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Nobody Was Better Than Ronnie Sox! The Science of Power Shifting Written by Tony Thacker 
“The science of power shifting a manual transmission with the engine wide-open is a lost art in today's world of air-shifted two-speed Powerglides,” said John Jodauga writing for the NHRA. “Power shifting requires the hand-foot coordination of a tap-dancing juggler because the timing of the shift must be synchronized with the application of the clutch to prevent over-revving. During the 1960s and early ’70s there were a number of excellent four-speed drivers, including Don Nicholson, Butch Leal, Herb McCandless, Arlen Vanke, and Bill Jenkins—but none could boast that they were better than Ronnie Sox.”
Jodauga went on to say: “When everybody switched to the clutchless Lenco transmissions just about every driver went quicker, 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 new cars couldn’t match Ronnie’s skill as a power shifter.
Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, Ronnie Sox began racing at age 13 behind the wheel of his dad’s car. Known as the “blond bomber”, Ronnie went on to race in all drag racing sanctioning bodies, and in a wide assortment of vehicle bodies.
According to long-time partner, Buddy Martin, "I was driving my own ’61 409, and every time Ronnie placed first, I'd ask him to drive my car for the second-place consolation prize. At the end of 1962, I told him that I was ordering a new ’63 Chevy with the Z-11 427, and I asked him if he'd like to drive. He agreed, and we won our first time out in January."
The team of Sox & Martin took off! They raced through the end of ’63 despite Chevrolet's formal withdrawal from racing in February, then secured a factory deal with Mercury for one of its new ’64 A/FX 427 wedge Comets. A very successful season was capped by their trip to England that fall as members of the select U.S. Racing Team organized by the NHRA, and that’s where I first saw them race.
After switching to Plymouth that winter, Sox and Martin were wowed by the new altered-wheelbase ’65 Mopars. Making the bulk of their income match racing, they were virtually unbeatable while Ronnie made history that spring recording the first nine-second run for a naturally-aspirated doorslammer at York U.S. 30 with a new Hilborn fuel-injection system developed by Chrysler.
The following year was less successful, in part because Chrysler's racing manager, Bob Cahill, decided that factory efforts would be directed back to Super Stock.
Initially, the thought of regressing from the eights to the 11s appeared to be a bad career move for Sox, but he relished the idea of returning to the four-speed. He went on to win the NHRA Springnationals’ Super Stock title three times (1967-’70), and the 1968 and ’69 NHRA Super Stock World Championships.
The popularity of the heads-up, nine-second four-speed cars prompted NHRA to create the Pro Stock category for the 1970 season, which set the stage for the high points of Sox's career. He won three of the seven NHRA races in 1970, including the Springnationals, World Finals, and the SuperNationals. Then, he doubled his win total in 1971 and was Pro Stock World Champion both years.
Ronnie had an incredible career that sadly came to an end in 2006. To honor it, long-time sponsor Hooker Headers dedicated the cover of their latest catalog to his memory and they will have the Sox & Martin ’72-’73 Plymouth Duster in their booth at the Holley NHRA Hot Rod Reunion at National Trail Raceway, Columbus, Ohio, June 15-17. In fact, restorer “Hemi Fred” Ristagno tells me that Ronnie’s widow, Diane, might even make a pass in the car.
Diane is determined to keep Ronnie’s memory alive in a very positive way. I recently received an e-mail from her, saying that as part of her healing process she had enrolled in Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School at Gainesville, Florida.
Diane said, “ For whatever reason, I felt the need to feel what Ronnie did each time he went down that racetrack. At first, I was afraid as all these memories came flooding back (she met Ronnie at the Gatornationals), but by the sixth run it felt good and I had a great time.
“I never got full throttle. Jimmy said I was lacking it by about an inch! However, I don’t believe I’ll know what he loved so much until I am at full throttle, so I plan to do it again in August until I get it right. I want Ronnie to be proud of me . . ..”
I think Ronnie’s already proud of her. In his final days, it tugged at Ronnie’s heart that children had to have chemo treatments like he was enduring. In his 67 years, he’d had a great life and many of those children would never see 67, much less have a great life. It touched Diane’s heart deeply that her husband was fighting for his life, yet felt so much compassion for kids fighting the same battle. This made her determined to keep Ronnie’s memory alive in more ways than just racing. She wanted his compassion remembered as well and that is why Diane and Buddy Martin started the Ronnie Sox Foundation in Ronnie’s memory.
In just a 10 months, Diane—with the help of Buddy Martin, Phil Painter, Kenny Youngblood, Herb McCandless and Clark Rand –has raised over $115,900 for charity, all of it going to the St. Jude Children’s Hospital (www.stjude.org). And, $65,900 came from Supercar Collectibles that donated 100 percent of the net profits from their commemorative diecast.
We’re always sad when we lose one of our teammates, but at least they’re never forgotten. Indeed, Sox & Martin will be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in Detroit in August.
Contributions, payable to the "Ronnie Sox Foundation," should be sent to the Ronnie Sox Foundation, c/o Diane Sox, President, 1673 Independence Court, Richmond, VA 23238
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