Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com, through the assistance of a key group of Pro Modified historians and enthusiasts, have compiled a list of the Top 20 all-time drivers based on their contribution to the class, historic achievements, statistics and fan appeal.

Starting on Friday, January 11, 2010, the electronic magazine began revealing those names on the list, and will announce two drivers per week, until the No. 1 driver is unveiled on Saturday, Mar. 13, during the ADRL Dragpalooza in Houston, Texas.

Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com narrowed the list from hundreds of drivers down to 20. Today, we reveal No. 20 on the list.

Passed Away in 2006


NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Finished fourth in inaugural PM Championship standings
• Reached three finals in inaugural season, winning twice
• One of two drivers listed on both PM and Mountain Motor PS All-time list

Ronnie Sox might have earned more accolades for this shifting talents but his greatest attribute, friends and former competitors say, might have been his versatility.

Sox retired from IHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock competition in 1985 after amassing 14 wins in that style of racing. It was Pro Modified that lured the “blonde bomber” back into southern style doorslammer racing.

On August 14, 1989, Sox announced to the world and the Top Sportsman racers who had forged the way for the new Pro Modified class that he would return to competition.

Longtime friend and then Pro Stock racer Roy Hill knew when that announcement was handed down, that Sox was going to help take the class to a new level. And, in reaching that new level, was going to be in the mix for that first-ever championship.

“You just had to look at anything he did in life, he always did it great and took it to the next level,” Hill said. “I knew when he made that announcement that he was going to do really good. He’d raced all those years and Pro Stock and now he had a totally different engine and car than he was used to and it didn’t take him long to get the hang of it. You talk about somebody being a natural … if there ever was a natural, it was Ronnie Sox.”

Sox spent as much if not more time performing match races with his Tommy Mauney-built ’64 Mercury Comet as he did in running the IHRA national events.

“He was pretty tough to beat there too,” Hill added. “It didn’t matter where you raced him, you had to give it your all and then some or you would lose.”

“And the fact he did it with a Ford engine … that’s gotta account for something too. In that style of racing, not too many racers raced a Ford engine in that class.”

Sox nearly pulled off a championship in the 1990 season and entered the final race of the year in a four-way battle with Tim McAmis, Mike Ashley and Fred Hahn. While he fell short of the title, he did win the final event of the year, the IHRA Fall Nationals in Bristol, Tenn.

“If there had been betting at that race, I would have put my money on Ronnie,” Hill added. “Knowing how determined he was, I knew he would have thrown everything at it and he did. That’s how earned his legend.”

Sox passed away on April 22, 2006 after a long battle with cancer.

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For the complete list visit: ATTITUDE'S COMPETITIONPLUS.COM'S ALL-TIME TOP 20 HOMEPAGE

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