Just found out about Al Young (and his world travelling satellite) . RIP.

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Cuprum-74

Cuprum-74

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As I was reminiscing about the article about "Smilin" Al Young, retired teacher and former drag racer who road tripped Europe in his 1973 Satellite Sebring Plus (Roadrunner tribute).
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/20...scle-opened-doors-while-traversing-the-planet

I just found out he passed away a few months ago on Dec. 11, 2022.
Remembering Al Young

Another brief history of his career.
Al's story always fascinated me as he was one of the very few (if not the only) Asian Drag racer in the 70's and that road trip to Europe he did awhile back makes me want to kind of do the same thing.
Al Young’s unlikely drag racing career

Sad to see him go, but he lead a good life doing what he loved most.
Man, I was hoping top see him do that road trip to Asia he was planning... RIP


Al young 1970's.png


Al Young.png
 
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I remember reading the stories about him and his wife traveling across Europe in that car. Amazing how he was able to find fellow gearheads everywhere he went. Equally amazing was how well built and durable the car was. I don't recall reading about his drag racing exploits, but that part of the story may have been edited out from the article that I read, or I may have forgotten about it in my old age.
May he rest in peace.
 
missing linc said:
I remember reading the stories about him and his wife traveling across Europe in that car. Amazing how he was able to find fellow gearheads everywhere he went. Equally amazing was how well built and durable the car was. I don't recall reading about his drag racing exploits, but that part of the story may have been edited out from the article that I read, or I may have forgotten about it in my old age.
May he rest in peace.
Click to expand...
Amen. Hope his Wife/ and or Children Carry-on his Legacy.
 
When I heard Al had passed I considered posting an obit, but it was too difficult at the time due to the sadness. I also figured that someone that knew him better than I would likely post something. Though Al was a few years older than me, he was always full of energy, and was an influence on me deciding to return to racing after more than a 30 year absence, following my work retirement a few years ago.

Al and I were not really close friends, he had many more people in his life closer than I, but I can say he was an educated, gracious man, and a citizen of the world with a commitment to teach others. I saw and talked to him several times last season at the track; his heart failure was sudden and unexpected.

I met Al about 50 years ago when I was racing Chevies and he was racing the "Lion Dance" A body Cuda with a 4spd. I was running a Chrysler 4spd behind my big block Chevy, as none of the Chevy trans would hold up to race track duty. At some point in late 70s I decided to try a complete Chrysler race car and Al was one of the influences behind that decision. Around then Al switched to a Torqueflite and relied on another northwest legend, Pat Blais, to build his trans for the remaining decades. Back then, I continued my attempt at stick shift class racing with limited success, and Al with his skill flourished in various forms of "bracket" racing up to and including Super Comp. As a side note, though I've known Pat Blais for about as long, and he is actually a closer friend, I never raced one of his trans until just last year, in my post-retirement, lazy man's race effort.

I'm not up to offering a complete bio on Al, but will offer some remembrances. After the Cuda, Al wanted to go faster and went with a Challenger E body, which I believe ran into the eights. When Al decided to lessen his race load, he donated the car to Seattle's prestigious Museum of History and Industry where it remains on display. Then Al continued to race, but went back to his roots in a way, by driving his B body '70 GTX back and forth to the track and running it in street-able form. Al raced most every weekend for over 50 years at SIR or Bremerton, unless he was out of town for a bigger race somewhere on the west coast.

Al won some big races such as $50k Bracket Shoot Out, in the days when that was really big money. He also won NHRA and AHRA championships, and was inducted in the NHRA Hall of Fame. I've heard it said that he was the most winning bracket racer of all time, and that may be true as he ran thousands of race rounds and won a dominant percentage. He had the Bardahl Oil sponsorship for five decades and I believe he also had close relationship with the Bardahl family. Al tested and proved out a number of race components for manufactures, and I'm sure we can thank him for some of race items we use commonly today.
 
A life worth living!! Great example of going out and doing whatever you are into......or staying in.....but get it done!!
 
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