Race through the Clouds
A Documentary about America’s First Family of Racing

In the shadow of the mountain that inspired “America the Beautiful,” an immigrant family rises to the top of American automobile racing. Unser: Race through the Clouds follows four generations of the Unser family from Pike’s Peak to the Indy 500, shedding light on the American Dream and what it takes to achieve it.

Anyone who doubts that risk-taking and hard work can pay off in this land of opportunity need look no further than the Unsers, the winningest family in racing history.

From the moment Louis and Marie Unser set foot on American soil, theirs is a pioneering adventure story wrought with challenges and adversity that strengthens their will to succeed. The Unsers make their trek west to Colorado in the 1890s and settle at the base of Pike’s Peak, raising three sons who share their jack-of-all-trades father’s fascination with flying machines and automobiles. While others dare to climb the nearby mountain, the Unser boys dream of driving to the top. Jerry Unser’s garage becomes the training ground for these self-taught machinists, fabricators and automotive engineers who’ve been turning out champions for nearly a century.

To date, 12 Unsers have made their mark in the record books: Thirty-eight wins at the Pike’s Peak Hill Climb, arguably the most difficult and dangerous race in the world; first to break the 200 mph barrier on a closed track; the only Triple Crown sweep in history. But their greatest triumphs – and tragedies – would come in America’s heartland, at a place called Indianapolis. One Unser would die there; seven would race there –six in the Indianapolis 500. They would win the big race nine times. No other family even comes close.

As legions of flashy mega-stars rise and fall, the Unsers remain as humble and unassuming as the men and women at the local auto repair shop. They are people who not only dream big dreams, they pick up their tools and muster the grit to make those dreams come true.