PAT MUSI
MR . WORLDWIDE : Musi ’ s tuning talents have taken him to drag strips around the world . His international accomplishments include numerous victories in the Arabian Drag Racing League , like this 2014 win with driver Khalid Mohammed in Round 4 of the ADRL season .
“ Have we had our arguments ? We ’ ve probably had a couple in six years ,” Musi says . “ I ’ ll tell you one thing about Rickie – we might argue once in a while , but it won ’ t be three minutes and he ’ s at my trailer , ‘ OK , let ’ s talk . Let ’ s get this over with right now .’ And we do . Rickie is just a really good racer .”
PHOTOS : COLE ROKOSKY , ROGER RICHARDS , ARABIAN DRAG RACING LEAGUE
OVERSEAS AND NHRA PRO MOD SUCCESS
Musi ’ s engine expertise started to reach all corners of the world in the mid-2000s , which led to another major step in his success .
Musi had sold a 540 cubic-inch engine to a customer in Bahrain in what Musi estimated to be in the 2004-2006 range , which were the beginnings of the drag racing boom in Bahrain and Qatar . That grabbed the attention of a Sheikh in Bahrain , who quickly bought a Camaro from Musi and then brought him over to tune it .
Since then , Musi has become a nearly-annual visitor overseas as a crew chief , though it started with extremely humble beginnings in Bahrain .
“ When we first went over there to Bahrain , there were no lights or tree ,” Musi says . “ You just lined up and let the clutch go .”
Between racing in Bahrain and later for His Highness Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Thani in Qatar , Musi has gained valuable information and made one test run after another . He was among the first to go overseas and , again , it paid dividends .
“ We were making runs under extremely consistent conditions every day ,” Musi says . “ Pro Mod cars are so crazy you spend half the day getting the car adjusted to the track . There , we were just making runs in the same conditions . It was very valuable .”
That success and that time making laps continued to have a strong carryover in Musi ’ s business and racing exploits . He performed well in IHRA Pro Mod and then – in what has been a theme for his racing career – had immediate success in the NHRA Pro Mod ranks . Musi went
BREAKTHROUGH : Musi drove Brandao ’ s “ King Kong 5 ” to his first NHRA win in Pro Mod in 2010 .
to the final round in his debut appearance in 2010 at Englishtown , following it up a race later with what was his first career NHRA victory in any class , winning in Norwalk , also becoming the first Pro Mod car to win a race with EFI . “ Being prepared is 90 percent of the battle ,” Musi believes . “ That ’ s important .”
In 2016 , Musi signed a deal for 10 races with Al-Anabi Racing , which also included his daughter , Lizzy , driving during the winter of 2016-2017 . Between her and Richie Stevens , Pat Musi had 130 runs to gather information , something that has paid off in a major way for Lizzy ’ s success and his customers ’ sterling track record as of late .
“ The data we brought back that year was huge ,” Musi said . “ We had real good success bringing Lizzy ’ s car over there . We had a year advantage on people . We were fast .”
- JOSH HACHAT
Back in the Musi pit at National Trail , the rain has slowed down enough for the crew guys to finish packing up the pit area . The conversation ’ s topic changes to the future for Musi and the drivers he leads . Musi is understandably apprehensive about Green ’ s next outing , the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod in early August . Green was the first nitrous car to accept an invitation to the event , held at Bandimere Speedway , which sits at nearly 6,000 feet above sea level in the Colorado mountains – not exactly ideal conditions for a nitrous-fed entry in a sea of supercharged and turbocharged competitors .
In stark contrast , the Edelbrock and Lucas Oil-backed “ King Kong 7 ” is entering the portion of the season when it should shine like a diamond . The next race on the PDRA tour is Drag Wars at GALOT Motorsports Park , where Lizzy and “ King Kong 6 ” recorded some of the quickest and fastest passes in Pro Nitrous history before securing the event win last year . If the new ride performs as well as its predecessor , the Musi camp will be in for a few races of late Saturday nights and low elapsed times , all in the name of putting the number one on the windshield after the PDRA World Finals at Virginia in October .
“ It ’ s still not impossible to win the ( championship ), but it ’ s going to be tough ,” Musi realizes . “ We ’ re certainly going to try it and see what we can do . You never know . Lizzy went out first round at the last race , but the other guy can go out first round at the next race . You know how it goes .
“ The tracks are coming to us and the air is coming to us . Everyone knows we run best in good air . And we have a lot of information at GALOT . I think we have the record there , too . We feel pretty confident , but you just never know . We ’ re not even looking at ( the points ). We ’ re just going to do the best we can and see what happens .”
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