Best of Red Deer: Al Hurley: drag racing mechanic
Published 12:00 pm Friday, July 3, 2026
A few weekends a summer, Al Hurley straps himself into his dragster and rockets one-eighth of a mile in less than five seconds.
Every valve, piston rod and cylinder head and component of the 800-horsepower engine that gets him to the finish were installed, fine-tuned and tinkered with by Hurley.
Before his dragster days, he was a stock car racer.
And his day job? Owner of Red Deer’s Hurley Automotive.
“My hobbies are kind of the same as my job,” he says. “It’s not really like going to work for me. It’s just the way it’s always been kind of thing.”
Always mechanically inclined, Hurley got his first job building bridges for CN. Tired of the travel, he switched gear and spent many years working in Red Deer auto shops and dealerships. Then he took a teaching job at Red Deer College and spent four years teaching apprentice mechanics.
“When I left the college, I was like, well, now what?”
In 2011, he opened his own shop. He quickly outgrew his first space and moved to his current location on 4622 61st Street in Riverside Industrial Park.
“In hindsight, I should have done it a long time ago. But it’s been good,” he says.
Many of those whose vehicles he worked on followed him to his new business and have formed a loyal customer base.
Hurley has built a reputation as a go-to guy for high-end, high-performance and vintage vehicle repairs or rebuilds.
“I do a lot of everyday cars as well. But a lot of hotrods and classic cars and race car stuff.”
A former Calgary Stampede Parade car just left his shop.
“It was a Cutlass, red with a white top. It was a nice car but it needed and engine and transmission and everything else done as well.”
Based on his customer reviews, he has a talent for figuring out problems and fixing them at a reasonable cost for customers who are looking for a second and third opinion after being hit with a big repair estimate.
“That seems to happen a lot. Only because I’m old, I guess,” he says with a laugh. “I’ve seen it all before.”
Hurley said those thinking of starting a career as a mechanic should not make the decision lightly. The cost is high for the training, gathering the necessary tools, getting the multiple insurance policies, as well as the usual business expenses of rents and utilities.
The amount of learning required to deal with today’s vehicles with all of their computerized components just keeps increasing, he adds.
Meanwhile, he will be back on the drag racing tracks this summer to enjoy the adrenaline rush of racing and the good times that come with being part of a racing community.
“It’s not even just so much about the racing. It’s all about the camaraderie you get with all of the other racers,” he says.
“Everyone thinks it’s a big competition but we all know each other and we all help each other.”
At one race, he was matched up against another racer who was in a car that Hurley built. Hurley won.