Pat Musi has flashbacks. The Carteret, NJ.-based icon says he can’t help it either.

Musi is racing in the NHRA and Old Bridge Township Raceway Park for the first time since 1989, when he ran one Pro Stock race after an eight year absence. At the NHRA SuperNationals, Musi scored his first round win in nearly thirty years when he drove his electronic fuel injected Dodge Stratus past Ed Hoover in the opening round of the NHRA GSA Pro Modified division. He also nailed a personal best with a 5.941 elapsed time.

“We missed the combination on the first qualifying run … too much power for what the track could handle that early,” admitted Musi. “But Rickie Smith, the man who is responsible for everything from the firewall back, made it work right. He deserves a lot of credit here.”

Pat Musi has flashbacks. The Carteret, NJ.-based icon says he can’t help it either.

Musi is racing in the NHRA and Old Bridge Township Raceway Park for the first time since 1989, when he ran one Pro Stock race after an eight year absence. At the NHRA SuperNationals, Musi scored his first round win in nearly thirty years when he drove his electronic fuel injected Dodge Stratus past Ed Hoover in the opening round of the NHRA GSA Pro Modified division. He also nailed a personal best with a 5.941 elapsed time.

“We missed the combination on the first qualifying run … too much power for what the track could handle that early,” admitted Musi. “But Rickie Smith, the man who is responsible for everything from the firewall back, made it work right. He deserves a lot of credit here.”

Musi left the NHRA full time after the 1981 season and reinvented himself as a Pro Street racer following a sabbatical from drag racing altogether.

“Pro Street almost developed into a heavy Pro-Mod class, that’s all it is,” Musi explained. “And what pissed me off about that deal was that you had too many different combinations. You were racing a rule book. I don’t like to race like that, I like to race the same. At least here we’re down to two, a blower and us. I’m not so happy because I think its lopsided for the blowers but they probably think its lopsided for us.”

Ironically, his first round win came against a supercharged car. The different combinations and the tendency to race the rulebook instead of his fellow racers has made his latest venture, Pro Modified, not so fun. There’s a part of Musi which longs for those old days when he raced his Camaro against the best Pro Stock had to offer.

Former partner Joe Folgore provided the financial backing to race against the front-runners of the NHRA Pro Stock division in 1981. Musi reached the finals of the first two events. He qualified No. 1 at Indy that season over Lee Shepherd and Bob Glidden, up until that point, something which hadn’t been done in two seasons. Musi ended 1981 as the fourth-ranked driver and then walked away.

“Yeah, it was purely money,” Musi conveyed. “I looked at my deal and said guys we cannot be competitive with the budget we’ve got. I’m not going out there with my hands cuffed.”

Hypothetically, if a Folgore-type deal were to surface again, Musi wouldn’t pursue a Pro Stock program. He would rather race in a nitrous-only Pro Mod setting. However, if NHRA adopted electronic fuel injection, all bets are off.

“I might give it a look, yeah, or at least work with a team at the very least,” Musi said. “I think we’ve got probably the best EFI program right now. We’ve spent a lot of time on it. You know there been some guys looking maybe want to jump on board or they’re looking at different companies, I wish them all the luck in the world but they better get drums of pistons, that’s all I can tell them. And if they think they know it, bring it on.”

If they do, Musi is ready to take another spin.