"5-time NHRA Champ" Ronnie Sox Dies - April 22, 2006

 December 17, 1938 - April 22, 2006
Ronnie Sox 

(Photo; www.hemmings.com)

 Born in Burlington, Massachusetts, USA.

His family ran a Sinclair station on Church St. in Burlington, North Carolina, where Ronnie got his start in drag racing in the 1950s when the Police Club of Burlington began hosting races at an airport.

He raced at tracks throughout North Carolina and became a national sensation in the 1960s and early '70s. Sox won five National Hot Rod Association championships and more than 59 events. Together with racing partner Buddy Martin, Sox was the winningest Pro Stock driver in the 1970-72 "four-speed era". Initially Martin and Sox were competitors, but Martin approached Sox to drive his car after concluding that he just couldn't beat him. He drove a 1963 Chevrolet and then a factory AFX Mercury Comet in 1964. In 1965 he drove an Altered Wheelbase Plymouth. 

He started the 1966 season in an injected, nitro-burning Barracuda Funny Car. 

(photo credit: twm1340 via photopin cc)

Later that season he drove Plymouths in the Pro Stock class of NHRA and had "Clinic" cars with Plymouths. He then drove a Mercury Comet in IHRA Pro Modified for a few years before retiring from drag racing. 

Sox was ranked 15th on the National Hot Rod Association Top 50 Drivers, 1951-2000. He died of prostate cancer at the age of 67, in Richmond, Virginia, USA.