Al Swindahl
Al Swindahl was one of a very elite group of individuals who could take pieces of tubing and assemble them into a form that became a quick, dependable and safe racecar. After he was knocked unconscious from tire shake during the 1979 U.S. Nationals in Indy, Top Fuel racer Jerry Ruth teamed up with Al to help design a safer car. The result was a car that featured a Dunny Car roll cage, A-arm front suspension in place of a tube axle and was more flexible. As the saying goes, the rest is history.
Born in Tacoma, Washington, Al built his first race car in 1953, a nitro-fueled flat head powered ’40 Ford coupe. Next, Al moved into the seat of a front-motor Top Fuel dragster until 1964, when he turned the driving chores over to his brother Carl. At the same time he was building the ’40, he earned an Airframe & Powerplant license and went to work for the Boeing Co. Al worked at Boeing for 5 years, followed by a stint in the Army, where he was a medic. After leaving the Army, Al started building race cars in his garage for the loacal racers, but he soon outgrew it and moved his operation into an old icehouse. With the success of Ruth’s car along with another upcoming team of racers, Terry Capp and Bernie Fedderly with their “Wheeler Dealer” car that won the 1980 U.S. Nationals at Indy, the orders began to pour in so fast that Al had no choice but to move to an even larger shop.
Over the next few years, Swindahl-built cars won nine Winston Top Fuel Championship titles, more than any other chassis builder in the history of the sport. The list of Swindahl-built cars was a real who’s-who of Top Fuel racing, including Shirley Muldowney, Gary Beck, Gary Ormsby and Eddie Hill. Joe Amato recorded the sport’s first 4.5 second e.t. in a Swindahl-built car, and in fact, at one point in time, every car rated in the top ten of the class was a Swindahl-built chassis.
Al was also chairman of the board of SFI Foundation Inc., a non-profit independent organization that sets standards for safety-related high-performance automotive and marine equipment. He was named Top Fuel/Funny Car Chassis Builder of the Car Craft Magazine All-Star Drag Racing Team numerous times.
Al’s love of cars did not end with race cars. He could often be seen driving his ’32 Ford roadster just for pleasure. On November 24, 1996, Al lost his battle with liver cancer, but his contributions to record-setting cars, along with a uncompromising eye for safety, make him one of the sport’s most unforgettable people.