The motorsports community tragically lost a racing legend 30 years ago this weekend. His name was Al Holbert.
The talented Holbert left this earth on Sept. 30, 1988 in a plane crash in Columbus, Ohio, but he has left so much of himself in spirit with the people he associated with in racing, business, church, friends and family. And that spirit continues some 30 years later.
Holbert was 41 when he passed, and he left a tremendous legacy in his sport, whether it was on or off the track. The Warrington, Pa., racer was a stunningly fast driver, a superb engineer, a successful team owner and a terrific businessman with Porsche North America or the Holbert car dealerships.
Very few people had as much on their plate at one time as Holbert, a five-time IMSA series champion with 49 career race wins. In his career, he drove GT and GTP sports cars (as a winner), Can-Am cars (as a winner), IndyCars (just one year in 1984) and stock cars (19 Winston Cup starts with four top-tens) while still being an important “behind the scenes” component in the motorsports industry.
Off the track, the Lehigh University engineering graduate was a devoted family man (with wife Joy and children Todd and Laura) and born-again Christian who helped so many of his friends, family and employees with their needs which no one ever knew about publicity.
Just ask any former business associate, team member or racing rival and Holbert was the consummate professional. And Al’s mind was always thinking how to make things better.
He spearheaded the Porsche IndyCar program, worked with Porsche racing customers, drove the Lowenbrau Porsche 962 to the 1985 and 1986 Camel GT championships as well as overseeing the Holbert dealerships in Warrington. Plus, he won the world’s biggest sports car races multiple times (3 wins at Le Mans, 2 wins at Daytona and 2 wins at Sebring).
Holbert captured back-to-back IMSA crowns (1976-77) as a young professional racer with six race wins in 1976 and four victories in 1977 in the No. 14 Holbert Racing Chevrolet Monza.
And there were sensational drives in the Can-Am series (1979-1982) against the likes of Alan Jones, Keke Rosberg, Jacky Ickx, Patrick Tambay, Bobby Rahal, Danny Sullivan, Geoff Brabham,Teo Fabi and Al Unser Jr. Holbert scored ten Can-Am victories in those years including numerous wins with his popular CAC-1 and CAC-2 chassis developed with Lee Dykstra.
After his Can-Am performances (2nd twice and 3rd once in points in four years), Holbert returned to IMSA in 1983 to win a third Camel GT title with eight wins, mostly teaming up with the late Jim Trueman in a March chassis with Chevrolet (part of the year) and Porsche (part of the year) powerplants. Al also co-drove with Hurley Haywood and Vern Schuppan to win a dramatic 24 Hours of Le Mans victory that year. It was Holbert’s first of three Le Mans triumphs.
Al’s only season in the CART PPG Indy Car World Series was in 1984 when he drove the Alex Morales-owned car (with CRC and Red Roof Inns sponsorship) March-Cosworth to fourth at the Indy 500, fifth at the Meadowlands and seventh at Cleveland (all tracks he had never raced before).
Then, Holbert Racing landed the Lowenbrau beer sponsorship from Miller Brewing and established an incredible legacy in one of sports car racing’s most famous machines, No. 14 Lowenbrau Porsche 962. With a big-time sponsor and the all-new Porsche 962 GTP machine, Holbert and his co-driver Derek Bell were a juggernaut in the 1985 and 1986 Camel GT road racing series in IMSA.
With Bell and Unser Jr. as co-drivers in several events, Holbert collected nine race wins and his fourth IMSA Camel GT championship in 1985. While Al and his teammates were dominating the 1985 sports car season, he was quietly developing the new Porsche IndyCar program for the highly-competitive CART PPG Indy Car World Series.
Holbert returned in 1986 to the Camel GT series with Bell as his co-driver to win six events and a fifth IMSA crown. But it was obvious that Al had more on his mind with the business aspects of his career. In 1987, Holbert hired young Chip Robinson as the primary driver of the famed Lowenbrau Porsche with Bell and Unser Jr. as teammates.
While Holbert was running the Holbert Racing team from the pits in 1987 24 Hours of Daytona, the extreme outside temperatures and an exhaust leak in the race car wore out the Robinson, Bell and Unser Jr. trio and Al had to jump in the Porsche late in the event to help record another 24 Hours of Daytona victory.
With Holbert deep in “behind the scenes” activities with the IndyCar project and other Porsche programs, Robinson also scored wins at Portland (solo) and San Antonio (with Bell) and took his first Camel GT championship in 1987 with the Lowenbrau Porsche. Holbert also decided to dabble in the cockpit in 1987 and scored a spectacular come-from-behind win at Lime Rock Park in the No. 1 Lowenbrau Porsche 962.
In addition, Holbert went back to Le Mans in 1987 and teamed with his 1986 race-winning combo of Bell and Hans Stuck. The trio took another checkered flag at the world’s biggest sports car race. It was Al’s third Le Mans victory.
The 1987 Camel GT event at the inaugural Grand Prix of San Antonio also saw a Holbert Racing first with Robinson and Bell winning and Holbert and Texas legend A.J. Foyt second, the team’s first 1-2 finish in the GTP class. But there was a twist too.
Holbert, figuring his driving career was coming to an end, jumped into the No. 14 Porsche at the end and took the checked flag for the final time in IMSA, securing his 49th race win. Those 49 wins were the IMSA career leader at the time of his death. Later that year, Holbert attempted to qualify the all-new Quaker State Porsche IndyCar at the Tamiami Park event, the 1987 CART season finale. However, the new car failed to qualify for the race.
In 1988, Holbert Racing fielded the No. 14 Miller High Life Porsche 962 with the brand sponsorship change from Lowenbrau. Robinson and Bell returned to the cockpit for the series and Holbert also drove in the 24 Hours of Daytona with the duo. While battling for the lead late in the event, a mechanical problem kept the Holbert Racing effort from a third consecutive 24 Hours of Daytona overall victory.
In 1988, Teo Fabi drove the No. 8 Quaker State Porsche IndyCar in the CART PPG Indy Car World Series with Fabi finishing tenth in the final point standings. Fabi’s best finish was a fourth at Nazareth. Fabi returned in 1989 to win Porsche’s first IndyCar race at Mid-Ohio.
After Al’s death on Sept. 30, 1988, the Holbert Racing team was shut down and many of the team members went on to very successful racing careers. The Porsche IndyCar program, heading up by Derrick Walker, continued through the 1990 with Fabi and John Andretti as the team drivers. Porsche withdrew from the CART PPG Indy Car World Series after the 1990 season.
While Al Holbert has been gone for 30 years, his racing legacy is well-documented, and his spirit has continued through his family, friends and the racing community. Al’s son, Todd, continues to work in the motorsports industry, currently in NASCAR competition. Todd is a Senior Design Manager for Toyota Racing Development (TRD) USA.
Many of Al Holbert’s racing associates (co-drivers, racing rivals, racing businesses and Holbert Racing team members) have spoken of Al’s compact on their lives. Please read their comments below.
