I am going to miss Al Hoffman for many reasons. First of all, as a Nitro Junkie (sorry Jackie) since the 60's, I have always followed Funny Car (and Top Fuel) racing and when I became aware of Al Hoffman, I thought it was cool that that he transplanted himself to Florida as did I. It was even better to know that he was based close to Orlando, in Umatilla, FL and so was practically a local. I worked for awhile with one of his girlfriends from his early funny car days and got to hear some funny stories about him, most of which I have long since forgotten. But what stuck with me was that he was a racer's racer, and I always admired the fact that he and his then wife Helen (and team) were able to be so competetive with so little. And Al always put on a great show for the fans, probably due to his match racing days. Al was one of the few racers that John Force really had a rivalry with until later on when Whit Bazemore, Gary Scelzi and Ron Capps started to challenge him. I guess I have always liked the underdog and that kept me rooting for Big Al. Every time a thread would get started about "where are they now" and "wouldn't it be great if" some racers would come back to race again, Al's name would be one of those at the top of the list. I was one of those hoping he'd come back out of retirement for another shot, even if just as a part time deal. Now, it's gonna be like when one of the Beatle's died, and you realize that comeback is never gonna happen.
I leave you with the funniest drag racing fan moment that ever occured to me, at least in my wife's eyes, which of course involves Al Hoffman. I was at the GatorNationals many years ago, not sure what year, but it matters not. I had just bought a new NHRA cap at Nitro Alley and was walking the pits and there was Al Hoffman at the ropes, so I said cool, I want his autograph. Well, when it was my turn to get his sig, Al asks me what or who to write his autograph to, and I think another fuel car started to warm up right then and I thought Al asked me where to sign on my hat, and I said "on the bill" and he apparently thought I told him to sign it "To Bill, thanks, Al". He handed the hat back to me and I just looked at it and went Oh crap...whaddaya gonna do? My wife laughed for 20 min. straight when I told her the story when I got home. I still have the hat and she still laughs whenever she thinks about it, which included tonight when I found out that Al was gone, and I had to break the news to her.
So Al, RIP and thanks for all the memories. You will be missed.
Kurt Leinenkugel
aka: dragfan2
