Built With Speedway Motors: Josh's Story

Josh Blom is a racer and a hot rodder. And that passion was passed down to him from his grandfather, Ron Stephan. Ron and his brothers were racers and hot rodders in the glory days of the sport.

Josh knows where his roots are, and his commitment to preserving the family legacy is monumental. See that neat, black ’41 Ford truck in those pictures? That was Ron’s truck, built to take the big trophy (and an AMC Pacer, of all things) on the ISCA show circuit in the 70’s. It now sits in Josh’s garage, and the story of how it got there is a great one.

Josh was 7 when he posed for one last family picture with the truck before his grandma and grandpa sent it down the road. Most stories would end there.

Fast forward to 2019. Josh is all grown up with a family of his own. He has followed in his grandpa’s footsteps and runs an IMCA sport mod. Grandpa Ron had passed away a few months earlier, and Josh’s grandma Kay has directed him to pull an old photo of the truck out of an ancient frame. There on the back was the name, address, and phone number of the couple who had purchased the truck so many years before.

Josh took a few days to work up the courage. His fear was that the truck had vanished forever. Sold by the next owner, then taken apart, parted out, or worse. Finally, he called the number. Not only did they still have the truck, they had only driven it 1000 miles and it was completely unchanged. Better yet, the couple that owned the truck were touched by Josh’s story and sold it to him for the exact amount they had purchased it for years ago.

Some things are just meant to be.