He's Pat Musi, and he has no filter. The New Jersey native who relocated from Carteret, NJ, to Mooresville, NC, almost a decade ago has experienced more than his share of culture shock since. The most recent was abandoning the conventional national event scene of the established race series for the outlaw confines of the No Prep Kings series. 

In this exclusive interview, CompetitionPlus.com's Bobby Bennett discusses the changes, misnomers, and challenges he encountered in making the switch. 

Musi addresses the issues associated with racing the traditional national event scene and the advantages of the pathway he's taken along with his daughter Lizzie Musi.

Musi is straightforward and shows his traditional gruff, and we expected no different. 

BOBBY BENNETT - How is it that a guy who earned a legend and a reputation racing national events end up about as far away from a national event racing as No Prep Kings?

PAT MUSI - Well, if you go back and look at my history, I street raced out of high school, '69 and '70, until I lost my license. So I started there, first off. And second off, I'm not a real big fan of doing it on the street, even though they block the highway off and do the whole deal. But the No Prep deal is pretty much like racing back in the old days. We didn't have glue. We didn't have tractors, Bobby. So it's just a natural thing. You've got to race the race track. 

BB - Just the connotation of that, how hard was that for you to accept, you being a guy that was a race series guy? I mean, for goodness sakes, you were a Pro Stock guy. How hard was that for you to adapt to?

PS - Pretty hard. And I don't mean this in a bad way, but 90% of them wouldn't know a damn national event from a parking lot. I hate to say it. It took a while to learn who's who, but I made a lot of friends there. A lot of them work hard, try hard. So I made a lot of friends now. I've adjusted to it, but it was hard. We don't have a qualifying sheet. We don't have an ET. We got to just go by our data and know we're right. Like last year, we learned a whole lot about so many other cars, what they're capable of, and not taking people for granted. Lost a couple key rounds, and we had to start out with the old car. Then we went to the new car, had a mishap at Darlington, set us back. 

But if Lizzie would have had the back half of the season. The front half of the season, like the back half of the season, she'd have been way up there. I think we had a real shot at the points. She did, anyway, as good as we ran once we got our act together. I really think coming out of the box, they're going to be in for an awakening here. She's got a fast car. She's driving good. Listen. Name one out there that's won national events, PDRA, and Pro Nitrous. The real deal. You've seen her. She won that 25 grand multiple times if Brayden didn't. She's the real deal. I know she's my daughter, but I'd put her up against anybody.

BB - People change over the years. Did you find yourself, even though that was where you came from, looking down on that whole community? 

PM - You want to know something? Where my mind was going was, "Hot damn! This is like the Pro Stock days in the '70s." Like I said, we didn't have tractors. We didn't drag race tracks. That was No Prep. Think about it. I ran No Prep, the beginnings of ... You know what I'm saying? I mean, the t-shirt sales. I was more overwhelmed at how many people were there and ... I mean, just all the good things. I really didn't think about a step down. Look, I made this comment. And I'm not being a smart ass, but I don't really give a s***. I'm going to be 70. I can say anything I want to say, pretty much. I told somebody, I said, "I don't know how to break it to you, but we sell more in t-shirts in an hour when we get to the pits than you're racing for." 

It's like the old days. I used to survive match racing, selling t-shirts. That's how I survived at Pro Stock. And then it went away because NHRA got their hand-out. We all know the deal. Come on. I'm tired of badmouthing them. I mean, it ain't badmouthing. It's just the fights. They turned it into a corporate deal. So I tell you what. Now you ask me, my answer is, "I look down on [NHRA] more than I look down on what we're doing."

BB - Now, what inspired you to go in that direction? Was that your daughter wanted to go that way, or you wanted to go that way?

PM - Yeah. It was Lizzie and Kye [Kelley]. They became boyfriend/girlfriend. Now they're engaged. They're going to get married. I went to the first one. Hell, the first one I went to, we won. I believe it was New Hampshire. And the funny thing about that was I had won [IHRA] New Hampshire Pro Modified in 2004, and here we come out with Lizzie and win. We beat the top dog, Ryan Martin. And then she went on that first year to only ... I think she's the only person to win three in a row, No Prep, and absolutely only female to do it on No Prep. She's got a lot of accolades if you want to go back and look. Probably got the most Pro Nitrous wins as a woman. She's won in the Middle East two national events. Only woman to ever win in the Middle East to date.

 

 

 

 

BB - Did you feel when you first went out there that, "Oh, gosh. We got to drag Dad's old butt into our community here"? Is that how you felt? Did you go in there kicking and screaming? Or did you go in there willingly?

PM - No, I went in there willingly. Well, no. I was kicking and screaming before I got there. But once I got there ... You know me. I'm a racer, so I saw an opportunity to race and an opening. I said, "Man. I think we'll win this deal." 

But I'll tell you what. The competition's getting tough now, Bobby, so you got to have your act together. I don't know where some of the teams will fall. Look, I'm going to give a shout-out to ... Ryan Martin earned the championship this year. That guy worked hard, tested. Unfortunately, wouldn't test because of the crash and logistics. But you can bet your life that he better get ready for it. Lizzie has got him beat, I think, five to one or six to one. He's beat her maybe once or twice, but the guy is the real deal to me. He worked for it. He didn't get lucky. He didn't ask for no deals. He won the damn deal, so I give him credit. But I can tell you what right now, I'm coming for him. Get ready. 

BB - Some might think that what you guys do is scripted drag racing. Is that true, or is that a bald-faced lie?

PM - No. No. Absolutely not [scripted]. I have been asked, and you saw the Jerry Bird incident. That really stemmed from ... They were asking me to lay down and make a deal and, "We're a team." I said, "Look, guys. I'm not a money whore. You're in the wrong place. I'm not doing it, and I'll tell you right now. I am not doing it, that I'm a racer. I don't make deals." Like I said, my name ain't Monty Hall. It's Pat Musi.

BB - What is the biggest thing that's changed about you since going to No Prep Kings?

PM - Well, one of the things that's changed, we are busier than ever. I mean, I know everybody says they're busy, but I've got eleven 959s to finish by March. I've got all these 555s. The Race Center with Edelbrock has taken off. You're going to see a big announcement about that soon. I'm just overwhelmed. My biggest problem is finding help. The problem is I don't want help that wants to be trained. I don't have time to train them. We're rolling right now. The train's gone to the train station like Yellowstone. We need to keep it loaded. 

BB - I don't think you will get many people to come to work for you taking them to the train station.

PM - No, they won't go to the train station while they work. 

Hey, you see what Rip does. If they don't do the right thing, they go to the train station. [EDITOR'S NOTE: On TV Show Yellowstone, the "train station" refers to a roadside cliff in Wyoming that the Dutton crew use to deposit dead bodies of their enemies.]

BB - I know you have said the No Prep series reminds you of your early days of drag racing. But you were part of the first group in IHRA to introduce Mountain Motor Pro Stock, any similarities?

PM - Man, it's so close, Bobby, because we really run a No Prep service. Think about that. You were around then. Darlington, Rockingham. I mean, we put a little rosin down on the starting line, match racing. Then they came out with VHT and sprayers, and tractors. So this No Prep is the real deal. Now they might say, 'Oh, that track looks like it's pretty damn good." 

Then come bring your Pro Nitrous car. I bet you you don't go 30 feet. So I mean, it's a non-prep surface. And they do a good job of it. I want to give a shout-out to Sam Korkis. He's doing a hell of a job, and he keeps his head down, does his own thing. I got all the respect in the world for the guy. He's got a deal. He protects the characters that he has. He's done a lot for Lizzie, pushing her brand, pushing our brand. I want to think that between me and Lizzie and the Edelbrock deal and the Lucas deal, we have branded ourselves pretty damn good out there. 

 

 

 

BB - How hard is it for you to differentiate between crew chief and father when these drivers start taking shots at your daughter?

PM - Oh, I don't know. They'll ask me sometimes ... Somebody will try to hang her out, or she might think that ... I race so much with her, it's like me in the seat. I tell this to everybody, and you've probably heard it already. I never sent her to drag racing school. She went to my school. I don't need somebody coming to me that I got to break a dumb habit she picked up in some drag racing school. I hate to say it ugly like that, but I got my own way of doing it, and she does it my way. She's got her own couple little deals, and sometimes we'll talk about it. 

In general, I feel like I'm in the seat transferred, and I know what she's going to do. I told this to somebody else. She don't get rattled. She's like a robot in there. She's earned her way. We got to give the kid credit. She's got a lot of wins. You have guys at PDRA, without mentioning names, that have been racing way longer than her. Ain't never won one. 

BB - Do you ever see yourself climbing behind the wheel again?

PM - Funny you ask. My old Pro Stock car is floating around. I'll scuff tires at Mooresville, and I have no problem getting in a car. But I don't miss it as bad as I did, but I am kind of itching maybe to get in that old '86 Pro Stock car with a clutch and the levers. So you may see that this year. We're working on something. 

You're the first one to hear that, by the way.

BB - How much of an effect did that crash that you had that broke your back have on you?

PM - Well, if you remember that deal, I asked the doctor, "When can I get back in the car?" 

He said, "Well, we don't think you should." 

I said, "No, I didn't ask you that. When can I be cleared?" "

Well, about 12 months." I said, "Well, you've got 10. Here's the deal. I'll do double the rehab work, and I'm going to Bradenton. When I let go of that clutch, I'll let you know if I'm good or not. If I ain't, I'll push the clutch in." 

Well, that year, I finished second in ADRL, almost won the championship with the Stratus, if you remember back then. And I never looked back. But I'm hard-headed. I wanted to prove that I could do it; it never slowed me down, never missed a beat, got back in the car. I made that first run at Bradenton and never looked back, Bobby. Never gave it a second thought. I mean, that's just the racer part of me, I guess.

BB - Now you admittedly said you've already reached your old crabass stage in life. What else left on your bucket list do you need to accomplish?

PM - Get Lizzie a championship. She's earned it, and this year, it's our goal. We're going to try to win a championship with her. As far as me, I'd like to get in that little Pro Stock car. I mean, I drove that [Pro Mod] car ... people don't even know. We'd go an average of 6.50 to 212-214 mph in a marginal track in Curacao ... You talk about No Prep. That's like racing on the highway. Yeah, I drove Brandel's little Avenger, which is the old Wayne County car, which by the way, I have all that Wayne County stuff. They might have everybody else bullsh*****, but not me. There ain't no way that s*** was a low qualifier. But we'll leave it at that. If they want to get into a contest with me, I have the parts here. So watch what you say.