It ’ s no secret that life-long relationships are a huge part of drag racing , and I was reminded of that just recently when I sat down with a couple of friends in Alabama to talk racing . I recall meeting Maddie Malone when she was just a kid , racing in Jr . Dragster , and doing quite well . I interviewed her once at Huntsville Dragway , and she told me how she won the first drag race she ever entered ... and then placed runner-up in the second . “ I had way too much confidence after that !” she laughingly told me . Drag racing can be a cruel dance partner , and yes , she got beat like a drum a few times afterwards , but also ended up winning multiple season championships , so I suppose she did far more winning than losing .
And then there ’ s Kenny Ford , whom I ’ ve known for so long I can ’ t even remember the exact details of how it all started , and likewise , Maddie has known him for well over half her life , even calls him “ Grandpa Kenny .” When Maddie turned 16 , her parents gave her a 1966 Chevy II ... and Kenny gave her a job working at Performance Torque Converters , the business he founded back in 1995 .
They threw a party for her 16th birthday , and according to Kenny , “ She cried like a little baby when they gave her the Chevy II !” Maddie ’ s parents even bought the car from Kenny , and it was hardly a showpiece ... it was nearly down to the metal , but Maddie was over the moon with excitement . “ I saw the potential in it ,” she told me . Indeed , with a lot of love and busted knuckles and many late nights , Maddie and her dad , Clint , transformed the car into a beautiful and competitive race car that Maddie named “ Goldilocks ” after
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Kenny persuaded her to paint it gold .
Maddie worked at PTC for a while , then left and came back for a second tour before taking a job working for her daddy . One way or another , she ’ s been hanging out in race shops since she was about 10 years old . “ From a very early age , she wanted to be a drag racing star , and she ’ s done well ,” smiles Kenny .
Maddie has always hung around adults . Even as a kid that was just her style , and she ’ ll flat out tell you that most of her friends are twice her age or older . She used to love going on racing expeditions with Kenny and his wife , LaGail , and their daughter , Deda . “ I would be on the road with them for eight hours and I learned a lot of life lessons
from them ,” she recalls . When Maddie was a teenager she had a boyfriend who commented , “ You only hang around old people !” She dumped him in short order .
Maddie always saw the value in learning from “ wise old owls ” like Kenny Ford ... not to mention , older people usually have things like extra trailers ... should you ever need
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to borrow one . “ Maddie and her daddy trade trucks and trailers more than anybody I know !” laughs Kenny .
Such was the case in the days leading up to Donald Long ’ s No Mercy event in South Georgia last October . Maddie wanted to enter Goldilocks in the 6.00 class and mix it up with the best in the business , such as Kenny Ford , who also races his great-looking 1969 Plymouth Valiant in 6.00 . Naturally , she was between trailers at the time , so exactly one day before the event , Clint and Maddie swung by PTC to grab a trailer from Kenny , load Goldilocks , and head to South Georgia . They drove all night and slept a couple hours before first round . “ That ’ s pretty typical of how we do it !” laughs Maddie .
When it came time for eliminations , Kenny and Maddie avoided each other all day , until it was , well , unavoidable . Quite fitting that these two would meet in the finals , but who could have ever guessed it ? As with any final round , there were a few details to iron out beforehand . Kenny asked if she ’ d like to split the purse right down the middle , but
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Maddie suggested the winner get an extra hundred bucks . Kenny agreed . “ What are we gonna do about lane choice ?” Maddie inquired . Kenny had just the solution : “ We ain ’ t gonna do nothing about lane choice ... you ’ re going in the left lane !” he laughs . Kenny had just laid down a 6.004 in the prior round , so he knew the lane was his to pick .
Nothing to do now but fire the engines ! So here they are buckled in their race cars and inching into the beams , with a crowd gathered on the starting line to watch this epic battle of the ages . As the tree flashed green and the cars launched into the air , event announcer Wade Mooney began shouting , “ Oh grasshopper , oh grasshopper !” The phrase dates back to the 1980s blockbuster movie Karate Kid and references a scene where the master was teaching the pupil .
Kenny indeed left on her , but it wasn ’ t a gate job worth writing home about . “ I wasn ’ t that good on the tree , and she was a little worse ,” Kenny laughs . A few whacks of the throttle later , Kenny crossed the finish line first and took home the win . They parked their cars side-by-side in the winner ’ s circle , where Chris Simmons captured a memorable photo . It was the kind of memory that lasts a lifetime .
Months later , these two had me laughing out loud as they retold the story as only they could , and even though their ages are separated by 44 years , what they treasure in life is amazingly similar . If you sit down and talk drag racing with these two , the conversation always strays back to how fortunate and blessed they are just to be able to spend time with family , doing what they love at the dragstrip . DI
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PHOTO : CHRIS SIMMONS |