NASCAR on TV this week

NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2025: Ralph Moody — Fast Fords & a Legendary Team

The NASCAR Hall of Fame will induct its class of 2025 this week, and representing the pioneers of the sport among this year’s inductees is owner/driver Ralph Moody.

Moody is one of the founders of the Holman-Moody racing team, the powerhouse Ford organization of the 1960s. Not only did Moody help guide the team to great success in NASCAR’s premier series, he also laid the foundation of a team that would have enormous influence on the NASCAR industry for decades to come.

Before he became a team owner, Moody cut his teeth in the racing world as a driver and mechanic. He began competing in 1935 in his native Massachusetts, piloting a Model T Ford he modified himself.

The United States’ entry into World War II put auto racing on hold, and Moody went overseas to drive tanks under the command of General George Patton. Upon his return to America, Moody resumed his driving career racing midget cars, eventually settling in Florida so that he could race year-round.

See also
NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2025: Ricky Rudd, NASCAR's Ironman

His skills behind the wheel and under the hood eventually led to opportunities in NASCAR’s top division. Moody scored five wins in 47 starts, often driving Fords for team owner Pete DePaolo.

Another associate of DePaolo was John Holman, a Ford parts distributor from California. In 1955, Holman moved to Charlotte to help manage DePaolo’s NASCAR team. Two years later, Ford withdrew from auto racing as part of an industry-wide ban instituted by American automobile manufacturers. With DePaolo’s departure from NASCAR, Holman and Moody decided to pool their resources and take over the team themselves. Their partnership gave them the opportunity to build an entirely new organization, one that would become the stuff of NASCAR legend.

Holman-Moody created a new race shop on the west side of Charlotte near its airport. Moody provided the mechanical mastery and Holman contributed his business acumen, allowing the organization to flourish during the 1960s.

Holman-Moody enjoyed early success with drivers like Curtis Turner and Joe Weatherly, but the team really began to hit stride with Fred Lorenzen in 1961.

A year later, Ford returned to NASCAR with full factory support, giving the team another boost. Thanks to the backing of the Blue Oval, Holman-Moody served as both a racing team and a parts distributor for Ford’s motorsports efforts. All of Ford’s NASCAR operations would run through the Holman-Moody shop in Charlotte.

Moody and his team had first dibs on all the latest Ford racing technology, a coveted position they put to good use. The team stormed to 11 victories in 1963, including six by Lorenzen. Driving Fords bearing the No. 28 (Moody’s preferred number in his own racing days), Lorenzen emerged as a NASCAR superstar, earning a reputation for winning big money events. He won another eight races in 1964 despite making only 16 starts.

After NASCAR instituted a rule for the 1965 season that banned Chrysler’s Hemi engine, the manufacturer pulled out of the sport. Since General Motors was still keeping racing at arm’s length, Ford was left alone to dominate the top series, and Holman-Moody took full advantage. Lorenzen won four times in 17 starts, including the Daytona 500 and the World 600. Teammate Dick Hutcherson, a racer from the Midwest who moved south to try his hand at NASCAR, ran most of the season’s 55 races and earned nine victories. From short tracks to superspeedways, Moody’s team built some of the fastest cars in the sport.

Soon the only prize missing from the Holman-Moody trophy case was a NASCAR Cup Series championship. Enter David Pearson, the Spartanburg, S.C., wheelman who had captured the 1966 title driving Dodges for Cotton Owens.

Pearson ran 12 races with Holman-Moody in 1967 and joined forces with the team the next year to make a run at the championship. Racing the No. 17, the Silver Fox was nearly unstoppable, winning 16 races in 47 starts and cruising to the Cup title.

Pearson and Holman-Moody backed that success up in 1969 with 11 more wins and a second championship together. Pearson went on to further success with Wood Brothers Racing during the 1970s and is considered by some to be NASCAR driver ever. The championships that he won with Holman-Moody are cornerstones of his legendary career.

Holman-Moody’s approach to competing in NASCAR was innovative in its time. Many of the mechanics that Moody worked with were specialists, hired to work on specific areas of the car. The organization’s crew chiefs functioned similarly to middle managers, an operational structure that hinted at the future of NASCAR but did not apply to most teams at the time. Only a lucky few had direct factory support, and the independents were just that – homespun single-car efforts trying to get to the next race.

Holman-Moody, on the other hand, was an auto racing business. In addition to fielding cars, the company managed Ford’s parts distribution network, built and sold chassis to other teams and developed its own new technology.

One of Holman-Moody’s most important innovations was a fuel cell with a rubber lining. In case the outer metal shell of the fuel cell was damaged, the rubber lining would keep the fuel from spilling out and starting a fire.

See also
NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2025: Carl Edwards, the Star Who Walked Away

Holman-Moody also patented a gas tank check valve that would allow a car to be refueled but stopper the gas tank if a car flipped upside down. Outside of NASCAR, the organization collaborated with Ford on developing the GT40, fielding entries in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Yet just as Holman-Moody rose with Ford factory support, the company sank without it. When Ford pulled out of racing again in 1971, the team lost its parts distribution business. The organization carried on through the rest of the season, but the relationship between Moody and Holman began to fracture. By the end of 1971, Moody had left the team.

The company ceased operations as a race team, save for a one-off appearance by Bobby Unser at Riverside International Raceway in 1973. In 524 starts in Cup, Holman-Moody earned 96 wins, 284 top fives, 335 top 10s and Pearson’s two championships.

Moody remained active in NASCAR after his departure from Holman-Moody. He established a new company, Ralph Moody Inc., building engines and other racing equipment. While Moody died in 2004, Holman-Moody still exists as a company today, primarily operating as a restorer of classic performance cars. Unfortunately, the original shop that built so many fast Fords in the 1960s was torn down as Charlotte’s airport has continued to expand.

Moody’s contributions to NASCAR remain important. He was a skillful driver and outstanding mechanic who helped to build the dominant Ford team of the 1960s. Although Holman-Moody was blessed to have Ford factory support and some legendary drivers, the team would not have been successful without Moody’s expertise to maximize the performance of the cars. His ability to lead and innovate set the standard among NASCAR team owners and provided a model of excellence for future teams to follow.  

Bryan began writing for Frontstretch in 2016. He has penned Up to Speed for the past eight years. A lifelong student of auto racing, Bryan is a published author and automotive historian. He is a native of Columbus, Ohio and currently resides in Southern Kentucky.


1 Comment
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Charlie

You left out Fireball Roberts, who drove for them in 1963 up until his death in 1964. He and Lorenzen were a POWERHOUSE.