The latest news from the Ronnie Sox Foundation
Archives: 2008 | 2007
December 19,2007 I do not know all the details, but Linda Vaughn's brother passed recently. Please keep Linda in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. Thank you. Diane Sox |
November 20, 2007 Fred (a/k/a HemiFred) & Nick Ristagno I was deeply shocked and saddened to learn of Fran's passing yesterday. Fran was truly a wonderful lady. She was a great wife, stepmother and friend to all those who knew her. Fran will be missed and remembered by those who had the privilege to have known her. I have no adequate words at this time with which to express the depth of my sadness, but please know that you both are in my thoughts and prayers. Services for Fran Ristagno will be held Monday Nov. 26th from 6 to 9 PM at: Monti-Rago Funeral Home 2533-35 South Broad Street Philadelphia, PA 19148 Those wishing to may send a donation in her honor to the RONNIE SOX FOUNDATION 1673 Independence Court Richmond, VA 23238 Donations made to Ronnie Sox Foundation in Memory of Fran Ristagno Henry & Diane Gabbert - $100 Diane Sox - $ 50 Diane Sox |
November 2, 2007
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October 22, 2007 Charity Raffle The ticket has been drawn and a winner declared. Steve White, from New Jersey has won the firesuit and autographed photo of Richard Petty and Ronnie Sox in the charity raffle that was held to benefit the Ronnie Sox Foundation and the Victory Junction Gang. $6000.00 was raised for the two charities from the raffle. We would like to thank everyone that purchased tickets in support of these great organizations. Diane Sox |
October 5 - 6 2007 Muscle Car Reunion & Nostalgia Drags
I am extremely pleased to report that we raised $5,780 for Ronnie's Foundation to help the kids at St. Jude. Clark pleasantly surprised me with a silent auction for the Foundation. He had acquired numerous items from Kenny & Brandon Bernstein, Coughlin Family/Team Jegs, David Powers Motorsports, Morgan Lucas, and Greg & Kathy Mosley. I would like to acknowledge all donors for their generous contributions toward this effort. What really blew my mind was Clark's next idea! That was to have a $10 raffle. The winner of the raffle would win a ride down the track in Ronnie's '68 Barracuda with Buddy, along with one of the Sox & Martin die cast cars autographed by Buddy and myself. This was a huge hit with the fans. The excitement and anticipation of the raffle was exhilarating. At 2:15 p.m. the winning ticket was drawn. At 5:15 p.m., Jim Thompson took his ride down the track with Buddy. Jim was so excited that he could hardly contain himself. The excitement was in the air, everywhere! (Ronnie would have absolutely loved doing this with a fan.) After taking his ride, Jim said that this was a day he would never forget. Jim also pledged to make a $500 contribution to Ronnie's Foundation. What a tribute this was to Ronnie!! Buddy and I had a great time with the Rands, Big Daddy, the Muscle Car Reunion members and staff and, of course, all the fans. The Southern hospitality extended to us both was exceptional. My heartfelt gratitude goes to the Rands for all their hard work and efforts in making this event fun and, more importantly, prosperous for Ronnie's Foundation. Holding Fundraisers with these guys is always fun. As Clark put it, "It was a Blast!" I extend sincere thanks to the Rands, Buddy, the Muscle Car Reunion members and staff, all of the silent auction donors, Jim Thompson, and the many loyal and devoted fans of Sox & Martin! Diane Sox |
September 29, 2007 CONNIE SWINGLE 1935 - 2007 Connie Swingle, 72, one of the true pioneers of drag Racing, passed away Saturday evening, peacefully in his home in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the city of his birth. Connie had health problems for the last ten years and finally succumbed to Cancer. His faithful nurse, Virginia, was at his side. Connie was installed into the Southeastern NHRA Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1991 and the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1998. He won the Drag News Invitational in 1962, held at Dragway 42 in Ohio. He held the Drag News #1 spot several times and also the Drag News 1320 E.T Record of 7.88 seconds at 198.22 MPH. Connie was also my Crew Chief during the Drag Racer Magazine Number One Spot held at Half Moon Bay in 1966, which we won. Connie was a tireless worker, could go for days without sleep and always had a new idea on how to go fast. He left his mark on our sport and he will be sorely missed. Don Garlits I send my condolences to the entire Swingle family. May he rest in peace. Diane Sox |
September 28, 2007 Wally Parks passes away. 1913 - 2007
I was very saddened last night when I received a phone call from Linda Vaughn informing me that Wally Parks had passed away. Though I never had the privilege of meeting Wally personally, it was well known that Wally had a wonderful, dignified and very strong presence in everything that he did. Wally made a difference in this world and his intelligence and high standards called out the best in everyone that knew him. Wally will be greatly missed. May the blessings of God be upon the Parks family in this hour of need. I send my blessings and prayers to the entire family. Diane Sox |
September 8, 2007 Richmond International Raceway
Because of demanding schedules, neither Bobby LaBonte or Kyle Petty were able to attend the St. Jude and Victory Junction Gang's raffle. Ray Evernham graciously offered to lend his support. Ray attended a Q&A session on September 7th in support of the Ronnie Sox Foundation's raffle to benefit St. Jude and the Victory Junction Gang. As you can see from the photos, Ray was a big hit with the fans. He was only supposed to do a 15 minute Q&A, which he did, but he also put in a pitch for Ronnie's Foundation and signed autographs. Ray has the best of the best when it comes to his assistant and coach driver, Ann Eaton and Craig Strickler. It was truly an honor for me to receive such support from an icon like Ray and his staff! With their help, the Ronnie Sox Foundation raised an additional $1,000. Words can never be enough to express my heartfelt thanks to Ray and his wonderful assistants. I also owe a special thanks to Doug Fritz, President of RIR, Mac McDonald, Security Manager, Kent Winter, Director of Corporate Sales and Shannon Wood for all they did to help with the Ronnie Sox Foundation efforts. These folks were great to work with on this charitable event. I thank you all for your thoughtfulness and willingness to help out the Foundation for such a great cause. The Art Guild also deserves special recognition. They turned around a Charity banner for the Foundation in record time and, at a great price. Diane Sox |
September 2007 IHRA Pro Stockers support the Ronnie Sox Foundation
The next e-mail I received from Cliff stated that they had put together a program with four of the most professional teams in IHRA Pro Stock, Brian Gahm, Pete Berner, John Montecalco and Rob Mansfield. These guys are willing to do what it takes to help out. Cliff said they could run the "In Memory of Ronnie" stickers on the hood scoops and hand out flyers and information, as well as, accept donations from racers, fans and sponsors. He advised that he would need to do a press release over the next month with IHRA to promote what they were going to accomplish. I can't begin to express my heartfelt gratitude and excitement at this extremely generous offer of support from Cliff, Jon Kaase Racing, Brian Gahm, Pete Berner, John Montecalco and Rob Mansfield. Can you believe Cliff being a project manager for Jon Kaase Racing and the Crew Chief for Brian Gahm's IHRA Pro Stock yet wanting to find the time to help me and Ronnie's Foundation? Not to mention, the racers themselves, Brian Gahm, Pete Berner, John Montecalo and Rob Manasfield also offering to help the Ronnie Sox Foundation with all that they have on their plates? All I can say is WOW! Ronnie, I am sure, is smiling down with a heavy heart knowing that I am receiving so much support for his Foundation from fellow racers. I can not wait to meet each and every one of these remarkable guys! God bless all of you and, I thank you from the very bottom of my heart!!!!! Diane Sox |
August 2-5, 2007 Cloquet Classic Car Daze I sincerely apologize for the tardiness of this but, with everything going on, I am just getting around to updating the website. I thank Gary Homstad and members of the Cloquet Classic Car Daze for inviting me to their Great Days in Cloquet this year. I owe many thanks to Gary and Randy for getting me to the events. Gary's energy and enthusiasm for the Classic Car Daze was phenomenal. The weather in Cloquet was absolutely beautiful and the Classic Car Daze members and the hospitality extended to me were exceptional. There was never a dull moment. Besides the car show, there was a burnout contest, poker run, pipe/muffler rapping contest, food and music. I enjoyed myself immensely, and raised $500 for the Ronnie Sox Foundation while there. Needless to say, I had a very enjoyable time, and I look forward to next year’s event. More importantly, I was able to reach out to many club members and attendees regarding the importance of early detection and awareness of prostate cancer. I was touched deeply when one of Ronnie's fans, a prostate cancer survivor himself, said that he knew Ronnie would be proud of what I was doing to help educate others about prostate cancer. Educating people about early detection and raising awareness of this condition is as important to me as raising funds for the St. Jude kids in Ronnie's memory. Diane Sox |
July 2007 All Chrysler Nationals I attended the All Chrysler Nationals in Carlisle, PA and raised $5,000 for the Ronnie Sox Foundation to benefit the children at St. Jude. Words alone can not express my sincere gratitude to the Carlisle Events for their thoughtfulness in inviting me to attend this event as their guest. I must admit, however, the highlight of my weekend (next to raising $5,000 for the Foundation) was getting to meet, spend time with and share a tent with none other than Shirley Muldowney and Big Daddy Don Garlits. Don also had his grandson Rodney Smith with him who was a very delightful young man. It was pleasing to my eyes to see how Rodney obviously adores his grandfather. I was very intrigued with Don's intellect and wisdom. Don, Shirley and Rodney were most gracious to me and my sister the entire weekend. We could not have asked for better weather, though it was hot, we had a continuous breeze and, the heat didn't seem to stop the fans nor the activities throughout the three day weekend. I truly enjoyed seeing and visiting with many of Ronnie's fans. I met a great group of people and, saw first hand, just how hard this club works in putting on such a huge event. The event has grown tremendously since Ronnie and I were last there in 2000. Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't say a big Thank You to my sister Shirley for all her help and hard work that weekend. I could not have done it without her help. Thanks Sis for all you did to help me and Ronnie's Foundation. I appreciate it more than you know. Diane Sox |
June 2007 Former Division 3 Director, IRP General Manager Bob Daniels Passes Away My most profound, and heartfelt condolences go out to Eileen Daniels and family as I recently learned of Bob's passing on June 30, 2007. I know only too well what the pain is like when a love one leaves us. But, God has a purpose for everything. Some things we understand, some things we do not. Bob will always be remembered not only as the 'icon' he was in the racing industry, but for the true gentleman he was to all who had the pleasure of knowing him. Eileen and family don't think of Bob as gone away -- think of him as living in the hearts of those he touched -- for nothing loved is ever lost-- May God bless you with his healing love during this very difficult time. Diane Sox |
I just received word tonight that Hubert Platt was involed in a terrible truck accident. It happened last thursday (June 21,2007) while he was driving near Cumming, Ga. A dump truck pulled out in front of the rollback truck that he was driving. He couldn't stop, hit the dump truck and turned over on impact. Hubert pulled himself from the truck and was taken to a hospital. He is at home at this time, all cut up, bruised and maybe more injuries, I am not sure. Our thoughts and prayers go out to him and we hope he has a speedy recovery. Diane Sox |
The Foundation received a very generous donation from Buddy Martin and his son Chris recently. I sincerely appreciate this generous donation, along with their continued support and help since Ronnie's passing. Buddy, I hope you especially know how much I appreciate and will always value your endless advice, support, encouragement and above all, your friendship. Ronnie tried to tell me countless times to go to you for any kind of help when he was gone, but I didn't want to hear it because I refused to believe he would leave me so soon. However, Ronnie knew and he wanted to be sure that I knew I could always count on you. As always, Ronnie was right! Buddy and Chris, on behalf of myself and the children at St. Jude, thank you again for your support. It is truly an honor to be able to tell people that Buddy Martin was not only Ronnie's racing partner of many years, but our dear friend too. I told Ronnie many times, and I'll tell you God certainly knew what he was doing when he put the dynamic duo of Sox & Martin together. Diane Sox |
Memorial Day weekend I did a show for the Suffolk Raceway Reunion. I would like to announce that they donated $500 to the Ronnie Sox Foundation and that they had a good turnout for a holiday weekend, good weather with many beautiful cars and fellow racers from Ronnie's day were there. It was great seeing/meeting everyone and I enjoyed this event. On behalf of the Ronnie Sox Foundation and, the kids at St. Jude we thank Suffolk Raceway Reunion for their generous donation to the foundation. Diane Sox |
May 2007 I received a telephone call from Melanie Bonner, wife of fellow racer Phil Bonner. Though Melanie is a longtime friend, this particular telephone call touched me deeply. It seems that Melanie took it upon herself to raise money for Ronnie's Foundation at Dick Brannan's Southern Auto Classic Show, which was held earlier this month in Atlanta. And raise it she did! Melanie raised $500 for the Foundation! Melanie said while working Dick's show people were always asking her "Where's Hubert Platt"? Melanie thought of the idea of making stickers for people to wear saying "Where's Hubert Platt" and selling them for a $1. She not only raised money for Ronnie's Foundation, but she had a lot of fun in doing so. Melanie, I know I've already thanked you by phone, but I thank you, again, on behalf of myself, the Ronnie Sox Foundation and, more importantly, the kids at St. Jude. I know that Ronnie is smiling down with much admiration for your support of his Foundation to benefit the kids at St. Jude in his memory. Way to go Melanie!!!! Diane Sox |
April 2007 Today I received a very generous donation from Ken & Carol Ward of Pearland, TX. Thank you very much for your thoughtfulness in Ronnie's memory. Diane Sox |
During my recent visit to St. Jude, a family friend of patient Miriam Escamilla gave me a generous donation for the Foundation. He stated that Miriam's family would not accept anything from him and he wanted to help. He did not want to be mentioned by name, stating that it was totally unnecessary, he simply wanted to help. I think Miriam is lucky to have such a special friend that wants to help her and other kids at St. Jude. Diane Sox  Diane with Emma and Westin Dietz, Miriam Escamilla with her family and friends. |
Cowtown Mopars Performance Team Car Show Lewisville, Texas
We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day for our show. Nice and sunny, a nice breeze and a parking lot full of Mopars! There were more race cars at the show this year than we have seen in the past and we had a large area set up for them and the Sox & Martin cars. We also had more visitors at the show than in the past and the parking lot was full of people browsing around admiring the cars. Our club, Cowtown Mopars and sponsoring dealer, Huffines Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge, each ordered one of the commemorative die casts of the 1967 Super Stock GTX and sold raffle tickets for them. Clark Rand (the owner of the two Sox & Martin cars at the show) and Butch Leal also donated a couple of cars that were raffled or used in our silent auction. During the course of the day, we sold more tee shirts than ever before, the silent auction was very busy, raffle ticket sales went crazy and when the smoke cleared..... I'll get to that in a minute. Diane Sox and Butch Leal were also very busy selling their goodies, signing autographs and talking to everyone. They were both gracious enough to help hand out the awards later in the day, of which were also a record number. Now, back to the surprises..... after smoke cleared and the final tally made, the club presented a check in the amount of $6,583.50 to Diane for the Ronnie Sox Foundation! Dan Bell from the Texas Outsiders Nostalgia Super Stocks won the $165.00 50/50 pot and handed it directly to Diane which made the total money raised $6,748.50. That made us all feel proud of our club and the efforts of all of its members. As we say down here..... we done good. Update 5/24/2007: Texas Twist, the food vendor that was at the show selling refreshments and food donated all of their profits for the day to the club to be sent to the Ronnie Sox Foundation. The additional amount was $495.91 which made our total donation $7244.41 !!! Mike Miller Cowtown Mopars webmaster |
March 2007
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Hooker Headers recently published their 2007 catalog with a memorial to Ronnie on the cover. The employees of Hooker Headers also made a sizable donation to the Ronnie Sox Foundation and I want to thank them on behalf of all of the children that will benefit from it at St. Judes. Diane Sox |
January 2007 I have just been advised by Supercar Collectibles today that they are forwarding to me a check in the amount of $65,900 on behalf of the Ronnie Sox Foundation to be given to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. I will be flying to Memphis on February 16, 2007 to present this check personally to St. Jude. That being said, I want to personally thank each and every one from the bottom of my heart at Supercar Collectibles for not only their hard work and dedication regarding the Commemorative Car, but also for their love and respect for Ronnie in donating 100% of the net profits to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Ronnie's Memory. I am literally speechless and filled with so much emotion, right now, that it is hard for me to speak let alone write you. My heart is pounding and so full of gratitude to everyone at Supercar Collectibles and to all of the fans. It fulfills my heart to know that even though Ronnie may be gone, he obviously will NEVER BE FORGOTTEN. The generosity of Supercar Collectibles and of you, the fans, is unfailing. I thank you, also, on behalf of St. Jude, and on behalf of all of the many children that will benefit from your contributions. GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU FOR MAKING MY NEW YEAR WITH THIS WONDERFUL TRIBUTE TO THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!!!!! Diane Sox |
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