Ronnie Sox, long regarded as one of the greatest four-speed drivers ever and voted No. 15 on NHRA's list of Top 50 drivers, died April 22 after a long battle with cancer.
The longtime racing partner of Buddy Martin was the winningest Pro Stock driver (nine victories in 23 events) during the short-lived four-speed era (1970-72), and he claimed six Super Stock victories from 1967 to 1969. His skills as a four-speed driver in match races, in cars ranging from his lumbering, full-sized Chevys in the early 1960s to his injected, nitro-burning Barracuda Funny Car in 1966, are also part of drag racing lore.
Perhaps the best measuring stick for Sox's shifting talents is 1973, when everybody switched to the clutchless Lenco transmissions. Many teams cited reduced breakage as the primary reason for the move, but just about every driver went quicker with a Lenco, some picking up as much as a tenth of a second. Sox, by contrast, was the only driver whose car slowed with a Lenco, losing a very measurable .04-second.
The longtime racing partner of Buddy Martin was the winningest Pro Stock driver (nine victories in 23 events) during the short-lived four-speed era (1970-72), and he claimed six Super Stock victories from 1967 to 1969. His skills as a four-speed driver in match races, in cars ranging from his lumbering, full-sized Chevys in the early 1960s to his injected, nitro-burning Barracuda Funny Car in 1966, are also part of drag racing lore.
Perhaps the best measuring stick for Sox's shifting talents is 1973, when everybody switched to the clutchless Lenco transmissions. Many teams cited reduced breakage as the primary reason for the move, but just about every driver went quicker with a Lenco, some picking up as much as a tenth of a second. Sox, by contrast, was the only driver whose car slowed with a Lenco, losing a very measurable .04-second.
Ronnie Sox, long regarded as one of the greatest four-speed drivers ever and voted No. 15 on NHRA's list of Top 50 drivers, died April 22 after a long battle with cancer.
The longtime racing partner of Buddy Martin was the winningest Pro Stock driver (nine victories in 23 events) during the short-lived four-speed era (1970-72), and he claimed six Super Stock victories from 1967 to 1969. His skills as a four-speed driver in match races, in cars ranging from his lumbering, full-sized Chevys in the early 1960s to his injected, nitro-burning Barracuda Funny Car in 1966, are also part of drag racing lore.
Perhaps the best measuring stick for Sox's shifting talents is 1973, when everybody switched to the clutchless Lenco transmissions. Many teams cited reduced breakage as the primary reason for the move, but just about every driver went quicker with a Lenco, some picking up as much as a tenth of a second. Sox, by contrast, was the only driver whose car slowed with a Lenco, losing a very measurable .04-second.
The longtime racing partner of Buddy Martin was the winningest Pro Stock driver (nine victories in 23 events) during the short-lived four-speed era (1970-72), and he claimed six Super Stock victories from 1967 to 1969. His skills as a four-speed driver in match races, in cars ranging from his lumbering, full-sized Chevys in the early 1960s to his injected, nitro-burning Barracuda Funny Car in 1966, are also part of drag racing lore.
Perhaps the best measuring stick for Sox's shifting talents is 1973, when everybody switched to the clutchless Lenco transmissions. Many teams cited reduced breakage as the primary reason for the move, but just about every driver went quicker with a Lenco, some picking up as much as a tenth of a second. Sox, by contrast, was the only driver whose car slowed with a Lenco, losing a very measurable .04-second.
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