Younger drag-racing fans might not know that Pat Dakin, who partnered with Gary Rupp for about 20 years, was a powerful force in the Top Fuel ranks in the 1970s. They might not know he also was runner-up to Shirley Muldowney in 1977 for the series championship or that he won twice in Montreal (1971, 1973) and advanced to four other finals. They might not know that he suffered a skull fracture and shattered hands and wrists in a 1998 blowover accident that knocked him out and knocked him out of racing for 10 years. He underwent a dozen surgeries in the meantime.
And with Pat Dakin’s 70 years has come wisdom. It has come with a few hard knocks, as well, but the no-nonsense Dayton, Ohio, businessman with the “Trump” campaign side on the side of his Commercial Metal Fabricators Dragster has realized a few truths.
One is that chasing points is foolish.
“I have never cared about points. Never. The lower your number is in points, the more it cost you. So it’s a ridiculous chase. It’s silly. And the expense of these things . . . This all comes out of my pocket,” Dakin said. “I got no sponsors, so we do what we want to do. That’s all. We’re here to have fun, and that’s all.”
He said at one time he did care about points.
“Once. Once,” he said. “Yeah, 1977, and we came in second to Shirley. It’s not worth it. No, just going all the way, one end of the spectrum to the other. It’s crazy. I’ve got better things to do than this.”
He said “absolutely” that drag racing in general is an upside-down business model.
Another truth for him is that his car can run with the best of them.
Dakin has two more qualifying sessions Sunday to break into the field from 18th place at the moment. But he said before qualifying began, “Oh I’ve got no doubt we’ll qualify well. The car, everything’s here. We got four motors. Everything’s fresh and new and good. And the blowers are new and good. We just front-halved the car, so it’s all ready to go. This car does not hurt for anything. I feel very confident the car’s going to run very well.”
He has supreme faith in his crew, too.
“I’ve only got six guys on this thing, only two full-time. They can turn this car around – as long as there’s no major damage, we’ll turn this thing around in 40-45 minutes, every time,” he said.
Dakin seldom has major damage, and he said that’s because he’s “probably a little too conservative the way we run the car. We’re now going to try and to get more aggressive with it. I mean, there’s plenty there. The car’s safe. It’s asking for more, so we’re going to give it to it.”
He has given the fans plenty to talk about in this presidential election year. And he said they have responded favorably to his rolling Donald Trump endorsement the five races he has attended so far.
The reaction, he said, is “mostly good. In fact, all good. I’ve gotten very little, if any, negative reaction on it. A lot people come up and stand next to the sign and have their picture taken. So it’s been very positive. We can only hope that he is successful here in November.”
He said he also wants to make a statement on the track.
“Correct. Yes, we do. Yeah,” the not particularly gabby Dakin said.
He said he plans to race at Charlotte and St. Louis and is considering entering the Dallas race this fall.
