Dirt
Filling A Void
Matt Dadas Surprises Father with Replica of Family ’ s Original Race Car By Madelyn Marconi
In the world of drag racing , many can relate when they hear that a parent ’ s love for the sport is passed onto the next generation . For the Dadas family , that realization came full circle when a 1967 Camaro appeared on the front lawn at their home one Sunday afternoon . It was Matt Dadas , a standout competitor in the world of big-money bracket racing and DI 30 Under 30 Class of 2019 honoree , who put a plan together to bring a piece of his family ’ s history back to life for his father , Jim .
During the golden era of IHRA racing in the ‘ 80s and ‘ 90s , Jim Dadas ’ career was in full swing , traveling to racetracks along the East Coast . Armed with a beautifully painted 1967 Camaro , Jim had himself a deadly consistent combination of car and driver in the Hot Rod class . Running on a 10.90 index , many winning time slips were printed as he raced his way to 13 IHRA national event wins . With nearly half of his event wins taking place at Bristol Dragway , Jim was properly nicknamed , “ Mr . Bristol .”
However , a facility that both Jim and Matt have a longstanding history with is their home track , Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk , Ohio , where Jim was awarded the prestigious Bill
Bader Sr . Sportsman of the Year Award in 2000 . Each year for the past 51 years , the Halloween Classic held in October puts over $ 100,000 up for grabs and brings in well over 1,000 entries . Over 20 years ago , Jim won the race on two separate occasions and became a grand champion . In 2020 , Matt identically repeated his father ’ s achievements in winning two races and becoming a grand champion , attesting to the fatherson duo ’ s sentiment for winning drag races and continuing their family ’ s history .
Prior to Matt being born , an unfortunate tragedy struck the Dadas family in 1994 when a house fire engulfed their Ohio home in flames , ultimately destroying Jim ’ s beloved race car sitting in the garage . While the race car turned out to be a total loss and was eventually crushed and replaced with a 1982 Camaro , the idea of con-
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