Sadly, we lost Merrillville Al Last night after a hard fought battle with cancer. For those of you who were able to talk to him at Putnamville a month ago. He really enjoyed it. He is not having a service. Please keep his family and his many friends in your thoughts. RIP buddy.

A donation in his name to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame is always a good option in remembering someone. RIP

Bottom row, plexiglass on a stick RIP

Won't ever forget all the great times we had, RIP

RIP, Al.

"Merrillville Al" was one of the true characters of the racing scene we all love. And it wasn't an act. He was just a colorful guy. Super smart, with a really sharp wit. He was one of the best story tellers I've ever met at a race track. He was an encyclopedia of not only open wheel racing, but also Chicago blues, Indiana high school basketball from back in golden age of that sport and various other subjects. He had one of the best sarcastic senses of humor and was a bit of a wise guy. But he would take it like a good sport, when you'd give him a hard time.

He'll be missed by a lot of people. Definitely count me as one of them.

Jerry

One of the best Merrillville Al stories was the time he was sitting in a bar having a drink when someone came up to him asking for his autograph. Al signed a cocktail napkin, Al told me he felt guilty about it the next day," "that poor bastard was going around telling everybody "I didn't know that Ernie Banks was a white guy".

Loved hanging out at the tracks with Al. But I especially liked talking with him about the old days of Delaware County high school basketball. He grew up in Albany and I in Muncie so we had alot of the same memories, of course his went back farther than mine. RIP Al we will miss you.

I’ll try to keep this short, but Al and our group up here go back awhile. About 30 years ago Al pulled in my brothers driveway. He was at a Sprint Car race and there was a car driven by a guy from Gary Indiana. Al set out to find that guy, and on that day he became part of our racing family up here in the 219. Over those many years, Gino, as we nicknamed him, was not only part of our racing adventures but was also around for birthday parties and other gatherings. He never did seem very mechanically inclined but he helped us on our car, and seemed to truly love being involved. I’ll try to post a great picture of us with my dad At Kokomo, back when he could pass for Jerry Garcia. Speaking of Dad, Al and he were great friends often traveling to races together. We turned a lot of miles with Gino, who always seemed to have a shortcut to somewhere. A lot of times I never felt we got anywhere any faster, but they were different and frequently less comfortable driving than the more well traveled route. As many of you know and mentioned, stories was Al’s forte. We heard a lot of them. We often called him the Riddler, because sometimes those stories would start off with a question that would leave us scratching our head. Lately with my hearing going to hell and Al talking softer, I was able to pick out just enough to recognize the stories that I heard before. Before I knew of IOW, he introduced me to Brent and probably even KO. As far as he was concerned, it was the gospel according to Goodnight. As the recent past unfolded, and he was slowing down, he still snuck up to Chicago to his beloved Jazz Showcase. He had opinions, like, Brubeck is a hack, and his favorite piece of music was Ellington, Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue, live. I just found that out the other day as my brother, my son and I were recounting old Longiny tales. My garage has been a destination to watch streaming races. A couple other buddies got their own sources to watch so it’s not the gathering it has been as much lately, but Al was consistently there if there was a USAC race on. A few weeks ago he missed one and got me to wondering. He showed up the next time and said he had an issue but was feeling better. At that point I figured I had better try to get him to the track. We made it to Putnamville and it was a great success. Many of you came by to visit with him, and I can’t thank all of you enough for that. He was thrilled. Anyway it went so well that I said well I’ve got to figure out our next trip. This past Sunday afternoon as I was under my son’s car changing oil, I missed a call. When I got up and cleaned my hands, the phone rang again, Mr Funk was calling. I answered to learn of the passing of our dear friend. After sharing our condolences, I was just so happy that I was able to take him to LPS and see so many of his friends, there sadly would be no next trip. So next time you’re driving to the race’s and take a “shortcut”, put on some Duke Ellington and think of good times with Al, but remember Brubeck is a hack

I hope this is it