Paul Candies Memorial Text & Photos By Jack Muller
Felt the need to send along a few pics following the sad news of
the death of Paul Candies. The first "thing" I ever saw resembling a
Funny Car was a red Candies and Hughes Barracuda in the spring of 1967
at Eastex Dragway. Then and there at the tender age of 12 I was hooked.
Funny Cars have remained my favorites ever since and few ran them better
than Candies and Hughes. The first picture shows Richard Tharp at a WWCS meet at Green Valley
in the spring of 1980.
The second photo is of Mark Oswald at the '82
Cajun Nationals-note Steve Gibbs attempting to preserve his hearing in
the foreground.
Picture three shows Oswald at the '83 Cajuns-note the
crewman bolstering his ear protection against the Leonard Hughes induced
mayhem.
The fourth photo is
Oswald at the '84 Cajun Nationals is my favorite since it features Paul
Candies himself cringing from the ear shattering onslaught of
the C&H Trans Am.
The last pic shows Oswald burning out past Buster Couch and the
starting line crew at the '87
Chief Auto Parts Nationals at the Texas Motorplex. Feel free to share the pics and the accompanying
commentary as my tribute to the greatness that was Candies and Hughes.
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