The 2024 Funny Car Chaos Championship Tour kicks off at the season opener in Ennis, Texas April 4-6, 2024. In attendance will be over 50 Funny Cars qualifying to compete in a 32-car “run whatcha’ brung” field, and amongst the entries will be Wayne Hofmann, son of the legendary Al Hofmann, who will be sporting a special tribute paint scheme to honor his late father.

Wayne, of New Preston, Connecticut, has been racing the Funny Car Chaos series since 2022, but has been around the sport of drag racing, alongside his father, since the day he was born. Hofmann is excited to run this tribute paint scheme on his car in memory of his father and their passion for drag racing they both shared together.

By 1986, at the age of 18, Wayne was part of a three-man crew and primarily worked on the bottom end of his father’s nitro Funny Car. Sponsors came onboard in the 1990s for Hofmann Racing as his father raced professionally in the NHRA Winston Drag Racing series, becoming the second Funny Car to join the 300 mph club in 1994.

Once the archrival of NHRA Funny Car king John Force, the late Al Hofmann was considered an “ill-tempered roughneck.” With 15 national event wins and 32 final round appearances, Hofmann was a true legend who quickly gained a reputation for his gritty, ‘tough as nails’ personality both on and off the racetrack. The year 1995 served as their best season as Al, Wayne, and their team finished second in the championship standings behind Force.

Photo courtesy of Wayne Hoffman Racing

Fast forward to the early 2000s, after his father retired, Wayne regained the desire to go racing. He got his groove back through bracket racing and, by 2006, he was running the IHRA Top Dragster class, picking up a win at the Northwest Nationals shortly after his return. By 2008, Wayne and his father attended Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing school with the intention for Wayne to obtain a Top Alcohol Funny Car license. They had their sights on running the class as a father-son duo. During the process, on March 20, 2008, Al passed away at age 60, halting their plans as Wayne and his family navigated the sudden loss. As life for the Hofmann family continued, Wayne took a hiatus from racing to focus on raising his son, Dylan, and three daughters, Rachel, Alyson, and Kelly with wife, Jodi.

“In 2020, I realized it was now or never to get back racing again, so I put a Funny Car together with the goal of running the Funny Car Chaos series,” Wayne says.

It took nearly two years to get everything in order, but Wayne Hofmann was back on track to run a part-time Funny Car Chaos season in 2022. Alongside his family and with the support of his sponsors, he went on to run a full season in 2023. For the upcoming 2024 season, Wayne Hofmann Racing will be sporting the 1995 Pontiac Firebird Funny Car body with the identical Western Auto/Spell Paving red, white, and black paint scheme to pay homage to his father’s most successful season in his professional racing career. “I wanted to replicate the car as close to what it was back in 1995,” Wayne says. “It will bring back some great memories for a lot of people who come from that era of racing.”

“I’d like to win number one for both me and my dad before I retire for good,” Hofmann said.

The car has also been renamed China Syndrome, the same name that Al Hoffman picked for his very first racecar in 1978. Wayne is excited for the season to begin in a few short months and expresses his gratitude for his sponsors, Moroso Performance Parts, Wulff Pumps, Rage Fuel Systems, Spell Paving, Evergreen Lawn Care, Bad Cad Racing, Route 37 Performance and Scott Palmer Racing. In addition, Wayne is especially grateful for both his family and crew who play a huge role in his ability to run the full Funny Car Chaos season. Hofmann’s passion for drag racing he once shared with his father has undoubtedly been passed onto his children.

“We love going to races and traveling together. The Funny Car Chaos series brings us across the entire country and is cool because of the different types of cars that all run together in one class,” Hofmann says.

The 2024 season will bring back a flood of memories for a lot of race fans, but for Wayne Hofmann, he simply wanted to pay tribute to the best year of racing he ever had with his dad. With a top 10 finish last year, Wayne’s goal is to finish in the top five, but is aiming for that number one spot. “I’d like to win number one for both me and my dad before I retire for good,” Hofmann says.