More Sad News Al Westerberg

[VW93]

Al Westerberg passed away suddenly on October 22 at his home in Salisbury,NC. Due to his Al's final requests this is the first public announcement of his passing. Another of his requests was for a private cremation.

Al was the 1978 Freeport bomber champion and later competed in Freeports late model division. He was a crew member on several modified teams over the years including those of drivers Bruno Brackey and Charlie Jarzombek.

I was fortunate to spend some time bench racing with Al on my trips through NC. Al will be missed by his family and friends.

A memorial for Al will be held in NC in the near future. Info will be posted on the Jam as soon as it is available.

[oldracer]

Al was a friend of mine. We were both former NYPD officers. He did help me on more than one occassion when I needed it. He was one of Bruno's biggest fans. I'm sorry to hear of his passing. R.I.P. Regards to his family.

[randomrodder]

R.I.P. To a former wheelman.

[nascar071]

What a shame , Al was just one of my many heros who raced at Freeport. he will be missed...................................... Hey Frank, glad to see you on here. Hope all is well in your life. Ron Langdon:

[capitalcity300]

What was Al Westerberg's race cars numbers???
Got any photos of Al Westerberg's race cars ???
Thanks for any information given. :cheers: :wave:

[vintagemod11]

I heard about his passing some time ago. He was the guy who got me my first checkered flag. I became friends with Al at Freeport Speedway when he was running that bomber #5, which was clearly the class of the field. His shop was located at his house in Whitestone, Queens. and I remember visiting him there many times, watching him build that radical late model he was to run at Freeport. To make a long story short, I bought that bomber from Rich Johnson on the start finish line at Freeport Speedway. After running it once at White Lake which eventually got rained out, I told my crew,'this car is on rails like no other I had ever driven'. The following year, I won my first feature at Freeport, and gladly took the checkered flag from Red Claus for the victory lap. We won 2 more features with that car at Riverhead Raceway, including the 50 lap championship, and I owe it all to Al. He built the car, he told me what to do, which was pretty much just steer it as it always handled like a slot car. To me, Al was one of the coolest, smart, and funniest guys you could ever know. I will miss him. Godspeed Al Westerberg.
Michael Sweet