Chicago, Ill.—Ed
Hoffman and his
powerful black stock
car No. 1 were a
tough combo in and
around Chicago area
stock car circles in
the 1970s and 80s.
Hoffman, 78, passed
away in California
on January 27.
Hoffman was a
seven-time Late
Model track champion
at Illiana Motor
Speedway in
Schererville, Ind.,
and a six-time time
track titlist at
Grundy County
Speedway in Morris,
Ill. After a dozen
years or so of drag
racing, Hoffman
began his stock car
racing career at
Chicagoland’s old
O’Hare Stadium in
1966, wheeling a ’56
Chevy, once driven
by Fred Lorenzen, in
the track’s Cadet
(sportsman)
division.
Hoffman finished
fourth in the
O’Hare’s Cadet
standings in 1966,
winning four
division feature
races. In 1967, he
moved up into the
Late Model ranks at
the banked
quarter-mile paved
oval, wheeling a ’64
Chevy hardtop. He
finished fourth in
the Late Model
division points
tally, winning five
preliminary
(non-feature)
events.
During the summer,
Hoffman was involved
in a high-speed
crash at O’Hare as
the throttle
apparently stuck
wide open, sending
his red and white
Chevy No. 1 crashing
hard into the
track’s west turn
wall.
The car’s momentum
carried it over the
wall and a
protective fence
with it landing in
the pit area and
crashing into a
parked passenger
car. Despite a
dislocated shoulder
and a heavily
damaged race car,
Hoffman returned to
the competition at
O’Hare within a
matter of weeks.
In 1967, Hoffman
visited Illiana, the
half-mile paved oval
in northwest
Indiana, and
competed in his
first Tony
Bettenhausen
Memorial 100 after
scoring a heat race
win earlier in the
afternoon. 1968
found Hoffman
competing on
promoter N. Perry
Luster’s three-track
Chicagoland circuit,
wheeling a Bob
Dotter-built
Chevelle. The
weekly circuit was
slated to consist of
Mazon Speed Bowl on
Wednesday nights,
Raceway Park on
Saturdays and
Soldier Field on
Sundays.
Racing at Soldier
Field lasted only
four weeks, but
Hoffman was a main
event winner on June
2, 1968—his first
career Late Model
feature win. No
more feature wins
came his way with
Hoffman finishing 10th
in the final
standings at Raceway
Park and making some
late-season runs at
O’Hare.
Years later, Hoffman
would credit two
Chicago area stock
car greats – Bob
Pronger and Whitey
Gerken for teaching
him how to be a
stock car driver.
“Whitey taught me
everything he knew
to make a good
driver out of me,
not only how to work
on the car, but how
to behave relative
to other drivers,”
Hoffman said.
For the next few
years, Hoffman would
concentrate his
racing efforts on
the old United
States Auto Club (USAC)
stock car circuit,
campaigning his own
Chevelle No. 88. In
1969, Hoffman made
10 USAC starts and
finished 33rd
in the overall USAC
standings with a
couple of sixth
place finishes
coming at New
Bremen, Ohio and at
the Wisconsin
International
Raceway in Kaukauna,
Wis.
1970 saw Hoffman
make 14 starts in
USAC action, moving
up to 22nd
in the final
standings. A fifth
at Ohio’s Tri-County
Speedway and a ninth
on the dirt at the
Indiana State
Fairgrounds mile
track highlighted
the season
Hoffman returned to
Chicago stock car
racing in 1971,
“loaded for bear”
with a Bob
Boyce-built Camaro
convertible, black
in color and
carrying Hoffman’s
familiar No. 1
numeral. The
stretched Camaro was
the car Boyce had
driven to the
Illiana championship
in 1970. Hoffman
and his ’70 Camaro
won both the Illiana
and Grundy track
championships in
’71. Hoffman would
win four features at
Illiana and 10 at
Grundy, which was in
its first year of
operation, replacing
the Mazon Speed
Bowl.
In 1972, Hoffman
battled with
Indiana’s Elmer
Embry for the
Illiana Late Model
crown, winning 13
feature races, but
coming home second
in the final
standings as he
missed one or two
programs as he
competed in several
out-of-town races.
He was also second
in the points to
champion Lee Schuler
at Grundy in ’72
despite winning six
main events.
Hoffman rebounded to
track
championship-winning
form in 1973 as he
again won both the
Illiana and Grundy
titles. Six
features at Illiana
and five at Grundy
were enough to score
the titles.
Hoffman competed in
a total of 10 USAC
stock car races in
1971 and 1972,
wheeling his own
Chevelle. Never
having too much luck
in USAC competition
at the “Milwaukee
Mile”, Hoffman
finally posted a
“top 10” finish in
1981, finishing
seventh in one of
Sal Tovella’s cars
in a 200-lap race on
July 19, 1981.
Hoffman ran several
years without
winning a
championship, but
came back strong to
win double
championship crowns
again at Illiana and
Grundy in 1977. He
would claim the
Illiana championship
three consecutive
years – 1977 through
1979. 1975 marked
Hoffman’s first
victory in Illiana’s
annual Tony
Bettenhausen
Memorial 100. He
would go on to win
the annual event two
more times – 1983
and 1984. 1980
would see Hoffman
claim his only ARTGO
Racing victory with
the win coming
during twin 50s
action during the
“foggy” Chicagoland
Showdown on May 24,
1980.
Hoffman drove for
Bill and Bev
Skarupinski for a
period in 1981 and
1982 and won four
feature races at
Illiana in 1981,
including the
track’s 75-lap
Season Championship
race.
1983 was a stellar
year for Hoffman as
he won 26 feature
races during the
campaign and
captured both track
titles in the same
year for the fourth
and final time in
his career. He
grabbed 16 wins in
18 starts at Grundy
and won a total of
10 at Illiana,
including his second
career Bettenhausen
100 lapper, giving
him the honor of
winning the
Bettenhausen race
and the Illiana
track championship
in the same year.
Back in 1983,
Hoffman named
Illiana his “home
track” and looked at
accomplishing one
goal before the
season ended.
“I don’t think any
race in my life will
ever be as important
as this upcoming
Bettenhausen 100 at
Illiana,” commented
Hoffman in 1983.
“It would be my
opportunity not only
to win the track
championship, but
also the
Bettenhausen race in
the same year.”
Hoffman’s dominance
came behind the
wheel of a Junior
Hanley-built, Chevy
“big block”-powered,
’83 Firebird, black
in color and
carrying huge
gold-leaf number
ones on the sides.
“I have to give
credit to Junior
Hanley,” Hoffman
said about his
winning year of
1983. “I believe a
majority of my
success is due to
his precision
chassis. It really
got the job done.
It’s this racer’s
edge.”
Hoffman was always a
supporter of the
Chevy “big block”
with some of his
cars during his
career carrying over
500 cubic inches of
power under the
hood.
“I get a lot of
power out of the old
fashion “big block,”
Hoffman said in
1983. “The engines
I am running are six
years old. I
haven’t had an
engine failure all
year.”
Hoffman won the
Illiana track
championship again
in 1984, winning 11
feature races during
the season,
including his third
career Bettenhausen
100. He ended up
with nine feature
wins at Grundy and
came home second in
the standings.
Before the’84 season
began, Hoffman was
seriously injured in
an accident
involving a piece of
heavy equipment that
he was operating.
Operating a
bulldozer at the new
home site, Hoffman
saw the ground give
way, causing the
multi-ton vehicle to
tip over on its
side, pinning
Hoffman in the
process. Three
broken ribs, a
punctured lung, a
broken arm and
broken shoulder put
Hoffman in the
hospital for a short
stay. Hoffman
missed a few weeks
of racing, but was
soon back racing
wearing special
padding and
bracing.
Hoffman posted his
sixth career title
at Grundy in 1985,
capturing six
feature wins. He
did not compete at
Illiana that year.
Hoffman also won his
first ever Late
Model feature at
Raceway Park in
1985.
The following year
saw Hoffman make one
of his last regular
Chicago area racing
starts as he
competed in the
ARTGO Chicago area
opener at Grundy on
April 20, 1986,
finishing 16th
in the 100-lap
event.
Hoffman relocated to
California and was
still active in
racing. His son
Eddie began racing
in enduro
competition in the
mid 1980s and moved
through the ranks of
stock car
competition to
become one of the
Midwest’s top Late
model drivers. Ed
Hoffman came back to
the Chicago area in
2008 for two races,
wheeling one of
Eddie’s cars at
Grundy and Illiana.
Hoffman would visit
the Chicago area
from time to time to
watch his son race
and was on hand when
Eddie won the Tony
Bettenhausen 100 at
Illiana in 2007.
With all those
championships and
race wins, Ed
Hoffman was truly
one of the greats in
Chicago area stock
car racing history.