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Oddy retiring … again!
Drag racing icon and one of the most successful Pro Mod tuners, engine builders and team owners, Jim Oddy came out of retirement this year to work with his son Dave on the Dave Wood’s Pro Mod team. Jim and Dave Oddy have teamed up with Troy Critchley and driver Josh Hernandez for another stellar season that sees them leading the points in the ADRL. Team owner Wood announced earlier that his team would compete only in the ADRL Pro Extreme class next season.
Recently Oddy told DRO editor and his former team public relations person of almost 20 years, Jeff Burk, that 2009 would be the 50th anniversary of his first season as a drag racer and it would also be his last.
“Next year will definitely be my last,” Oddy said. “I’ve had a great career. I won the U.S. Nationals as a driver and just about every championship that Pro Mods have ever had. I’ve gotten to work with my sons Dan and Dave for the last decade and I have 50 years of fun. Working with my sons has been the happiest time of my racing career. So I’ve decided to quit while I’m ahead and I won’t change my mind no matter what. Next year will be my last.” (DRO file photo) [10/1/2008]
Goodguys gather at Beech Bend
A full field of retro nostalgia floppers, front engined fuelers, hot rod hero Rich “Pure Hell” Guasco, Nostalgia Super Stockers, Geezer Gassers and hundreds more vintage racers will be featured Oct. 17-19 at Kentucky’s historic Beech Bend Raceway Park for the first Goodguys Nostalgia Nationals. The event will actually be two events in one with the full speed vintage drag racing program as well as a giant rod and custom show and shine, vendor exhibits, a swap meet and more.
Guasco, the veteran Fuel Altered and Funny Car campaigner who made “Pure Hell” a household name, will be honored as the event’s “Hot Rod Hero.” While he never visited Beech Bend, the Pleasanton, Calif., native did find considerable success racing in the Midwest in the 1970s, scoring an NHRA national event win in the Funny Car Division at the 1973 Spring Nationals in Columbus, OH.
“I can’t wait to cruise into Bowling Green in my ’32 Five Window Coupe,” Guasco said. “I’ve always heard great things about the track with the covered grandstands and all. It will be nice to talk to the fans about the old days.”
The field of Nostalgia Funny Cars will include recent Goodguys event winner Steve Nichols in the Mill Road Boys’ Camaro, Justin Grant’s “Wonder Wagon” Cuda, Danny Miller’s “Rear Gears” Maverick, Greg Jacobsmeyer’s “All Star Dodge,” Kyle Wurtzel’s “Motown Shaker” Vega, Indy Winner John Dunn in the “Dunn & Gone” Nova, and Eric Martin’s “Wildfire.”
Sean Bowen’s “Violator” ’77 Trans Am, which was involved in a wild top-end mishap at the Goodguys Blue Suede Cruise in Norwalk, OH, has been repaired and is ready to race. (photos courtesy Goodguys) [10/1/2008]