News

Originally posted by NTPA Truck and Tractor Pulling.

It is our sad duty to report the passing of Rodalyn Knox of Weare, New Hampshire on Saturday, July 2. Mrs. Knox was a three-time champion in the NTPA's Unlimited division with "Country Girl," the wife of Sassy Racing Engines co-founder John Knox, and the mother of supercharged engine specialist Brian Knox. She was inducted into the NTPA Pulling Hall of Fame in 2008 and remains the only female competitor so honored.

After a dozen years in drag racing, Mrs. Knox became the driver of the MF Industrial-sponsored “Sassy Massey” Modified. The move was made at son Brian's request and paid off immediately, with four wins and over 20 top-five finishes across the Grand National Modified and Unlimited divisions and a berth in the Enderle Pull-Off. Mother and son were rewarded for their efforts at the NTPA's 1990 awards banquet, Mrs. Knox as GN Rookie of the Year and Brian as Mechanic of the Year.

Her first championship came in 1995 after an August surge put her renamed "Country Girl" ahead of the Walsh Brothers' "Irish Challenger." She sat out 1996 due to health reasons, but in 1997, she outdueled fellow New Englander Gardner Stone's "General Stage IV" to claim title number two, then backed it up with a third championship in 1998, her final year of competition. Until Kathy Schalitz's 2011 Unlimited title ("Black Widow"), Mrs. Knox was the only female solo driver to win a GN championship.

Rodalyn and John Knox have been strong supporters of the New England Racing Museum and have displayed the Country Girl Funny Car in the museum and at numerous outdoor fundraising events on museum grounds.

Calling hours will be on Friday July, 8th from 1:00 - 3:00p and 6:00 - 8:00p at French and Rising Funeral Home, 17 South Mast St., Goffstown, NH. Funeral services will be Saturday July 9th, at 10:00a in the funeral home. Burial will follow at Hillside Cemetery in South Weare. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Rodalyn's name to the animal welfare charity of your choice.