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Al Brewer Continues To Fulfill A Promise
By Flash McDirt | October 25, 2007
From The Buffalo News:
By Larry Ott
Al Brewer promised his dying wife Joyce, who passed away from cancer July 16, that he would keep competing in the sport they loved and shared together. His participation in this weekend’s Super Late Model racing activity at Little Valley Speedway is part of him keeping that promise.
Brewer, 51, has been racing since 1971 and has won features and championships through the years in full-fender dirt track racing.
“I married Joyce in 1997 and there was a time about 15 years ago that I started to lose my enthusiasm for the sport and it was her that encouraged me to keep going and to keep trying,” said Brewer. “She supported me every step of the way and in the last few months, knowing what she faced, she once again asked me to keep racing the car.
“It’s been hard without her and I miss her. She wanted me to keep racing and that’s what I’m doing.”
While his wife’s health concerns were emotionally draining, Brewer had at least one boost last month when his late father Fran, who died in 1997, was inducted into the Freedom Raceway Wall of Fame.
“Fran Brewer was invaluable to me when I first began promoting Freedom,” recalled Freedom promoter Dan Hoffmann. “He gave me great advice and guidance and belongs without a doubt on our wall of fame. The Brewer family is important to us here at Freedom.”
Fran Brewer began his racing career in the 1950s at Cuba Lake but quit driving because he prefered working on the cars. He used homemade parts and enjoyed winning on a strict budget.
“In 1971, I started racing in a partnership with my dad,” said Al Brewer. “That’s why my car is numbered No. 71 all these years. My dad told me that he got me into race driving because he was trying to keep me alive. I was young and sort of a hot rod on the streets, so my dad figured that I could go fast on a race track instead of the street. It was safer for everyone.
“We did a lot with our homemade parts and my dad always taught me that in life and racing if you can stretch a dollar far enough that this was so important. It’s harder now to make your own parts but we still try to build what we can. Even the parts we get from manufacturers we put in ourselves.”
Al Brewer works as the transportation supervisor for the Friendship School District and has seven kids — Elizabeth, Alan, Lucas and stepchildren Tonya, Titus, Christy and Sarah.
Joyce was a part of the pit crew with Chris Zuver, Steve Perkins, Sarah Arnold, Jeff Chamberlain, Lee Licht and Tommy and Brett Ritter. Sponsorship comes from Jerge’s, R&M Home & Auto, Amsoil and Cousin Design.
“I’ve enjoyed my racing years and while I can’t say it’s been financially prosperous, it’s been a lot of fun and entertaining. It’s been a family oriented sport for me and I’ll finish out the Little Valley schedule this season as well at the Fall Classic at McKean County in late September and then we’ll see what happens from there.”
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