06/17/2026
This was my era of race, and I met buffett.These guys
In 1962, Buddy Martin kept lining up against a guy he couldn't beat. Both ran 409 Chevys. Every weekend, same result. Ronnie Sox won. Buddy Martin lost. This went on for an entire race season until Buddy did the smartest thing he ever did: he stopped trying to beat Ronnie and asked him to drive for him instead.
Buddy would furnish a brand-new 1963 Z-11 427 Chevy along with the parts. Ronnie would drive it. Ronnie said yes. The Sox & Martin team was born.
The partnership was defined by three things. Ronnie Sox had driving talent that bordered on supernatural. Buddy Martin had the business mind and marketing instinct to turn that talent into a brand. And Jake King, their master engine builder and tuner, gave them the horsepower to back it all up. Together, the three of them changed what a drag racing team looked like.
They started with Chevrolet. When Chevy announced they were getting out of racing by 1964, Buddy saw the parts supply drying up and got ahead of it. He traveled to Detroit, met with Ford's Lincoln-Mercury division, and struck a deal for one of the new 427 Mercury Comets. The switch from Chevy to Mercury was seamless. They kept winning.
Then came 1965 and the 426 HEMI. Sox & Martin switched from Mercury to Plymouth and began a run of dominance that lasted nearly a decade. The trademark red, white, and blue HEMI-powered Plymouth race cars became the most recognized machines in drag racing. Spotless cars, matching team uniforms, a professional clean image that raised the bar for everyone in the sport.
In 1967, Sox & Martin and their primary sponsor at Chrysler's Plymouth Division launched the Supercar Clinic program at dealerships across the country. It showcased Plymouth's latest muscle cars, Mopar and aftermarket performance parts, and driving tips that encouraged young enthusiasts to race at NHRA-sanctioned drag strips. The program was a huge success and expanded over the following three years to more dealers across the United States. Sox & Martin weren't just racing. They were building the audience for the sport.
When Chrysler introduced the HEMI-powered Barracuda and Dart in Super Stock in 1968, Sox & Martin dominated the class for the next two years. Major NHRA and AHRA events fell one after another. The team was instrumental in the creation of NHRA's new heads-up Pro Stock class in 1970 and became multi-event Pro Stock winners in 1970 and 1971 with their Plymouth Cuda.
Over 25 major race wins. Eight years of sustained dominance at the highest level. In a sport where mechanical failure, tire shake, or a thousandth of a second on the tree can end your day, Sox & Martin stayed on top longer than almost anyone.
The 1970s brought constant NHRA rule changes that handicapped the HEMI engine. Sox & Martin adapted, trying lighter Duster bodies and smaller-displacement HEMI engines. But by the late 1970s, the recession killed corporate sponsorship across the sport. By 1979, the team disbanded.
Ronnie stayed active as a hired gun, driving Pro Stock and Pro Mod cars for various teams. Buddy focused on his businesses. They reunited in the late 1990s to compete in the new NHRA Pro Stock Truck class. Ronnie Sox passed away in 2006. Buddy Martin is still active in the Mopar community, attending events, meeting fans, and talking about the history they made together.
The Sox & Martin story starts with a guy who couldn't beat another guy and was smart enough to hire him instead. It ends with one of the most legendary partnerships in the history of American motorsport.
