06/01/2026
Jim Oddy was an early car enthusiast whose lifelong involvement in drag racing began at the age of 16 when he joined the Torrid Torkers car club in Buffalo in 1957. Driving an inline six-cylinder powered 1936 Chevy Coupe, Jim entered his first competition event and immediately won his class. That victory ignited a passion for drag racing that would define the rest of his life and career.
Oddy became an accomplished fabricator and engine builder, learning many of his mechanical and fabrication skills from his father, Don Oddy, a shipyard welder and fabricator. Those lessons proved invaluable as Jim began building his own race cars. Over time, the Western New York native earned a reputation not only as a feared competitor on the track but also as one of the most respected builders in the sport.
In 1960, Jim and his father built his first major race car, a C/Gas 1936 Chevy Coupe powered by a 302 cubic-inch Chevrolet engine. The car was immediately successful, setting a new AHRA C/Gas class record with a 12.20-second elapsed time at 118 MPH. Inspired after attending the NHRA U.S. Nationals as a spectator in 1964, Jim built a B/Gas Anglia coupe powered by another 302 Chevy engine. He returned to Indianapolis the following year and won the class, firmly establishing his reputation in drag racing circles.
From 1969 through 1974, Oddy campaigned a series of highly successful race cars that further elevated his status in the sport. These included a blown Chrysler-powered 1948 Austin sedan in BB/GS, an Opel GT-bodied BB/GS coupe, and a blown Fiat altered competing in BB/A. These powerful and innovative cars carried him to another U.S. Nationals victory as well as two NHRA Division I championships.
Jim’s success on the racetrack eventually led him to open Oddy's Automotive in Elma in 1975. The business specialized in supercharged engines for a wide range of racing and high-performance applications around the world. As the demands of building high-quality engines increased, Jim gradually reduced his personal racing schedule to focus more on the business.
In 1987, however, the competitive itch returned when Jim became involved in the emerging IHRA Top Sportsman class. Partnering with talented driver Fred Hahn, Oddy built and tuned a blown Chrysler-powered Chevy Beretta coupe that quickly became a dominant force. This effort was followed by the now-iconic flat black Corvette, which stunned the racing world with a 6.69-second pass at an IHRA event in Darlington. The team later moved into the Pro Modified ranks, where they achieved tremendous success, winning six consecutive Super Chevy events in 1996, ten more in 1997, and capturing the Pro Modified World Championship in both seasons. The Hahn and Oddy partnership continued its dominance by winning the 2000 IHRA Pro Modified World Championship and the 2003 NHRA AMS Pro Modified World Championship.
As the years passed, the pressures of running a high-performance business and traveling the racing circuit began to take their toll. Jim eventually retired to Mooresville, but his love for race cars and engine building never faded. Driven by his passion for classic Gassers, he later built a 1934 Willys AA/G two-door sedan known as “The Junkyard Dog,” which was campaigned at nostalgia Gasser events with Junior Ward behind the wheel.
Throughout his long and successful career, Jim Oddy became recognized as one of the founding fathers of the Pro Modified class. His accomplishments earned him numerous honors, including induction into the East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame in 2004, inclusion in the inaugural Lancaster Speedway Wall of Fame class in 2015, and receipt of the NHRA Lifetime Achievement Award.
05/31/2026
05/31/2026