Bio

In the winter of 1971, Al and Fran Brewer started building and racing Late Model stock cars in Belfast, New York, and have not missed a racing season in twenty-eight years.

With Al driving and both he and Fran working on the cars, they had a remarkable fortune and skill at staying in the racing business and still being competitive. One of the three drivers that was called the “Belfast Connection,” Al was the least financed of the trio. It was Al and his dad, with used equipment that showed up for a race, sometimes looking as they did not belong in the more expensive late model class. Whether they looked part or not the Brewer’s came to race, and the came to win!

In 1983 Al had five feature wins, and two track championships. Al took a win at Circle-K Speedway and Tri-County Speedway early in the season and finished consistently in the top five week after week. During the final week of racing Al took the track championships. Al would pick up his fifth win driving for Larry Tassilo at Woodhull Raceway. That win set the stage for the 1984 season.

Al Brewer teamed up with Larry Tassilo of Tassis Chassis for the 1984 season. Larry was the crew chief and Al was the driver. The dynamic duo copped 21 feature wins at six different tracks. The duo visited eleven different tracks in three states. They won at six of those eleven race tracks. The duo won at these tracks: McKean County, seven wins; Stateline, one visit, one win; Genesee County, two wins; Bradford Speedway, four visits, two seconds, two wins; Woodhull Raceway, four visits, four wins; Circle-K, five wins. Al also visited these other tracks in 1984: Sharon Speedway, Eriez Speedway, Clearfield Speedway, Raceway 7 and Selinsgrove Speedway. The dynamic duo took the season championship race at Circle-K and McKean County Fair Raceway. He won the 79 lap Kendall Fair Invitational at MCFR. The win was worth $1000. The twenty-first win came at MCFR during the 2nd Annual Quaker State Invitational, which Al lead 81 or 84 laps to secure his seventh MCFR win and the $1000 first place prize money. The dynamic duo finished fourth in points at MCFR despite not running there until the July 4th special.

1985, Al was back on his own. Al and Fran did not get the new car ready until mid May, but they ended up with three wins. He won once at McKean County, where he was leading the points during the season at one time before falling back to fourth in the final point sheet. He copped a win at Genesee County Fair Speedway and at Perry Speedway. The Brewer’s ran Bradford Speedway on Sunday’s and finished seventh in points.

1986, Al had nine wins notched in his belt. Al won five shows at Genesee County and finished third in points after running his first full season at the Batavia oval. He took two wins at Perry and a win at Circle-K, the wto tracks where he split his Friday nights. The Brewer’s copped only one win at MCFR, but finished a impressive third in points and a seventh in the final run down at Bradford Speedway

Al and Fran picked up a new car in 1987 from Larry Tassilo. John Arnold joined the team, taking over most of the body work and car body design, with Al, Fran and John Wilson doing more of the engine and chassis work. Al picked up eleven wins in 1987, most since 1984, when he drove for Tassilo. Al took the Mid and End of Season Championship races at Genesee County and lost the point title by one point to neighbor and good friend Tom Taber. Al picked up a pair of wins at MCFR where he finished 7th in points and rqn away with wins at Tri-County with four and stole three wins at Bradford. Al took second in points at Tri-County and tenth at Bradford. The Brewer’s also made a visit to Stateline Speedway.

In 1998, Al received major backing from the late Dominick Teddy and Kelly Hamill, two businessmen from Rochester, NY. Al drove the new BRC War Eagle, built by Jim Bernheisel to victory eight times, twice at GCFS, where he finished third in points and third in the Teddy Marketing Challenge Series. Al also took one event at Bradford Speedway and finished 3rd in points at the little ¼ oval. He took his third title of his career at MCFR, where he had five wins, two of those were the championship races. Fran Brewer stepped aside and Larry Tassilo stepped in as crew-chief for the big shows at Hagerstown Speedway in Maryland. Al qualifed for both shows that paid $10,000 each to win. Al finished sixteenth and eleventh respecively against some tough southern competition. Al also visited Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio, Selinsgrove Speedway in Selinsgrove, PA and Fulton Speedway in Fulton, NY.

In 1989, Al was back with his father as the Teddy-Hamill team left the Brewer’s for another driver. The Brewer’s were left with very litle. Al built his own car, so he could race that year. With very little funds the Brewer’s picked up a win at Bradford Speedway, where they finished every show in the top four and won the point championship. Al ran MCFR on Saturday’s and picked up seventh in the points and took a win at Clinton County Fair Speedway. Al Brewer was ready to hang it up at the end of the 1989 season because of lack of financial support. Al also ran at these fine racing facilities in 1989: Sharon Speedway, Selinsgrove Speedway, Hagerstown Speedway, Genesee County Fair Speedway, Freedom Raceway (formerly Tri-County) and Tyler County Speedway in West Virginia.

Stepping into the picture came John Arnold, a former part-time crew member. Jim Jerge, a local businessman put some money into the team. The first item purchased was a brand new C.J. Rayburn chassis. The new Brewer-Arnold Racing Team traveled south to Putnam County Raceway in Satasuma, Florida for “Speedweek 90”. Engine trouble kept the team from doing well, but they did qualify for two of the shows. 1990 was a long season, but the new team jelled at the end and took three wins in the last month of racing. Al won two of the last three shows at MCFR, including the End of Season Championship. Al ventured to Sportsman Speedway in Knox, PA and took another win there. Al qualified for the $8,000 to win Winchester 200 in Winchester, VA and finished 11th. The team missed the whole month of August because of engine problems, but still managed an impressive third place in points at MCFR and eleventh place at Lernerville Speedway with only half of a season of racing at the famous Sarver, PA oval. The Brewer-Arnold Racing Team visited these fine facilities in 1990: Clinton County Speedway in Lock Haven, PA; Eriez Speedway in Hammett, PA; Hagerstown Speedway in Maryland, Potomac Speedway in Budds Creek, MD; Lincoln Speedway in Hanover, PA and Freedom Raceway in Delevan, NY.

1991 started off with high hopes. The team again started the season at Speedweek in Florida. This time, the trip was a whole lot more successful. Al set seventh fastest time and finished seventh on opening night. Al qualified for the big $15,000 Hava-Tampa Winternationals by winning the second consolation event and finished a respectable 14th after starting 20th. Al became the first driver in western New York and Pennsylvania to qualify for a Hava-Tampa event. Today, the Hava-Tampa series is the leading sanctioning series for dirt late models in the country. Al topped several national drivers during the five nights of racing at Putnam County. Al topped Freddy Smith, Knoxville, TN; Bob Pierce, Danville, IL; Billy Moyer, Batesville AR; Steve Francis, Ashland, KY; and Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, TN. These drivers race full-time and have unlimited budgets. Four of those drivers; Freddy Smith, Billy Moyer, Steve Francis and Ronnie Johnson have nine Dirt Track Would Championships ($50,000 to win), two Dream 100s ($100 grand to win) and six World 100 wins ($30,000 to win) between them. Ronnie Johnson comes from a racing family as his father, Joe Johnson won the World 600 (now known as the Coca-Cola 600) at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1963. Freddy Smith was the 1996 Hava-Tampa champion. Billy Moyer won the 1997 Hava-Tampa title. Steve Francis h as claimed the STARS title the last four years (1996-1999). As the list shows, the competition were not pushovers. Al picked up four wins in 1991. He finished second in points at MCFR and won both the Mid and End of Season Championship races, he won the late model special on July 3 at Freedom Raceway and took their $1000 prize money. Al made his initital visit to Windber Spedway (PA) and topped track champion, Robby Marhefka to take home the popular win. Al and the team received a lot of recognition from the racing press, drivers and tire manufacturers, because of that popular win. Al finished a fine fifth in points at Lernerville as he finished every show in the top seven. Al also ran these fine tracks in 1991: Woodhull Raceway, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway, Bedford Speedway, Winchester Speedway and Hagerstown Speedway.

The Brewer Arnold Racing Team had real high hopes for 1992. Alan picked up four wins, but lack of financial support nearly put the team under. Stan Hover a local distributor of Hoosier Racing Tires and present day ARCA car owner kept an opening for the team. The tire sponsor worked out real well. Al took a pair of wins at MCFR, winning the Mid Season Championship for the second year in a row! Al blew the competition away at Woodhull during the late model reunion and he copped a win at Bradford Speedway. Al finished third in points at McKean County and seventh in the final point sheet at Bradford, where he made limited appearances at. The Brewer-Arnold Racing Team visited these other three tracks: Freedom Raceway, Bedford Speedway and Lernerville Speedway.

At the end of the 1992 season, the Brewer-Arnold Racing Team dissolved. The new team sold a lot of equipment to have a race car for the 1993 season. With the help of his father, Fran, the Brewer’s purchased a used limited late model and converted it into a Late Model Super Stock. Al ordered a new late model chassis from Larry Tassilo. With the help of his father Fran and Chris Zuver, the team debut the second week of May at Freedom Raceway, where Al finished second the first two weeks. After that, Al Brewer put on a display of racing that many have not seen at Freedom Raceway in a very long time. Al would record a string of six feature wins in a row and a total of 14 wins, 3 seconds and 3 thirds. McKean County was the track where the late model ran. Al finished in the top five 22 times out of a possible 34 events and he finished 28 time in the top ten. Those numbers compute to a 82.3 top ten percentage rate.
The 1994 season started off with the super stock being converted back to a limited late model and was run at Bradford Speedway. Fran Brewer stepped aside for health reasons as Chris Zuver and Joyce Brewer took more responsibility for the team. Al recorded two wins at Bradford Speedway and finished third in points. Al ran the late model at MCFR and recorded three top five finishes. At Bradford, Al recorded the two wins, eight top three finishes, 10 top five finishes and twelve top ten finishes out of fourteen races. At Woodhull for the Reunion in the Boonies show, Al finished seventh running a six year old 358 small block motor with cast iron heads! Al also drove in a limited late special at Freedom Raceway, where he finished a solid third.

The Brewer Racing team mad a big change in racing for 1995. Al Brewer started driving a 358 DIRT modified for the first time in his 23 years behind the wheel of a race car. Al ran at Freedom Raceway with the super stock and at Woodhull Raceway with the modified. Al would run twelve shows at Freedom. The team would record three wins, and seven top five finishes. The season at Freedom ended prematurely with engine problems during the Western New York Late Model Super Stock Shootout! Al was leading the points and would probably would have been the point champion, but that did not happen. Al turn heads when he jumped into the modified. In his second night out with the modified, Al passed fourteen cars and looking to take his first top three finish and possibly his first ever win in a modified, but the inexperience of driving a modified caught him when the second place car spun in front of him. It was disappointing, but the team realized we could be a force in the modified division. Al would run sixteen modified shows and recorded two top five and eleven top ten finishes in his first year in a open wheel modified. Al also made a visit to Genesee County Fair Speedway in Batavia for the first time since 1989. The 1995 season was not the most profitable season, but it was the best season, the Brewer’s have had since 1992. The big key for success in the modified was team chemistry, a good working car and an excellent driver! Al Brewer qualified for every show he entered in the 1995 season.

The 1996 racing season, The Brewer Racing team was again driving the modified at Woodhull. The team was looking forward to a full season in the modified, but new rule changes by the sanctioning body put a stranglehold on the budget and the modified was sold after only six races. Al finished fifth on the opening night and also recorded two top ten finishes in the other five shows. Al was also called on twice for driving duties in other competitor cars. The first call to duty was in May at Freedom Raceway where Al drove the Jay Fellows #14J super stock. Al felt the car out in the heat race as he finished fifth and would start fifteenth in the feature consisting of twenty-one cars. Al improved to tenth position by the halfway mark in the twenty lap event when a caution slowed the field, then on the restart, the entire field dove to the bottom groove and the veteran driver from Belfast went to the top of the track and passed seven cars in turns one and two! After that it was sizing the other two competitors and making his patented slingshot move out of turn four with two laps remaining to win his 18th feature in his last thirty-five events he had entered at Freedom. This means in those thirty-five shows, Al has won a whopping 51% of those events. The other call came from the Bob Fritz late model team from Butler, Pennsylvania. Their driver, is the legendary Bob Wearing Sr. who has 616 wins in his thirty-plus years behind the wheel. Mr. Wearing was unable to race a NEWS show at Challenger Raceway in Indiana, PA. Forty-one late models from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia were on hand. Al would start the fourth and final heat event in the fifth position. With national stars, Chub Frank and Davey Johnson and West Virginia hot shoe Gary Dalton in the event, winning was going to be very tough. Al did not win, but he finished a very impressive third behind the two national stars. Al would start the feature event in the fourth position and would fallout of contention with fuel pressure problems, resulting in a disappointing 20th spot. The Bob Fritz team was still upbeat after the event on the driving ability that was shown, as it was the BrewMasters first late model show in over two years and the fuel problem was out of his control.

The 1997 season was tough in the beginning but the final weeks were just outstanding! The Brewer’s started off the year at Freedom Raceway in the super stock class. A poor working car kept the team scrambling to find the correct set-up. In mid-May the team took a blow when Fran passed away. This seemed to turn the team around alit bit as Al would win a few weeks later to keep his win streak of one feature win per season that goes back to 1983. The super stock was sold mid-way through the season and the team scrambled and put their new Bullitt Chassis together for the late model ranks. The late model debut came on August 2, at McKean County. This was Al’s first race at MCR since 1994. The Belfast driver remember the fast way around the Smethport oval quickly as he came from the seventeenth starting position to finish an impressive third the first night out! Al doubled that feat the following weekend at Woodhull during the Late Model Reunion. Al came from eighteenth in the field and finished a very close third behind Todd Andrews and Bob Close, whom both had started on the front row! The Brewer Racing team would run five late model shows and would record 2 top three finishes and four top ten finishes in the five shows the late model ran. What had impressed ourselves with the new car is the starting positions for four of the fives shows were sixteen or worse and Al Brewer still found a way for a good finish on used tires and a steel block motor against many aluminum motors.

The 1998 season was on of the worst season the team has ever seen. We entered in selected shows close to home. The team only entered eleven events in 1998. The car was fast each week, but we seemed to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time week in and week out. Al did pull of three top three finishes and six top ten finishes in 1998. We had three other apparent top five finishes that were snatched away by contact with slower lap cars. 1998 also brought the end of a long winning streak for Al Brewer. The Belfast driver had won one feature every year since 1983. That impressive string of victories consisted of 91 wins in the last fifteen years. That is a average of six wins per season since 1983. The white #71 Pontiac Firebird of Al Brewer was seen racing at these fine facilites during the 1998 season: McKean County Raceway, Freedom Raceway, Woodhull Racewy and Little Valley Speedway.

The 1999 season started off much like 1998 ended. It seemed the team was regressing more than progressing. Al pulled off a few top five finishes and it looked as our luck was changing and our luck went back to bad. After the disappointing 9th place finish in the Woodhull LM Reunion, the team realized the suspenion on the car was outdated and a new car was in desperate need! Bob Fritz came back into the picture as the Brewer Team bought one of three race cars that was on hand in the Bob Fritz garage. The former Tim Hitt Rocket chassis “House Car” that had been recently driven by Bob Wearing Sr. became the Al Brewer’s new stallion! The team debut the car late August at MCR. The car qualified well and ran in the top eight for most of race before heating problems ended the debut early. The heating problem was corrected for the following week as the MACS circuit came to MCR for their first ever event at the Smethport oval. Al ended up third in his heat finishing behind track champion Bob Close and former champion, Dick Barton. Al ended up 9th in the 50 lap affair in his second night out in the new car against the traveling stars! The Brewer Racing Team entered 15 events in 1999 with two top five finishes and eight top ten finishes. The Brewer Racing Team visited these other facilities in 1999: Woodhull, Freedom and Little Valley Speedway.

The new millenium, year 2000! A new motor for the late model was in place and the anticipation of sprint car racing at Freedom Raceway was in order this past year. The competition level stepped up a few notches and the racing was tight each week at MCR. Al entered 12 late model events at MCR and placed in the top 15 points. The best finish of the year was third place finish in the inaugural ULMS event at New Utica Rome Speedway, finishing behind Bob Close and Ed Carley. The best performance of year might have been the very last night of racing at MCR, during the MACS “Hubber 50”. Al had a pole starting spot in his heat and had a ignition wire break, resulting the car to lose all power. Al was regulated to a last place finish and a terrible 12th (last) place starting spot in one of the two consolation events that allowed only the top three to advance. Not only did Al qualify, he nearly won the event, coming from last to finish 2nd place! A 12th place finish in the 50 lap main event was bittersweet. We knew we had a top five finishing car but to beat the odds that were thrown at us, has given us some hope going into 2001! The sprint car season was short lived. Al ran only three events before the car owner was finished for the year. Opening night at Freedom, Al would start last in his heat only to make it to turn one when two other cars spun in front of him and he nipped the left front tire and broke the steering. He started 19th in the feature and advance to 12th by lap 2, when the motor went up in smoke! Al came back a few weeks later to win his first ever sprint car race! It was only a qualifying event, but he had to battle for the lead early on and then distanced himself to victory. In the feature, Al started third and was running in the top three for the entire evening battling for second when he made a error of sprint car driving inexperience that cost him two spots. He ended up finishing 5th! This would be the best finish for the sprint car as it was only ran twice after this event, once by Al (magento) who had electrical problems and another driver ran the car while team took a week vacation ended up destroying the other motor.

2001: Al Brewer and the entire Brewer Racing Team had one big nightmare. The season started of real well, winning preliminary events early on and some real solid finishes in the main events. Then there was the crash. The worst crash in Al’s racing history. Al had just passed the eighth car in the first five laps and sixth car in the past lap when the rear end of the car broke and sent Al in a series of nasty flips. The car was destroyed and the season was over.

2002 . The team debut their new Rocket Chassis at the Olean Car Show with the team switching colors from white to black. The season started off well with a third place finish on opening night at Smethport. The first five events featured three top ten finishes. The Renegade Dirt Car Series made their first ever appearance at Smethport and Al qualified thru his qualifying event defeating national stars, Steve Shaver, John Mason and Greg Lucas. A third place finish in the annual Woodhull Late Model Reunion set “The BrewMaster” up for his season ending win at Ace High Speedway in northeast Pennsylvania. The 100 lap main event saw the black #71 bolt from the fourth place starting spot and into the lead on lap 7 and the fans witness the Al Brewer, the fans of western New York are aware of. The BrewMaster led 75 of 100 laps and at one point had a full straight away lead, survived numerous caution events, two fuel stops and lapped all but the top four cars enroute to winning the Chlli 100!

2003: Al started out the season with the old white Bullitt chassis at McKean County. The plan was to see if the old car could bring some good finishes at the local tracks and save the Rocket for the special events. The first ULMS show, Al got caught up in a big pile up at MCR in the opening laps and the ole Bullit was done for the year. The Black car was brought back out, but the team chased and chased setups all season long at McKean County and Little Valley. The dry summer caused some serious slick racing conditions which the team could never find a proper set up for. The highlight of the year was setting 4th fast time for the MACS event at MCR out of 43 entries.

2004: Well with a tough 2003 season, the team changed colors and went with blue and with a white thunderbolt instead of the traditional yellow. It seemed to helped at the start of the season with fine runs at McKean County Raceway. Strong runs ended up with disappointing finishes, but the team never quit. A broken rack kept the team from having a solid top five in the ULMS Smartie Jones 30 at Gamblers Raceway Park along with broken rear end gears again at Gamblers in the $5000 to win Roll the Dice Classic kept the team from having solid top five finishes. The BrewCrew went to Woodhull for the annual Invitational and things seemed to change there. A solid heat race win, followed by winning the Race of Champions event and a solid second place finish was in sight when the rear end broke again ending a solid evening. The highlight of the season was a third place finish in the final 2004 ULMS point standings.

2005: New life was brought into the race team for the 2005 season as Jerge’s Buyers of Scrap Metal joined the race team pumping new funding into the team. The team ran the entire season at McKean County Raceway where Al finished tenth in the final point standings and was 12th in the final point standings one point out of tenth at Little Valley Speedway despite missing the final night of racing due to a friend being hospitalized. At the conclusion of the season a new Rocket Chassis was purchased for the 2006 season.

2006: A new car, and the first aluminum block motor in the BrewMaster’s career had the team all excited for the season. Unfortunately McKean County Raceway decided not to run the late models as a weekly class and special events for the late model division were far and few in the first few months. With limited track time, the team struggled to find the right proper setups that suited Al with the new car and as the season was coming to a close, the BrewCrew found that hot setup that Al liked and it paid off with a 7th place finish at a unsanctioned late model event at MCR. That was followed up with a stellar fourth place finish at Little Valley and Al pulled off a great second place finish in his heat at the ULMS $10,000 to win finale at MCR and came home with a top fifteen finish. This event drew 59 race cars with many quality cars going home.

This past season was a very tough season mentally for Al and the race team. The Boss Lady, Joyce Brewer was diagnosed with cancer in November of 2006 and was unable to attend the early season events. The first three events were difficult without Joyce, but a consolation win during the ULMS event at MCR brought the team to life some as that little win was for Joyce. Al took the month of July and half of August off from racing as Joyce battled her cancer and she left for the big track on July 16. When the team reassembled and re-debut at the track for the annual ULMS Woodhull Reunion, the fans were treated with a special black Joyce Brewer Memorial body. Woodhull wasn’t good for Al, but two top ten finishes in the next three events at Little Valley gave the team some momentum going into the $20,000 MCR / ULMS Fall Classic Weekend. A broken rear end while closing in on the final transfer spot in the Bmain ended the season as other teams offered Al another rear end for the following day, but with the long mentally tough year of Joyce’s battle, this was a sign to call it a season. The team was disappointed, but knew it still is a very tough team and the excitement for 2008 is already building in the Al Brewer camp.

Al Brewer has over one hundred fifty victories in his 36 years behind the wheel! Al has recorded five track championships since 1983. He has won track championships at Circle-K Speedway and Tri-County in 1983, and has a championship at McKean County in 1988, Bradford fell victim to Mr. Brewer in 1989, and Freedom Raceway in 1993. Al Brewer has raced in 470 events since 1987. He has recorded 53 victories, 199 top five finishes and 324 top ten finishes. These numbers compute out to a 11% winning percentage, an impressive 42 percent top five percentage rate and at whopping 69 percent top ten percentage rate. Al Brewer and the Brewer Racing team have done this with a limited budget and used equipment throughout his career!

The Brewer Racing team has been pictured and written about in these fine racing papers: Gater Racing News, Tri State Auto Racing News, Area Auto Racing News, Late Model Dirt Digest and Racing News. Among these five trade papers, their coverage area is from Vermont, to Florida, the midwestern and southwestern states. Also with new national exposure given to the dirt late models, television has gotten more and more involved with the Lucas Oil and World of Outlaws dirt late model series.

Al has been given numerous awards, for example: 1988 Fan Favorite Driver for the late models at MCFR, 1991, Al was rewarded with Sportsman Driver of the Year at Lernerville Speedway. This award meant a lot to Al as there is only one awarded each year at Lernerville. He also has several track championships and wins to accompany the above awards.

As with all businesses in today’s economy, the competition is stronger and of better qualify than we have encountered in the past. As a result, we must look for better sponsorship packages to purchase better equipment and to incorporate tomorrow’s technology into our car. This will enable the Brewer Racing team to be more competitive and to travel to those more prestigious events with a better chance in winning!

Due to the high cost and technology of race cars, sponsors are as important to the driver and the crew than ever before. Without either of these combinations the sport of racing would not survive.

We would be happy to meet with you anytime at your convenience concerning sponsorship of Brewer Racing for the upcoming 2008 season.

Please Contact:

Alan Brewer
(716) 365-8013 (Night)
716) 973-2027 (Day)
ABrewer@friend.wnyric.org (Email)