FANTASY NASCAR Racin

John Holman - 11/8/1918 - 1975
Ralph Moody - 09/10/1917 - 06/09/2004
Holman-Moody - was an auto racing team, race car manufacturer, and marine engine manufacturer. The team built virtually all of the factory Ford race cars of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. It owned race cars that competed in NASCAR, drag racing, ocean boat racing, rallys, and sports car racing. The team won NASCAR championships in 1968 and 1969 with driver David Pearson and also the 1967 Daytona 500 with Mario Andretti. Their trademark was "Competition Proven." John Holman was hired in 1952 by Clay Smith and Bill Stroppe to drive their parts truck to each leg of the 1952 Mexican Road Race and to stay ahead of the racing team. The team won the race, and they hired Holman as a full-time mechanic and parts man after the race to work in their Long Beach, California

shop. Holman worked for the team until 1956, when Ford Motor Company hired him to run their factory team shop at Charlotte, North Carolina. Ralph Moody won four NASCAR races in 1956. He raced the first third of 1957, until Ford and the other American automobile manufacturers pulled out of racing. They formed a partnership after the American Manufacturers' Association banned Ford's factory participation in stock car racing in June 1957. The move unemployed both men. They decided to pool their resources, and formed Holman-Moody. Moody immediately took out a loan against an airplane that he owned, and with Holman paid $12,000 to buy the shop and equipment that had been Ford's Charlotte-based racing operation. Holman-Moody was one of the first to sell "purpose-built" stock car chassis for racing. Holman-Moody Fords won their first two races in 1957. Holman-Moody entered two cars in the final two races at the Daytona Beach Road Course in 1958. The cars were raced by Curtis Turner and

for such stars as Lorenzen, Fireball Roberts, Junior Johnson, Marvin Panch, Cale Yarborough, Benny Parsons, Curtis Turner, Joe Weatherly, Speedy Thompson, and many others. Even though no drivers ran many events, Holman Moody still posted 44 wins during that period. Holman-Moody bought out Bill Stroppe in 1965 and the Long Beach facility. This would be the first time they fielded a car full time with Dick Hutcherson at the keyboard. He posted nine wins, and finished second in the points. 1966 saw Hutcherson win three more times, along with two additional wins by Lorenzen. 1967 Holman-Moody again used a handful of different drivers, but they posted four wins. 1968 saw David Pearson drive a full season for the team and visit victory lane an amazing 16 times. He also claimed the first Cup Championship for Holman-Moody Racing and second for himself. 1969 saw Pearson again

have a great season winning the Championship again on the strength of 11 wins. The team only fielded one car for 1970 and Pearson's name was over the door. He ran 18 events and won one. 1971 was for all practical purposes the final year of Holman Moody as they fielded cars for four drivers; among them, Bobby Allison who made the most starts (23); but posted nine wins. They built around 50 race cars a year until Moody sold his portion of the company after the 1972 season. Holman died in 1975 after suffering a heart attack while testing an inter-cooler. The team was owned by a trust for several years, until Lee Holman took over the operations in 1978. They would make one final start in 1973, as Bobby Unser drove for them at Riverside CA; and post a fourth place finish. For their partnership John Holman and Ralph Moody would

supply cars for drivers that won 96 Cup wins. Though only fielding cars full time for three seasons, they won the Championship twice and finished second the other year. Major race wins include: World 600 (1962, 1963, 1965, 1971); Southern 500 (1964, 1971); Daytona 500 (1965, 1967). They continue to build and restore collector race cars and engines with the majority of the employees having worked for Holman-Moody since the 1960s. Holman-Moody had a lasting effect on all forms of auto racing. Their innovations include fuel cells, full-floater rear axle, on-board fire systems, quick change disk brakes, square tube frames, tube shocks. The 1966 Holman-Moody Ford Fairlane was the basis for NASCAR race cars until NASCAR redesigned their car as the Car of Tomorrow.