Ronnie Sox called the Sox...
Ronnie Sox called the Sox & Martin '68 Hemi 'Cuda his favorite of all the Plymouths they raced from 1965-'72.
What do you call a drag racing team that drew fans to the tracks across America for big-engined match race action, and then helped create a new class while dominating the doorslammer ranks and putting on performance clinics aimed at driving customers into his sponsor's showrooms?
There's only one name for a team like that: Sox & Martin.
For 1967, Sox & Martin's factory...
For 1967, Sox & Martin's factory sponsorship deal had them racing steel-bodied Plymouths in Stock and Super Stock, as well as at between-big-events match races. 1967 was also the first year that Ronnie (left) and Buddy put on performance clinics at Chrysler-Plymouth dealers around the country.
Buddy Martin teamed up with Ronnie Sox in the early '60s, when he saw Sox's skill at shifting under full power. "Ronnie's skills as a driver were a gift," Buddy told NHRA's National Dragster in a 2001 interview. "He was very coordinated with the hand and foot. In addition to his shifting, his reaction times were outstanding. Everybody drove four-speed cars at that time, and other drivers would miss gears left and right. That never happened with Ronnie. Everybody had an excuse, but Ronnie could get into anyone else's car and have no problems whatsoever."
It was in 1965 when the Sox & Martin team made a brand switch-this time to Plymouth and their Hemi-powered altered wheelbase Belvedere. Banned by NHRA from running in Factory Experimental class racing, Sox & Martin took their "funny-looking car" match racing and built on the legend they'd already created, including the first-ever nine-second pass in a naturally-aspirated, full-bodied car. That happened at Pennsylvania's York U.S. 30 Dragway, with their 426 Hemi running a Chrysler-designed, Hilborn-built fuel injection setup.
1967 brought Sox & Martin's...
1967 brought Sox & Martin's first NHRA U.S. Nationals win, in SS/E.
After taking the match-race scene by storm in 1965, 1966 wasn't as successful on the track for the team. In 1966, they switched to a production-based body, Hemi-powered Barracuda, but the severely-dieted A-Body was no match for the tube-framed, fiberglass-bodied "funny cars" they came up against. Later that year, a decision in Highland Park changed what type of cars Sox & Martin would race from then on.
That executive decision by Ma Mopar's racing boss, Bob Cahill, to support Sox & Martin in Stock and Super Stock racing (and to have them present Performance Clinics in the towns near where they raced) may have seemed like the wrong move at the time, but Plymouth's racing brass was convinced that Sox & Martin would help them sell on Monday as long as they won on Sunday. Besides, as Cahill pointed out, Chrysler-Plymouth dealers weren't selling many funny cars anyway.
In 1965 and 1966, Sox & Martin...
In 1965 and 1966, Sox & Martin raced altered-wheelbase Plymouths in match races and Factory Experimental class events. Here's their '66 Barracuda, built from a production body-in-white. The 426 race Hemi's Hilborn injection was actually designed by Chrysler.
Once the '67 GTX started appearing on the track, the competition saw more and more of that B-Body's back bumper as the season wore on. That year marked the first of their five consecutive NHRA Springnationals wins, as well as their first win at NHRA's "Big Go"-the U.S. Nationals at Indy.
For 1968, Sox & Martin kept on winning, and not just in one class at the big races (and not in just one sanctioning body's events). At Pomona, they not only won the NHRA Winternationals' SS/D class with their Hemi-powered GTX, but also SS/F (with a 440 powering the GTX), and E/SA (in a 340-powered Barracuda). When Ma Mopar and Hurst dropped the 426 Hemi into the barracuda fastback that spring, Sox & Martin got one, and proceeded to not only win in NHRA class eliminations, but also in AHRA's heads-up, nine-second Super Stock Eliminator. Wins at their Springnationals, Summernationals, and All American Championship led to Ronnie being named AHRA's Driver of the Year for 1968. That's along with the other events he lit the win light at, and other honors earned during 1968 (see sidebar). Little wonder, then, that the '68 was Ronnie's favorite race car of all time. Coincidentally, 1968 was also Plymouth's best sales year in ages.
For 1969, a new grille, side marker lights, and taillights were the only changes needed to update the 'Cuda into a current-year car. One thing didn't change: Sox & Martin in the winner's circle. Between the wins in NHRA- and AHRA-sanctioned events and at other races through the year, one thing was clear: Fans loved seeing Ronnie and the other Super Stock drivers of the day race heads-up. That had already led AHRA to create their Head Up Super Stock class-and, for 1970, for NHRA to create the new Pro Stock class.
Once the Hemi-powered '68...
Once the Hemi-powered '68 Barracuda came out, this was the view that most class and match-race competitors got of Sox & Martin's Plymouth!
In the late '60s, Sox & Martin...
In the late '60s, Sox & Martin would bring more than one car-and more than one engine for it-to run in multiple classes at the big NHRA national events. Here's their '69 Road Runner, competing in B/Modified Production.
1970 saw the introduction...
1970 saw the introduction of NHRA's new Pro Stock class, which Sox & Martin instantly ruled. Here's their Hemi 'Cuda doing battle with Butch "The California Flash" Leal's Pro Stock Duster at Columbus.