Robert Patrick has made many withdrawals from the bank of good fortunes over the course of 18 years in mountain motor Pro Stock racing. In the last two years the majority of his banking has been done at South Georgia Motorsports Park [SGMP] located outside of Valdosta, Ga.
 
Last March, Patrick drove his Purvis Ford-sponsored, Shelby Cobra to the quickest and fastest mountain motor Pro Stock run at the time, an incredible quarter-mile 6.266 elapsed time at 223.84 miles per hour. His SGMP mark held until the latter part of the season.
 
Since Patrick now runs the ADRL’s eighth-mile format, his 4.05 eighth-mile would have been a milestone as well.

Robert Patrick has made many withdrawals from the bank of good fortunes over the course of 18 years in mountain motor Pro Stock racing. In the last two years the majority of his banking has been done at South Georgia Motorsports Park [SGMP] located outside of Valdosta, Ga.
 
Last March, Patrick drove his Purvis Ford-sponsored, Shelby Cobra to the quickest and fastest mountain motor Pro Stock run at the time, an incredible quarter-mile 6.266 elapsed time at 223.84 miles per hour. His SGMP mark held until the latter part of the season.
 
Since Patrick now runs the ADRL’s eighth-mile format, his 4.05 eighth-mile would have been a milestone as well.
 
“If we’ve ever looked for the perfect run, perfect scenario for this car, that was the run,” Patrick said. “It was a perfect storm of the right air, a tight track and a car that was ready to run like a banshee.”
 
Simple banking rules mandate that in order for withdrawals to be completed, one must make deposits. Patrick made a hefty one at SGMP on the day after the ADRL’s Safety-Kleen Dragpalooza V in Houston, Tex.
 
Patrick has been working around the clock for the last year with engine builder Bob Ingles on a new 826 inch Ford engine utilizing the new Charlie Westin – Jesel billet aluminum block. A full year’s worth of research and development went into the construction of the engine which ran a 6.31 elapsed time on the first run, only .06 off of the current quarter-mile world record.
 
Patrick tested with visions of introducing the engine at the second event in the ADRL’s Extreme Pro Stock division.
 
Everything appeared headed for another run at the record when five laps into the test session a connecting rod failed causing a rash of internal damage to the power plant. The silver lining to this obviously bad situation is that the new block and cylinder head emerged intact.
 
“The good part is that everything is repairable,” Patrick said. “This is definitely a credit to Charlie Westin and Jesel for the durability of this block. We’ll try testing again after this weekend’s event in Valdosta.”
 
Instead of bringing the new engine to this weekend’s ADRL Hardee's Georgia Drags at SGMP, he’s using the third engine in the rotation while the two primary bullets are undergoing a design change. The particular engine Patrick plans to run in Valdosta was used to record a semi-final finish at last year’s ADRL Dragstock event in Rockingham, N.C.
 
Patrick has a game plan which he hopes will yield the inaugural ADRL Extreme Pro Stock championship. This kind of an honor would only be fitting for the winner of the original ADRL exhibition event staged last season in Budds Creek, Md.
 
Within a few ADRL races, Patrick will have five fresh bullets [including the new engine] ready to do battle for the second-half of the ten-race National Guard ADRL tour.
 
“We’re throwing out all the stops because this title is prestigious,” Patrick said. “There are plenty of great competitors running ADRL Extreme Pro Stock and if you want to win, you had better bring everything you’ve got. We’re going to need every bit of ammo we’ve got because there are a lot of good racers with the same mindset.”
  

Advertisement