big day for sox and martin fan

Ronnie was a great guy! Living in Burlington NC, my family has a lot of tie ins with Ronnie.

My Grandfather, and his cousins owned Piedmont drag way for a few years in the late '60s. That was S&Ms home track. They tried to buy the land ajoined to it to have the track extended to a 1/4mile. They were trying to get it sanctioned. The owners of the ajoining property never would sell. Piedmont is still an 1/8th mile track today.

My dad worked with his cousin as a teenager. Ronnie's cousin had a '55 Chevy that Ronnie and Jake put together for him. My dad also had a '55 at the time with a LT1 in it. So naturally, they were always racing each other to see whose faster.

My aunt was friends with Ronnie's daughter, and used to stay at there house for sleepovers. Apparently the Soxs' dogs' name was Hemi!

I used to work with Jake Kings granddaughter, Ginger. She was a real nice girl! I used to constantly ask questions about Jake. She had lots of great stories! I tried to get her to take me to her Grandmothers house to see in the garage. She said it was still full of all his stuff. Hell, she said there was a giant picture of a 'Cuda in their dining room!

Also, I know where one of Ronnie's personal Roadrunners is sitting locally in a barn. It has been there forever, and it's apparently not for sale. I'd love to sneak in and take a peak at it, but I don't wanna get shot.

I've heard tons of stories from locals, and they're all pretty consistant about how great of a guy Ronnie was. I met Ronnie several times, and he was always great to talk too.

Perks of being a Burlington resident I guess. Hell, a few weeks back I was standing in line behind Herb McCandless at O'Rileys Auto.