Candies and Hughes, 1982
- Thread starter DrRocket
- Start date
Thanks for the pictures David. I remember that car very well, I was at the CajunNationals in '82 for that win. It was the only year that Mark Oswald drove a dragster for Candies and Hughes before they switched back to a funny car. Paul Candies always had really beautiful racecars, first class all the way.
Lance I figured you would have some photos. Good stuff there C & H as well as Candies Family Racing always had/have some super clean looking cars.
Rajunz
Nitro Member
Another thing that I remember from that race in Baton Rouge was talking to Leonard Hughes, and how happy he was to have Oswald as his driver after putting up with Richard Tharp for 7 years, and how Oswald loved working on the car, driving the truck, etc. Tharp would show up to strictly drive.......that and get under Shirley's skin.
I ran into Jim Dupuy at the San Antonio IHRA event last month and I asked him what he's doing now. He said he works for Paul Candies maintaining their racing operation. He said it's one of the best jobs he's ever had......except going through 4 racepacks on race day gets kind of mind boggling.
I ran into Jim Dupuy at the San Antonio IHRA event last month and I asked him what he's doing now. He said he works for Paul Candies maintaining their racing operation. He said it's one of the best jobs he's ever had......except going through 4 racepacks on race day gets kind of mind boggling.
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SoCal Racer
Nitro Member
rckymtn3
Nitro Member
Candies Hughes NHRA Dragster & Funny Car 1973
though from 10 years earlier, still a cool shot...
not sure if this is kosher, but I'll post the seller's info as well...obviously from eBay, seller's name is "FarmFresh"
FarmFresh has a killer collection of color slides on ebay....they don't go cheap, but WHAT great photos, and the color....man...worth a look (and no, I'm not FarmFresh, just happy to see the 70's in such great detail
farmfresh1004 | eBay
though from 10 years earlier, still a cool shot...
not sure if this is kosher, but I'll post the seller's info as well...obviously from eBay, seller's name is "FarmFresh"
FarmFresh has a killer collection of color slides on ebay....they don't go cheap, but WHAT great photos, and the color....man...worth a look (and no, I'm not FarmFresh, just happy to see the 70's in such great detail
farmfresh1004 | eBay
Rajunz
Nitro Member
Thanks Kevin for posting that picture, that's a great shot. When I was a kid I grew up in Houma and lived near Leonard Hughes. This is probably my favorite race car of all of theirs, the Candies and Hughes '69 Barracuda fastback. As a kid I thought that it was by far the coolest thing that I had ever seen. Leonard would work on it under his carport, the chassis up on jackstands, the fiberglass body laying in the front lawn, and the ramp truck parked in the ditch out in front of his house. At night he would just cover it with a tarp.
The next year they built a brand new shop in Houma, these pictures were taken by Larry Meaux there in April of 1970 when the Snake came to town. It was right after the Gatornationals when they won and took runner up, they still had both cars in their shop. They used to let us stop in and watch them work on the funny cars. In the middle picture that's Leonard Hughes standing next to the car talking to Prudhomme. In the second picture that's Paul Candies standing in the doorway.
The next year they built a brand new shop in Houma, these pictures were taken by Larry Meaux there in April of 1970 when the Snake came to town. It was right after the Gatornationals when they won and took runner up, they still had both cars in their shop. They used to let us stop in and watch them work on the funny cars. In the middle picture that's Leonard Hughes standing next to the car talking to Prudhomme. In the second picture that's Paul Candies standing in the doorway.
rckymtn3
Nitro Member
too cool.....love the story as well as the photos....
I remember the first time I saw a roped off pit area....I thought...."this is insane!"...lol....now you can't even get between transporters, let-alone a good view of anything without substantial optic help....
yeah, sorry folks, but there were "better" days.....
I remember the first time I saw a roped off pit area....I thought...."this is insane!"...lol....now you can't even get between transporters, let-alone a good view of anything without substantial optic help....
yeah, sorry folks, but there were "better" days.....
Well, if we're talking about "better days", I'll take it a step further than roped off pits. One of my greatest racing memories is from Indy 1971. My dad ran an A/A (national record holder at the time 
) and we were staying at a liitle motel for the week. Shortly after checking in, in comes Tom McEwen with his ramp truck and FC. Remember, this was the peak of the Hot Wheels era. I was stoked. Tom Hoover also stayed there, and a whole bunch of sportsman racers. The coolest thing was how everyone worked on their cars all night in the parking lot. This happened all over Indy. The place was crazy. Like many racers I'm sure, my dad & his guys used the motel room as a shop, including making the bathtub a parts washer. What was nuts was, every day after qualifying, racers had to drive their trucks & trailers back to the hotels, then to the track the next morning. Now I know the "rigs" were tiny compared to today, but still, I don't know how 900+ racers came and went everyday during the event. Just a different world from today.
) and we were staying at a liitle motel for the week. Shortly after checking in, in comes Tom McEwen with his ramp truck and FC. Remember, this was the peak of the Hot Wheels era. I was stoked. Tom Hoover also stayed there, and a whole bunch of sportsman racers. The coolest thing was how everyone worked on their cars all night in the parking lot. This happened all over Indy. The place was crazy. Like many racers I'm sure, my dad & his guys used the motel room as a shop, including making the bathtub a parts washer. What was nuts was, every day after qualifying, racers had to drive their trucks & trailers back to the hotels, then to the track the next morning. Now I know the "rigs" were tiny compared to today, but still, I don't know how 900+ racers came and went everyday during the event. Just a different world from today.
