For drag racers and enthusiasts familiar with the legend and lore of NHRA history, few names are more recognizable than Sox & Martin. Ronnie Sox collected five NHRA championships and over 50 event wins, all while being noted for his prowess in driving a stick-shifted race car. In tribute to Sox and his partner, Buddy Martin, and their achievements in drag racing together, Leon Epling worked with Diane Sox of the Sox & Martin Foundation to bring back the livery on Epling’s new NHRA Factory Experimental (FX) race car.

“I’ve been racing cars my entire life,” said Epling. “We competed in the Modern Street Hemi Shootout (MSHS) and ran in the outlaw class there, and wanted to try something different. I’ve always wanted to compete in the NHRA at a high level and in a heads-up class.

Epling and his son, Jason, have had much success competing in outlaw classes at numerous events, with Epling noting that his Dodge Challenger Hellcat was the first in the 8-second zone, and later the first in the sevens, as well. In addition to the MSHS events, they’ve raced all over the country at other events, as well. Currently, Epling’s Hellcat has run a best of 6.96 in the 1/4-mile time — making it the quickest Hellcat anywhere — and Epling came to the conclusion that to do more would require making changes to the car that he didn’t want to make.

Growing up, Ronnie Sox was one of the best shifting NHRA drivers there was. I contacted Diane Sox who handles the Sox and Martin foundation and told her that I wanted to give recognition to that car and wanted to run my car like that. – Leon Epling

“I’ve been a Mopar dude my whole life,” Epling said. “The Hellcat is a street car and we made modification after modification to it. We made it so fast that we outran the cage. To make it really fast, I’d have to destroy the car and start all over. I didn’t want to do that.”

Epling still plans to race the car, including at some top-secret events overseas, but he has enlisted the services of Dave Zientara and ET Tuning in Union, Missouri to build the FX-spec Dodge Challenger Mopar Drag Pak for the 2024 NHRA season.

“Geoff [Turk] and I have been talking for awhile about the FX class,” Epling told us. “I liked the FX class because they added the clutch. That’s how I’ve cut my teeth, and I’ve always run them. I like the clutch because you don’t have to study the converter. I went down to Geoff’s chassis builder to see his build and it has been a magnet for me for some reason.” ET Tuning is where Turk’s car is currently getting finished up, so Epling has the benefit of the company’s experience with Turk’s build already going into another.

Epling’s build commenced Friday, April 8, and Zientara estimated a four-month build time. Epling said he plans to have it well sorted by the time the car makes NHRA debut next season. Both he and his son will take turns driving the FX Mopar at various events.

For the NHRA FX powerplant, Epling is starting with Turk’s “Oracle of Power,” Tony Bischoff at BES Racing Engines, and will utilize one of his Gen III Hemi engines with the class-specified Whipple supercharger on top. Epling has been shifting a Liberty transmission in his current Hellcat for years, so he’s very familiar with the Liberty transmissions that the FX class requires.

Electronic fuel injection for the engine will come by way of Holley EFI, a system that Epling said his son Jason is already very familiar with.

Early plans are for the Eplings and Turk to be teammates.

“Mopar is going to attack the world,” touted Epling, who said he is planning on sharing data with Turk. “Hopefully me and Geoff can team up and get some major accomplishments done. We haven’t joined at the hip, but we’re really close.”

Now, regarding the Sox & Martin livery, it was a pretty simple choice for Epling to make.

“I wanted to make a tribute car. Growing up, Ronnie Sox was one of the best shifting NHRA drivers there was. I contacted Diane Sox who handles the Sox and Martin foundation and told her that I wanted to give recognition to that car and wanted to run my car like that,” Epling explained. “In this modern day world, it can be all about me, me me, and I wanted to remind people of one of the greatest stick-shift racers ever. I think it’s going to connect with a lot of people.”