#7 ALL TIME MOUNTAIN MOTOR PRO STOCK DRIVER – RONNIE SOX
SPARTANBURG, SC – No matter what form of Pro Stock racing he participated in, Ronnie Sox excelled. When the IHRA converted to the mountain motor configuration in 1977 Sox immediately began to qualify at the top of the fields.
If not for a broken engine Sox would have been in the final round of the 1977 IHRA Winternationals at Darlington, SC. The IHRA’s break rule replaced Sox after a semifinal victory over Harold Denton.
Denton went on to score the win over Roy Hill. That victory could have belonged to Sox.
Sox went to an incredible 25 career finals in IHRA competition and he emerged victorious 14 times. In fact, when the IHRA staged its very first national event in Rockingham, NC, Sox took home the trophy.
Twelve of his 25 final rounds were in mountain motor competition. He amassed a 7 – 5 final-round record between 1977 and 1983.
Sox enjoyed one of his finest seasons behind the wheel of a 1981 Mustang owned by Dean Thompson and motivated by Jack Roush horsepower. That season Sox edged out the likes of Warren Johnson, Rickie Smith, and Denton.
Sox followed up that incredible season with a championship runner-up in 1982. His last mountain motor Pro Stock victory came at Darlington that season.
Sox was proficient in this style of racing and in six consecutive years (1977 – 1983), he finished in the top ten every year but 1979, when he ran a limited schedule.
Sox died April 22, 2006 after a long battle with cancer. He was 67.
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Torco Racing Fuel's Competition Plus.com - Drag Racing's Internet Magazine - Torco's CP.com Pro Stock
The Top 20 IHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock drivers of-all-time is an ongoing feature sponsored by Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com in observance of the 30th year of Mountain Motor Pro Stock racing. In the weeks leading up to the $20,000-to-win Torco’s CompetitionPlus Pro Stock Showdown, September 29 in Budds Creek, Md., each inclusion will be announced. The #1 driver will be announced prior to the final round of the prestigious event.
These articles are complimentary for the various media outlets that cover drag racing.
The Top 20 IHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock Drivers of-all-time panel of judges included Torco's CompetitionPlus.com publisher Bobby Bennett, veteran drag racing journalist Jon Asher, former Drag Review editor David McGee, former IHRA Vice President Ted Jones, Current IHRA President Aaron Polburn and engine builder and former mountain motor Pro Stock racer Sonny Leonard.
