't dodge the fact his new driver brings some big question marks.

"I think all of us need a wake-up call every now and then and maybe Al lost his edge or whatever," Kelley said. "But he looks great and I'm excited to think he's part of our team."

Asked if he was worried about having a future, Unser paused, then said: "It was frustrating and I took a lot of time to think about the situation and you know how the rumor mill is in this business.

"But my New Year's resolution is to prove everybody wrong and all I can do is go win races and turn the tables. Everybody is going to see a new Al Unser Jr."

Naturally, the motorsports media didn't create any of Unser's problems these past few years and we didn't cause any car owners to shy away from him.

What we will undoubtedly do is pull for him to get things back together. He can't recapture that "aw shucks" innocence that endeared him to everyone in the '80s or his ability to win from anywhere on the grid.

But, if the new Al Unser Jr. can ever revisit the happiness with his kids and daily life like the old Al Unser Jr., that would be the best comeback of all.