On March 20th, 2008 “Atomic” Al Hofmann passed away, leaving drag racing fans without one of the sport’s great grizzled anti-heroes. There are hundreds of great Al Hofmann stories out there and most of them are too awesome to even print but this video serves as a cool reminder of the guy who some race fans loved and others loved to hate. We wish there was an Al Hofmann type guy out there on the tour today as he brought something to the table in terms of attitude and tone that no one really has in the sport anymore. This is a neat look at one of the 1990’s most interesting drag racing personalities and a guy we still miss.

This interview rules for a couple of reasons. Those reasons are Steve Evans and Al Hofmann. Recorded in 1998 shortly after Hofmann picked up GM Performance Parts as a primary backer of his Funny Car operation the interview is a multi-part piece that shows everything from the race shop to the sports bar where Hofmann and crew would hang out during the week.

This was also the time when “Atomic Al” was a giant pain in the ass of John Force. Hofmann played the role of “bad guy” in the match up and he seemed to relish every second. Pay attention to the last couple minutes when he takes a couple jabs at Force and essentially comes right out and says he doesn’t like Force inside or outside of the track.

Good luck getting any driver to do that now!

We miss both of these guys!