Fifty-two years after winning the Super Stock title at the U.S. Nationals, Terry Earwood is returning to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park behind the wheel of a tribute car honoring his late car owner, Steve Bagwell.
Earwood will drive a specially wrapped 1968 Plymouth Barracuda in both the Sox & Martin Hemi Challenge and the U.S. Nationals. The Barnett Automotive Barracuda replicates the Bagwell-owned Plymouth in which Earwood set the NHRA SS/AA national record at 9.70 seconds and 139 mph at a Southeast Division race in Blaney, S.C., in 1976.
The record came after a divisional points championship in 1971 and what remains the biggest win of Earwood’s drag racing career: the 1973 U.S. Nationals. That year, driving Bagwell’s 1971 ‘Cuda convertible in the SS/EA class, he defeated Dempsey Hardy, Dave Boertman, John Lingenfelter and Rodney Martin before advancing to the final round on a bye run. He sealed the title with a victory over Indiana native Bill Felker.
Earwood’s return to Indianapolis marks a full-circle moment for the Georgia native, whose career has spanned far beyond drag racing. The older brother of former NHRA media relations director and longtime Rockingham Dragway owner Steve Earwood, he went on to build a diverse résumé in multiple disciplines.
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On the road racing side, he became the winningest driver in IMSA’s former Firestone Firehawk series. In 1996, he captured the IMSA National Touring Class championship. Later, in 2013, he won his class at the Baja 500 off-road race, proving his versatility in different forms of motorsport.
At the same time, Earwood built a reputation as one of the nation’s most respected driving instructors. For nearly 30 years, he served as chief instructor at the Skip Barber Racing School, where he taught car control and racing fundamentals to more than 30,000 students.
This weekend, his focus returns to the dragstrip where he first made his mark. With the Bagwell tribute Barracuda, Earwood will not only compete but also pay homage to the man whose cars carried him to his greatest achievements.
