The Comeback: Ron Rhodes’ U.S. Street Nationals Redemption

The season has just barely started, and the comeback stories are already rolling in. This one stars radial racing legend, Ron Rhodes.

If you’re not familiar with Ron Rhodes and the back story of his Torch Red 1968 Chevrolet Camaro, we’re not sure what rock you’ve been living under, but we’ll sum it up for you. Rhodes has had this car since he was 14 years old, eventually turning it into the highly competitive X275 machine that it is today. The paint on the steel roof and quarters has remained virtually untouched since 1989, which is a task in itself when you’re making passes down the drag strip at 170+ mph at more than ten events each year. This record held strong until December 20^th at Bradenton Motorsports Park during the Christmas Tree Drags.

As the first round of eliminations commenced, Rhodes launched off the starting line, with everything going smoothly and as expected. The Camaro made a gear change and immediately took a hard turn to the right, crossing the 330-foot mark perpendicular to the track. It made contact with the right-lane wall at the front fender corner and skidded down the wall to a stop, pinning the driver’s side door against the concrete barrier.

“[I] lost the tire on the gear change, and the car just washed out like it was on ice. Still not 100% on exactly why yet,” described Rhodes. “Once I knew I was clear of the other car, I knew I was destined for the wall. I was sick to my stomach and honestly in shock. It’s more than a racecar to me.”

The original plan was to leave the car in Florida after the Christmas Tree Drags, given how closely U.S. Street Nationals followed. If they were going to make the opening race of the Radial Outlaws Drag Racing Series, that plan quickly changed. The team high-tailed it north to their home base of Townsend, Delaware, to assess the damage and come up with a plan.

The damage was thankfully not as severe as originally anticipated, however, it still created a major setback with the holidays and the U.S. Street Nationals just around the corner. The total damage included the front cradle for the fuel cell, radiator, and dry sump, as well as the front nose, rear quarter panel, deck lid, bumper, and wing. Luckily, the chassis remained untouched.

In what many questioned was even possible, the team managed a three-week turnaround on the car.

“We just started working on it without even thinking we were going to make Florida. After a week into it, Ronny and I were like, ‘Hey, we might be able to pull it off,’” Rhodes said. From there, the team put it into overdrive with a hard deadline in place. The majority of the work was done at night and on weekends, as the Rhodes family still had a custom auto shop to run during business hours.

The car was buttoned up and ready to go back south, the only thing left unchecked on their list, ironically, was the paint. The iconic red Camaro rolled out of the trailer with a primer gray front nose and rear quarter.

Rhodes drove through the water box of the same track, in the same lane, and contrary to the next-level nerves most may have been feeling, was cool, calm, and collected, wanting to get the first pass out of the way, shake off the jitters, and move on. “Going down the same track, in the same lane, the first pass is exactly what I needed,” Rhodes said. As a whole, they were just happy to be there, but after a smooth first round of testing, he was there to win.

Both Ron and his son Ronny went rounds in their respective classes, Ron in X275 and Ronny in Ultra Street, with each advancing to the finals. Unfortunately, Ron lost traction around the 60-foot mark and spun the tire, ending the race for him, and Ronny lost on a holeshot to Joel Greathouse. Finishing the weekend with a double runner-up, the Rhodes family and team can finally take a breather after what they would call a successful comeback.

With spring being one of the busier points in the season, and the majority of the Radial Outlaw Racing Series being in the Southeast, the car will be staying in Florida, competing in its current state until the summer break. At which point, she will receive the attention she deserves with a fresh paint job.

This begs the question: Will it stay the iconic Torch Red we all know and love? We made sure to ask, “I wouldn’t be Ron Rhodes if I wasn’t in a red Camaro,” he replied. Rhodes also extends a special thanks to Ronny, Mark, Ricky, and Roger for stepping up and helping make it all happen, as well as to his sponsors for helping make this feat, which many may have said wasn’t possible, a reality.