The 2024 racing season for Texan Ronny Young and the “Blue Max Racing” team is a big one for many reasons, most significantly marking the fifty-five-year anniversary of “Blue Max” funny cars dating back, of course, to the original owner, Harry Schmidt. A list of well-accomplished drivers piloted the famed “Blue Max” nitro funny cars over the decades, making it arguably the most famous funny car on the planet. That tradition continues today each time Ronny Young and company take to the strip, in recent years that being in the Funny Car Chaos series across the southwest.
The most recent “Blue Max” was the 1979 Dodge Omni bodied entry which paid tribute to the 1979 to 1981 championship-winning car driven by none other than Raymond Beadle. During Friday night qualifying of the Funny Car Chaos Championship Finals at State Capitol Raceway in Baton Rouge this past September, the car was crashed in spectacular fashion with Young thankfully suffering only minor burns to the hand and some bruising. A tough cat, like all the drivers of the “Blue Max” machines, Young has recovered and is ready to step back on the loud pedal.
During the off-season, Young traveled to multiple race shops across the country in search of a new car but was unable to find a chassis that would suit his needs. With that, the decision was made to reintroduce the 1978 Plymouth Arrow bodied car that was retired after the 2014 racing season after eighteen race dates that year. With a good freshen-up and more horsepower between the frame rails, the Plymouth Arrow will make its first appearance back in action at the Funny Car Chaos Classic, April 4-6 at the Texas Motorplex and also attend several other Funny Car Chaos events this season.
“We’re very excited to bring back the 78 Plymouth Arrow car because it was Beadle’s (Raymond) favorite of all of them and a crowd favorite. We’re all just thankful to be able to continue the tradition of the ‘Blue Max’ funny cars. This is an entirely different combination than we ran back in 2013 and we haven’t had a chance to test, so we’re just going to see how it goes and have fun and enjoy talking to the fans, that’s what this is all about for us,” said Young.
At the Texas Motorplex, lucky race fans able to attend in person will have first dibs getting their hands on all new t-shirt and hero card designs from the team and Mr. Young will surely be glad to sign your autographs as well! If you can’t be there in person, take advantage of the free three-day live stream on the Funny Car Chaos YouTube channel streaming here all weekend: https://www.youtube.com/c/FunnyCarChaos
This story was originally published on March 29, 2024. 
