RacingJunk’s 2025: In Memoriam

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The In Memoriam series honors the builders, racers, creatives, and industry figures we lost in 2025—people whose influence left a permanent mark on automotive culture. These individuals shaped the scene through innovation, passion, mentorship, and pure love for the craft. As we look back, we remember not just their achievements but the legacy they leave behind in the cars built, races run, stories told, and communities they helped grow.

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Chris Raschke, a beloved figure in the landspeed and motorsports world, tragically lost his life on August 3, 2025, while attempting a record run at Bonneville Speed Week on the famed Salt Flats. At age 60, Raschke was piloting the legendary Speed Demon streamliner when he lost control of the vehicle at high speed and succumbed to his injuries, leaving behind decades of contributions as both a driver and a respected industry voice. His passion for speed and infectious enthusiasm for the sport made him a touchstone in the high-velocity community.

Gene Winfield, the legendary hot rod designer and builder whose influence on custom automotive culture spanned generations, passed away in 2025 at the age of 98. Renowned for his innovative body modifications, paint techniques, and impossibly cool custom builds, Winfield helped define what “hot rod” means to enthusiasts around the world. His work graced magazines, TV shows, and some of the most iconic rides ever built, and his legacy will live on in every fender flared and flame-painted machine inspired by his vision.

Retired NASCAR racer Greg Biffle, his wife and two children were killed in a private plane accident at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina the morning of December 18. An in-flight emergency forced the Cessna C550N on a return path, rather than taking the family to their Bahamas destination, and a rendezvous with friends.

Baffle, 55, traveling with Cristina, his daughter Emma (14) and their five-year-old son Ryder, together with Craig Wadsworth, Dennis and Jack Dutton, were intending to spend a holiday gathering on the island after a refueling stop in Sarasota, Florida. The Statesville airport primarily services corporate aviation together with several NASCAR teams; Biffle’s plane was leased to GB Aviation Leasing LLC, a firm owned by Biffle.

Bernie Fedderly, the iconic Canadian drag racing crew chief best known for his championship-winning work with John Force’s Funny Cars, passed away in March 2025 at the age of 83. A mentor to countless racers and a cornerstone of the drag racing community, Fedderly’s technical mastery and cool under pressure helped shape the careers of some of the sport’s biggest stars, and his legacy in the pits and on the strip will endure.

Alan Thomas Hanna, known to his friends in the straight-line motorsports community as Big Al, has passed away at the age of 82. A longtime resident of Enfield, Connecticut, Hanna was the force behind Hanna Motorsports, an enterprise that built and raced jet cars, as well as a parts supplier to the sport. His exploits, especially during New England Dragway’s Jet Cars Under the Stars and Night of Fire events, always excited fans of the sport.