snapshot
Road Runner Al Young, ’68, ’71, wasn’t about to let anything like stereotypes slow him down. “Asians have opportunities, not just the stereotypical doctor or engineer,” says the retiring Kung Fu and American government teacher at Roosevelt High School. The only Chinese American who participated in hot rod racing in the 1970s and ‘80s, Young made a name for himself with his ability to win races. Sponsored for the past 30 years by the Bardahl Oil Corp. in Ballard, Young won the 1981 American Hot Rod Association World Championship, three NW Division championships with the National Hot Rod Association and every major drag racing event in the Northwest at least twice. This spring, he donated his 1970 Dodge Challenger RT race car to the Museum of History and Industry. —Chantal L. Carrancho Al Young was photographed in Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry on March 27, 2008 by Mary Levin
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