Prayers for Al Wilcox

what a great man...will be sorely missed...

betcha he's riding dirt track with the big Guy 'bout now...

 

Although you knew it would happen one day, you never, ever wanted to hear that it happened. Godspeed Mr. Wilcox, you made this such a better place for those of us you shared it with.

Keith Reed
Empty Pockets Racing
#6

 

I feel very proud to have known Al for all the years I have been at WERA and I am glad he is a part of WERA's history and he will always have a special place in my heart. He and his wife always talked to my son when he raced and they were the best for telling their story. Al lived a long life and he lived it to the fullest he did what he loved right up to the end. He never drank, not even a beer and he never had a cigarette and he was very proud to tell you those facts - he also said he stayed young because he surrounded himself with young people the racers....we will miss you and wish you Godspeed Al Wilcox.

 

I met Al recently at one of Roger's events. What a great guy he was. You just got the impression that he truly loved the sport.

 

I had the great fortune to meet Al last year at a few Roger Lyle track days and my first WERA weekend at Summit. He lived his life to the fullest and embodied the spirit of motorcycle racing.

All the best Al.

 

Godspeed Al.

 

God speed sir. I was truly looking forward to hearing you give your start instructions one more time this spring. God speed.

 

RIP, Mr. Wilcox. Just imagine the ground zero seat he had at so many exciting finishes.

 

Godspeed Al. Thanks for your love and dedication to the sport. You will be missed!

 

Fly away Flyin' Al !

One night my family was going through some old Cycle Sport magazines and pickrd Al out of a group photo. At the time we didnt know all the details about him. We only knew he was this eccentric little guy from Road Atlanta that was doing the start finish flags.

I enjoyed chatting over the years with him and his wife who always came with him when she was around.

SO did he stay with his watch for the last 5 seconds?

SO long old friend.

-SP

 

What a hole in my heart. Al was everything to me, and I told him that yesterday, thank God. I have been thinking about him since he took a fall on Christmas eve and put him in the hospital. It was a real joy to have him call me on his birthday and say,"Rog,you can come pick me up, I am ready to come home! Tom Cutter and I picked him up and brought him home on January 4, his 92nd birthday! On January 17, Al returned to the hospital with kidney problems. Al Wilcox won his race to get out of here and he is in heaven with his lovely wife, Julia.

We will celebrate Al Wilcox's life on Friday April 1st at Summit Point Raceway with Motorcycle Xcitement and then on Saturday April 2nd at the WERA races. If you have some photos, ideas, memories to share, please contact me. Al was an exciting guy, so we have some beautiful things in the works. Everyone is invited to attend the celebration of Al's life. Please tell everyone who knew him. April 1 and 2 at Summit Point Raceway, be there. :up:

Special thanks to John Ulrich and Road Racing World.com for getting the word out around the world and posting the nice photos and hot links to Al Wilcox.
This means the world to me.

As soon as we have funeral info, we will post it. Rest in Peace AL!

 

Godspeed Al -you will be missed

 

isnt there a spot for him in some kind of motorsports hall of fame or ama hall of fame or something

 

With guys like Al, is it any wonder his generation is the greatest?

Nah.




I wish the bigger image was still accessible.

 

It's been several years since I raced, but Al was always my favorite starter - by a long shot. An incredible amount of personality, humor, and energy packed into one person with really cool outfits. Man this makes me sad... RIP Al, you had one helluva life!

 

Rest fast Al!

 

My first impression of Al wasn’t of him, but of his trailer. I was new out east, had obviously been living with my head in a hole and didn’t know the name Al Wilcox. I see this trailer that says “Former Harley Davidson Factory Racer” (or something to the effect) and I naively assumed that this was a guy who, years ago, “made it” for one year. I figured he was riding his coat tails. The years to come proved just how wrong I was.

I was lucky enough to get to know Al over the past few years. You were always my favorite part about Summit and I couldn’t wait to give you a hug, wave to you as I sat on the grid and to take a checkered from you. Like many, I looked forward to your riders meeting speeches. My favorite part was when you talked about which station would have a flag vigorously waving. When we talked last night, I told you I looked forward to seeing you this weekend. I was hoping for one more story. I didn’t see this coming today. Somehow I thought you’d live forever. Don’t all heroes?

You didn’t miss a beat in life, Al. Your vault of stories was a testament to the life you lived. I always loved your synopsis of a situation. In a world we think is complicated, you often had a few select words that summed things up.

Al, with all you experienced and thousands of starts under your belt, you have coat tails long enough to ride on for an eternity. Funny thing is, you never did, but you could’ve…. RIP, my friend. You’ll be missed.

 

Looks like I'm headed to Summit in April

 

RIP Al. Al was a great man. I took many checkered flags from Al in the early 80's when I was a pro dirt tracker. More important is the last four years. My son Cassidy has been helping Al get his flags back to his van since he was 11 years old. This was something Cassidy was proud to do. Al was clearly a hero to to him. It seemed that Cassidy always got one more lap at Rogers trackdays because Al would always let him go by and then through the checkered flag.
A great memory I have of Al is this. Last year we were on our way home from a Motorcycle Xcitement day and I looked in the mirror of the motorhome only to see a black Lincoln coming in the fast lane. I could see it was Al. He blew by us honking the horn and waving. I was at least 10 MPH over the speed limit and the family laughed and commented about Al's speed. He never stopped going fast. I asked him at the next race what the hurry was and he said, I wanted to get home before the sun went down. In the words of my son, Al was amazing!!! Godspeed Al from the Heiser family.