RIP Al.............. (2 Viewers)
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coyotedale
Nitro Member
a bit more than a year after leaving my home of So Cal, short stay in Miami, then up to Connecticut. Parents divorced, feeling like a lost teen who doesn't fit into the high school loaded with a bunch of uptight spoiled brats.
Out of desperation I go over to this guys house and bang on the door; he ran an BB/FC. Enter into my life Antone Addesso. Being around a funny car helped establish some sense of normalcy (imagine finding that hanging with Antone).
From there he introduced me to Al, where I find myself spending time at his house when he was with Beverly. They both took me in, and Al asked me to come along and help at the races. That was the first time I was on the other side of the fence, and working on a nitro car.
Al wasn't someone you'd call a rolemodel, he had plenty of flaws. But for a time, he let me experience something I thought would never happen, at a time that really sucked. He showed me what determination was all about, perhaps at the expense of what some would not want to give up. But nonetheless, it was a cool time, an eyeopener, and my first exposure to the inside of pro drag racing.
True grit falls short in describing the man. He was all about racing, nothing more than that. Pretty much all he cared about was racing, making the next race, having enough parts to do it with. Nothing would get in his way. Sadly the sport grew away from that kind of racer. Where getting in the car was his top priority, the sport dicatated that his focus was secondary, where greasing and pampering suits for their money is the top of the list, making next round is incidental.
At the time, I remember his choice was Canadian Club on the rocks,,, perhaps it would be good to toast one of the hardest fuel racers the sport every knew. CC on the rocks, I raise my glass to you.
RIP Alfie
Out of desperation I go over to this guys house and bang on the door; he ran an BB/FC. Enter into my life Antone Addesso. Being around a funny car helped establish some sense of normalcy (imagine finding that hanging with Antone).
From there he introduced me to Al, where I find myself spending time at his house when he was with Beverly. They both took me in, and Al asked me to come along and help at the races. That was the first time I was on the other side of the fence, and working on a nitro car.
Al wasn't someone you'd call a rolemodel, he had plenty of flaws. But for a time, he let me experience something I thought would never happen, at a time that really sucked. He showed me what determination was all about, perhaps at the expense of what some would not want to give up. But nonetheless, it was a cool time, an eyeopener, and my first exposure to the inside of pro drag racing.
True grit falls short in describing the man. He was all about racing, nothing more than that. Pretty much all he cared about was racing, making the next race, having enough parts to do it with. Nothing would get in his way. Sadly the sport grew away from that kind of racer. Where getting in the car was his top priority, the sport dicatated that his focus was secondary, where greasing and pampering suits for their money is the top of the list, making next round is incidental.
At the time, I remember his choice was Canadian Club on the rocks,,, perhaps it would be good to toast one of the hardest fuel racers the sport every knew. CC on the rocks, I raise my glass to you.
RIP Alfie
DrRocket
Nitro Member
A few years ago, on the previous incarnation of this board, someone started a thread to see who could post the best written account of the nitromethane experience. This was my entry. It was my account of my introducing a good friend to the startup experience. I thought of it when I read about Al's passing, as my friend got his first taste from none other than Al Hoffman and his famous BDS Thunderbird. He's been a serious nitro methane junky ever since, and I offer it up here again as a tribute to Al Hoffman, one of my all time favorite Fuel Coup racers.
RIP Al. We'll miss ya man.
First Taste Of Nitromethane.
Years ago, I took a close friend, Paul, to Brainerd International Raceway for the Northstar Nationals. While he knows a lot about cars and owned his own hot rod Cutlass, amazingly, he'd never been to a nitro race before. I decided that needed to change, and told him nothing about what he might expect.
The first car he experienced was Al Hoffman's BDS Thunderbird. (This is when they were still driving the dually with the BDS blower sticking through the hood. '88, I believe.) We came upon them as Al was mixing up a load of nitro. He took a can of green stuff, poured some in, swished it around, then poured some clear stuff in, swished that around some then moved to the car to pour the nitro in. He stopped before he began, thought for a minute, set the jug down and grabbed a can of red stuff from the trailer (Fifth wheel type.) and poured some of that in, thought for another moment, shrugged his shoulders, and poured the remainder of the can in. He dumped all of this into the fuel tank, capped off and made ready to start the car. Al climbed into the seat while his crew guy walked around and checked everything on the engine and made sure everything was buttoned up. He put the starter onto the blower pulley and grabbed the squeeze bottle of alcohol. With a nod from Al, the crewman squeezed the trigger and spun the motor over for about 10 maybe 12 seconds and quit. (I assume to bring the oil pressure up.) He disconnected a jumper on the magneto. Al had hold of the brake lever like a Cowboy has hold of the reins of a bull at the rodeo just before he gives a nod for the gate to open. He nodded one more time. The crewman squeezed the trigger again while holding the bottle to the injector opening. This time the engine coughed to life, and immediately settled into that throaty high RPM sound blown alcohol motors make. Everyone looked around for leaks. Upon a thumbs up from everyone, the crew guy reached down and pulled a lever on the fuel pump. All hell broke loose. The engine took on it's Mr. Hyde personae as the sound level immediately jumped down two octaves and up a couple dozen decibels. The car was rocking side to side on the jack stands snapping, spitting and popping. The exhaust headers started spewing clouds of noxious yellow fumes, and the weaker amongst the fans started scattering. Fine with me, I just shoved Paul up closer to the car. Al got one more grip on the brake lever, gave another nod, and finally gave the throttle a whack. The engine immediately responded with a really loud and sudden WHUFFFF!!!! and the car jerked on the jack stands like the rodeo bull had just had a hit of the electric cattle prod. It sent pit ropes flying, and even more noxious fumes erupted from the pipes. When they whack the throttle like that, the sound level makes an instantaneous jump a couple thousand decibels, and your ears pretty much say "Sc**w it!!" and quit working. You just don't HEAR the sound. You FEEL it. It's like you take your balled up fist and hit yourself on the chest bone. More weaklings scattered, and I held a firm grip on Paul so he couldn't get away. I told Paul later I was certain that, with his fingers firmly in his ears, he cleared 12 inches easy on that first hit. Al cycled the reverser, whacking it a couple of more times. More yellow fumes. More cackling. More noise. You swore the car was trying to leap off of the jack stands. Then the crew guy stuck the alcohol bottle back in the injector hat, and shut the fuel pump off, and the engine regained it's Dr. Jekyll personality, going back to that alcohol sound, which seemed tame now, before finally chortling to a stop. There's always a few moments of stunned silence afterwards, before the fans start chattering and laughing with each other, along with some cheers and whistles. The die hards amongst us scattered off looking for the next car getting ready to fire up. My friend Paul turned around, tears streaming out of his eyes from the fumes, and asked "Good Lord, why didn't you TELL me it was going to be like that?!?!?!?" I just told him "Paul, there's simply no way I could have prepared you for it. You just have to do it." He turned into a junky after that. Couldn't get enough.
RIP Al. We'll miss ya man.
First Taste Of Nitromethane.
Years ago, I took a close friend, Paul, to Brainerd International Raceway for the Northstar Nationals. While he knows a lot about cars and owned his own hot rod Cutlass, amazingly, he'd never been to a nitro race before. I decided that needed to change, and told him nothing about what he might expect.
The first car he experienced was Al Hoffman's BDS Thunderbird. (This is when they were still driving the dually with the BDS blower sticking through the hood. '88, I believe.) We came upon them as Al was mixing up a load of nitro. He took a can of green stuff, poured some in, swished it around, then poured some clear stuff in, swished that around some then moved to the car to pour the nitro in. He stopped before he began, thought for a minute, set the jug down and grabbed a can of red stuff from the trailer (Fifth wheel type.) and poured some of that in, thought for another moment, shrugged his shoulders, and poured the remainder of the can in. He dumped all of this into the fuel tank, capped off and made ready to start the car. Al climbed into the seat while his crew guy walked around and checked everything on the engine and made sure everything was buttoned up. He put the starter onto the blower pulley and grabbed the squeeze bottle of alcohol. With a nod from Al, the crewman squeezed the trigger and spun the motor over for about 10 maybe 12 seconds and quit. (I assume to bring the oil pressure up.) He disconnected a jumper on the magneto. Al had hold of the brake lever like a Cowboy has hold of the reins of a bull at the rodeo just before he gives a nod for the gate to open. He nodded one more time. The crewman squeezed the trigger again while holding the bottle to the injector opening. This time the engine coughed to life, and immediately settled into that throaty high RPM sound blown alcohol motors make. Everyone looked around for leaks. Upon a thumbs up from everyone, the crew guy reached down and pulled a lever on the fuel pump. All hell broke loose. The engine took on it's Mr. Hyde personae as the sound level immediately jumped down two octaves and up a couple dozen decibels. The car was rocking side to side on the jack stands snapping, spitting and popping. The exhaust headers started spewing clouds of noxious yellow fumes, and the weaker amongst the fans started scattering. Fine with me, I just shoved Paul up closer to the car. Al got one more grip on the brake lever, gave another nod, and finally gave the throttle a whack. The engine immediately responded with a really loud and sudden WHUFFFF!!!! and the car jerked on the jack stands like the rodeo bull had just had a hit of the electric cattle prod. It sent pit ropes flying, and even more noxious fumes erupted from the pipes. When they whack the throttle like that, the sound level makes an instantaneous jump a couple thousand decibels, and your ears pretty much say "Sc**w it!!" and quit working. You just don't HEAR the sound. You FEEL it. It's like you take your balled up fist and hit yourself on the chest bone. More weaklings scattered, and I held a firm grip on Paul so he couldn't get away. I told Paul later I was certain that, with his fingers firmly in his ears, he cleared 12 inches easy on that first hit. Al cycled the reverser, whacking it a couple of more times. More yellow fumes. More cackling. More noise. You swore the car was trying to leap off of the jack stands. Then the crew guy stuck the alcohol bottle back in the injector hat, and shut the fuel pump off, and the engine regained it's Dr. Jekyll personality, going back to that alcohol sound, which seemed tame now, before finally chortling to a stop. There's always a few moments of stunned silence afterwards, before the fans start chattering and laughing with each other, along with some cheers and whistles. The die hards amongst us scattered off looking for the next car getting ready to fire up. My friend Paul turned around, tears streaming out of his eyes from the fumes, and asked "Good Lord, why didn't you TELL me it was going to be like that?!?!?!?" I just told him "Paul, there's simply no way I could have prepared you for it. You just have to do it." He turned into a junky after that. Couldn't get enough.
Professor Dave
Nitro Member
I liked his grit and the way he loved racing Force. The last time I saw the guy was last summer when his kid raced at the points race at Lebanon Valley. He was pretty unpretentious, just another guy helping his kid out at the track. You would have never known he was a legend of the sport.
Shazam
Nitro Member
Seems like we always hope that guys like Al will come back for another shot at the race track. Time has caught up with another one of our heroes.
Al probably did the most with the least of any fuel racer ever. I totally respect what he did and remember those funny stories that Jimbo would tell about.
Rest in Peace Al. You were a true drag racer.
Al probably did the most with the least of any fuel racer ever. I totally respect what he did and remember those funny stories that Jimbo would tell about.
Rest in Peace Al. You were a true drag racer.
Heather Roberts
Nitro Member
When i first went to the races winston finals '91 i got introduced to world of racing i love and enjoy being around all the time
i got to know some of the racers and admired others, Al was the guy that was the tough as nails driver whom seemed like you couldn't approach
couple years later i was in phoenix at First Round Draft and I was sitting with some friends when Al walked in and sat down with us.
he had a soft side to him.....just not seen alot around the race track
after that through a relationship with a crewmember i was around there more Al had his moments, i walked away from those, but even after that relationship ended he would always say hi and ask how things were
i know the last couple of years he's been happy living with susie and although i hadn't seen them I had heard from friends things were going well
last night i got the call while working at the office from south carolina that he had passed
its been a rough couple weeks loosing some instrumental people in the world of cars and racing
wether or not you liked Al or not one had to respect the privater that didn't care what others said and went out and kicked alot of driver's tails at the track
i know that the rivarly between Al and force was great from both a spectator side and one that worked and was around the races more
RIP Al
i got to know some of the racers and admired others, Al was the guy that was the tough as nails driver whom seemed like you couldn't approach
couple years later i was in phoenix at First Round Draft and I was sitting with some friends when Al walked in and sat down with us.
he had a soft side to him.....just not seen alot around the race track
after that through a relationship with a crewmember i was around there more Al had his moments, i walked away from those, but even after that relationship ended he would always say hi and ask how things were
i know the last couple of years he's been happy living with susie and although i hadn't seen them I had heard from friends things were going well
last night i got the call while working at the office from south carolina that he had passed
its been a rough couple weeks loosing some instrumental people in the world of cars and racing
wether or not you liked Al or not one had to respect the privater that didn't care what others said and went out and kicked alot of driver's tails at the track
i know that the rivarly between Al and force was great from both a spectator side and one that worked and was around the races more
RIP Al
The Swegian
Nitro Member
This is indeed sad news. Like David said in his post above, when standing next to Al's car in the pits when they fired her, we always knew Al was good for a few throttle whacks so we made sure we'd remain in the vicinity when we thought it might be getting close to the time. R.I.P. Al.
nitrofishblue
Nitro Member
I introduced my then new husband to the sport of drag racing at the Columbus event. Right off the bat, his favorite was Al. He loved Al's dirt under the fingernails approach to the sport.
For my husband's next birthday, I made an 8 1/2 x 11 picture, using all the pictures I had of Al. I mailed it to Al, asking him to autograph it for my husband. In less than a week, the picture was returned with a nice birthday greeting for my husband. He still has the framed picture hanging on the wall.
Thanks for the memories Al May you spend your time now racing down heaven's quarter mile with Eric and Blaine.
For my husband's next birthday, I made an 8 1/2 x 11 picture, using all the pictures I had of Al. I mailed it to Al, asking him to autograph it for my husband. In less than a week, the picture was returned with a nice birthday greeting for my husband. He still has the framed picture hanging on the wall.
Thanks for the memories Al
May you spend your time now racing down heaven's quarter mile with Eric and Blaine.My favorite Hoffman story....
Years back the Houston race was on the same weekend as the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. A TV reporter was doing an interview with Al about if he thought the rodeo would hurt attendance.....Al's priceless reply was " Have you ever been to the rodeo and seen a Bull explode and catch fire?"
RIP Al
Years back the Houston race was on the same weekend as the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. A TV reporter was doing an interview with Al about if he thought the rodeo would hurt attendance.....Al's priceless reply was " Have you ever been to the rodeo and seen a Bull explode and catch fire?"
RIP Al
Joker
Nitro Member
One of my fav Al stories was back at Houston 10 years or longer ago. I was sitting there watching Al do some clutch work and a young man walked up and said, "You know Al, if you put some flames on that car, it would look b*tchin!". And Al looked at his crew chief Jimbo Ermalovich and then back at the guy and said, "Son, Jimbo right there tunes my car and if you wait a few rounds I'm sure I'll have some real flames coming from it." I was cracking up.
Joker741
Nitro Member
Update from Jodi Hofmann:
I just posted a link to the guestbook of the official al hofmann website, Remember when signing this guest book, on our page please visit and sign. we will have the complete link to the entire site back in action hopefully later this evening.
It will be posted on our myspace page as well as Hofmann Racing
I should have info on services later on this evening Wayne flew to florida first thing this morning. NO arrangments have been made as of yet. despite of what you may of heard. the first meeting in this regards is not untill 4 pm this afternoon. I will fly out with the kids as soon as I have the word.
I can not begin to express our sadness but all of your kind words and comments have been such a blessing to us and his grandchildren!
Wayne's step mom Susie has been in touch with her brother Johnny West and long time friend and fellow racer Chuck Etchells to help us get together a family statement for NHRA. We have had such outpouring support from the entire NHRA family as well as IHRA. retired drivers and present..., Again "WE THANK YOU"
I have been on the phone with Helen several times today, her and Al's youngest daughter Mariah as well as the oldest Christine are holding their own.
we are a strong family and we will be ok.
as I keep stating we are very honored to of been able to call Al Hofmann "DAD"
I just posted a link to the guestbook of the official al hofmann website, Remember when signing this guest book, on our page please visit and sign. we will have the complete link to the entire site back in action hopefully later this evening.
It will be posted on our myspace page as well as Hofmann Racing
I should have info on services later on this evening Wayne flew to florida first thing this morning. NO arrangments have been made as of yet. despite of what you may of heard. the first meeting in this regards is not untill 4 pm this afternoon. I will fly out with the kids as soon as I have the word.
I can not begin to express our sadness but all of your kind words and comments have been such a blessing to us and his grandchildren!
Wayne's step mom Susie has been in touch with her brother Johnny West and long time friend and fellow racer Chuck Etchells to help us get together a family statement for NHRA. We have had such outpouring support from the entire NHRA family as well as IHRA. retired drivers and present..., Again "WE THANK YOU"
I have been on the phone with Helen several times today, her and Al's youngest daughter Mariah as well as the oldest Christine are holding their own.
we are a strong family and we will be ok.
as I keep stating we are very honored to of been able to call Al Hofmann "DAD"
Bobby
Nitro Member
In 2002 at the Gatornationals, I bought a K+N air filter at the manufacturer's midway. Because they were sponsoring Al and Jim. I 've used them in all my cars and trucks since.
I took it back to their pit after buying it and Jim and Al both signed it. It's been hanging on a pegboard in my garage since that day. The last day Al ever drove a nitro funny car. I was glad I got it signed when I did.
I took it back to their pit after buying it and Jim and Al both signed it. It's been hanging on a pegboard in my garage since that day. The last day Al ever drove a nitro funny car. I was glad I got it signed when I did.
