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!
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