2017 Hall of Fame


 


 

Leroy Dewdney

Leroy Dewdney was always a fan of fast cars. He was introduced to drag racing by East Coast legend Bob Bernardon and he spent a lot of time with him. Leroy credits Bob with being a huge influence on him, teaching him so much about racing and life. Leroy started his drag racing experience by crewing on Bob's famous Jolly Dolly. Bob even got Leroy a job at a tile company, where Leroy worked until he joined the Army in 1967. After Leroy got out of the Army, things really took off. He tried his hand at bracket racing but said he wasn't very good. He just wanted to go faster and faster. Leroy teamed up with Bill Brock and Roy Wilcher on their Top Alcohol Dragster. After Bill retired, Roy and Leroy went in 50/50 on Bunny Burkett's Mustang II Top Alcohol Funny car. The team ran that car successfully for a few years until Roy retired. Leroy then bought another Bunny Burkett machine -- the Corvette that you can see restored today! Leroy was a mainstay on Tod Mack's Top Alcohol Funny Car circuit. He was always one of the hardest running cars of that great show for ten years! The group ran everywhere up and down the East Coast from Florida to Canada. Leroy's cars always looked good and ran hard. He continually got better cars and better equipment to keep up with the fastest match race funny cars in the class. After John Paris crashed his Yankee Doodle Dandy car at Englishtown, Leroy took over the driving duties for that famous machine. In fact, right here at MIR in 1995, Leroy ran the quickest Chevrolet powered funny car elapsed time in the history of the sport at 6.246 seconds! Leroy then connected with another East Coast great, Carol Henson. He crewed on her car and raced his own. Leroy's final funny car was perhaps his best -- he purchased and ran the 1997 World Championship car from Frank Manzo! Leroy terrorized East Coast tracks for 15 more years until he finally sold the car a few years ago. Leroy says his favorite memories are of racing at "The Creek." He goes on, "Year in and year out we always ran hard. We never had the latest and greatest but we always did the best we could with what we had. We always went from A to B and got the job done. Royce and his sons provided me the best race track on the Eastern Seaboard! I've raced from Australia to Puerto Rico and this is the best place to race -- Maryland international Raceway! All things considered I had a great career. I really want to thank Tod, Bunny, and of course, Royce and the Miller family." And we want to thank YOU, Leroy Dewdney, for more than 30 years of thrills at Maryland International Raceway. For consistent performance and long term excellence, you are a true MIR Legend!