Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com, through the assistance of a key group of Pro Modified historians and enthusiasts, has compiled a list of the Top 20 all-time drivers based on their contribution to the class, historic achievements, statistics and fan appeal.

Starting on Friday, January 8, 2010, the electronic magazine began revealing those names on the list, and will announce two drivers per week, until the No. 1 driver is unveiled on Saturday, Mar. 20, during the ADRL Dragpalooza in Houston, Texas.

Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com narrowed the list from hundreds of drivers down to 20. Today, we reveal No. 3 on the list.

W. Seneca, NY

NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
•    Seven-time World Champion [IHRA/NHRA/SCS/USSC, Canadian Pro Mod]
•    16-time national event winner [IHRA/NHRA, including one TS Q8]
•    Two-time Car Craft All-Star Drag Racing Team


Fred Hahn gets a chuckle out of former team owner Jim Oddy’s story about how the two got together back in the late 1980s.

“I really liked what was going on with the movement towards Pro Modified with the guys like Bill Kuhlmann,” explained Oddy, a former NHRA U.S. Nationals Comp eliminator winner. “I had read once where it was said that you run whatcha brung, and hope ya brung enough. That inspired me to build a Corvette and when people would come into the shop and ask who was going to be the driver, I used to tell them, whoever is standing here when I finish the car; that will be my driver.”

Hahn smiles when he hears that story. He also offers a few of his own recollections.

“Jim had a Beretta, and he called me and asked if I would go out to Empire and make a few passes in a customer’s car,” Hahn, who at the time was a Fuel Altered racer, recalled. “He didn’t want anyone to know that was his car, that’s the way he was. Jim has always been very secretive.

“I told him I would, and we went to Empire, made two runs and came out to the Norwalk Raceway Park Halloween Classic. He sold the car at the event and that car was a serious, purpose-built Top Sportsman car. That car had a big engine and an automatic transmission with a converter. As fast as that car was, we really believed that we could build a car that could go faster than anyone else out there at the time.”

Months later, Hahn would drive the “driver-determining” car to the quickest pass in doorslammer drag racing history, a 6.69, two-tenths quicker than anyone had ever covered the quarter-mile in a car with doors.

The Corvette, labeled as the Black Mariah by the media, became a pariah in 6.69 seconds to the Pro Modified flag-wavers and in particular, the IHRA’s technical department.

In one fell swoop, the IHRA outlawed the Mariah, well almost.

“When the IHRA came out with their rulebook for the 1990 season, Robert Leonard [then head tech official] told Jim, ‘we have a new rulebook and the only thing you can have on that car that will be legal is the black paint, and we thought about taking it away,'” Hahn recalled.

The IHRA even took away the steering wheel.

A perplexed Oddy asked the IHRA official, “What did we do wrong to make you hate us so?”

The IHRA told Oddy, “You’re about ten years ahead of where we wanted to be in this class.”

Rolling three steps ahead of the competition was usually the way Hahn and Oddy operated. Even when rule changes were handed down to reel them back in, 18 changes in 16 years to be exact, Oddy adds, they kept forging ahead.

Like a fine-tuned locomotive Hahn and Oddy went on to win championships in every series they ever raced. In addition to winning a championship in both the IHRA and NHRA series, they also earned titles in Super Chevy and the United States Super Circuit.

The impressive part of Hahn’s role in Pro Modified was his ability to run the full circuit while working a full-time job. He’s since switched over to a new employer, and chose after the 2004 season to stay closer to home.

Hahn has and still receives offers to drive but respectfully declines. There are times he misses the exhilaration of the competition. He understands the decision he made is the best for him.

“I missed it the first year,” Hahn said. “I don’t as much now unless I speak to someone who is in racing and get to bench racing with others. You have to realize that I’ve been in a race car pretty much all of my life and at first when I left, it was a struggle.”

Time heals all wounds. For Hahn, just knowing the role he played in helping to develop the Pro Modified class and revisiting memory lane works as a meaningful salve.

“It was fun and I met some of the finest people I have ever met in my life,” said Hahn. “I am still close to some of them today. I had one of the best car owners and tuners in the business, as far as I am concerned with Jim Oddy. Along with him, I had Dan and Dave, his sons who came up in the sport from being kids and now they are two of the best in the business. Racing Pro Modified was a very gratifying experience and I feel very fortunate that I was able to do that. I could never have done this out of my wallet.

“I would have never traveled where I did and won the championships I did. We couldn’t have won without help from our sponsors and Jim Oddy, and the knowledge he brought. Everyone on our team added something and I was fortunate enough to add the driving capabilities. It just made for a really good package. We were all neighborhood guys who did really well and through it all, I have no regrets.”

For the complete list visit: ATTITUDE'S COMPETITIONPLUS.COM'S ALL-TIME TOP 20 HOMEPAGE