Owner, driver

Candies headed the Candies & Hughes race team that made an indelible impact on the sport over four decades. Candies’ start came in a Top Gasser, but he quickly realized his greater talents lay in running a team. Partnering with mechanic-driver Leonard Hughes, they quickly rose to the top. Hughes set a national Funny Car record ET of 7.87 in 1968. More records and major victories followed. When the team transitioned to Top Fuel with Richard Tharp in the cockpit, they took home the 1976 NHRA Top Fuel title. Reverting to Funny Car with Mark Oswald, they won the 1984 NHRA and IHRA FC titles, the first team to win both nitro classes in NHRA history. In all, the team took five IHRA championships and 28 NHRA national wins. Candies was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1999. “Certainly, he was the guy that helped further a lot of careers,” said NHRA webmaster Phil Burgess. “He made championship drivers out of a lot of guys. He had an eye for talent.”