5.935 at 241.58 mph, a new personal quickest and fastest pass
Carteret, NJ—As they say, there is no place like home and Pat Musi proved that when he brought Frank Brandao’s 2009 Dodge Stratus—nicknamed King Kong 5—into the staging lanes at the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, NJ. The 8-Time Pro Street champion was tackling his latest adventure, attempting to qualify for the Get Screened America Pro Mod series on the NHRA Full Throttle professional drag racing tour. It turned out that just attempting to qualify wasn’t going to be good enough for the engine builder from New Jersey. Musi would leave his home-track buzzing with excitement and with a piece of Pro Modified history by running the first nitrous-assisted 200 mph run in the 1/8-mile.
The first round of qualifying didn’t go as planned as a little tire shake produced less than stellar results. Musi did what he has done so many times before and turn to longtime friend and fellow Pro Mod racer Rickie Smith for advice. “Rickie has been helping us from the firewall on back and we made some changes to get down the track smoothly,” commented Musi. The adjustments worked and Musi cruised to an 8th qualified spot with a 5.942 at 240.89 mph. Musi was satisfied with the 865ci engine built in-house at Pat Musi Performance and he was even more thrilled with the Edelbrock EFI system. “We make the power and the 240 mph runs prove it. Those who never thought EFI could make it are probably reconsidering that right now.”
Qualifying in the top-half of the field wasn’t the only highlight; the Brandao-owned Stratus would help deliver Musi into the history books of Pro Modified racing. During that qualifying pass the car recorded a 201.58 mph performance in the 1/8-mile. That made it the first-ever Pro Mod Nitrous car to run over 200 mph in the 1/8-mile—including ADRL Pro Nitrous cars who run without minimum weight rules. Musi was at the NHRA legal weight 2,425 pounds, some 150-200 pounds heavier than other competitors who have been vying for the First 200 Mph record. It goes back to Musi’s strong position on the Edelbrock EFI system, “I think we’ve got probably the best EFI program right now. We’ve spent a lot of time on it. You know there have been some guys looking to jump onboard or they’re looking at different EFI 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.”
Musi won his first round of professional NHRA racing by defeating Ed Hoover with a 5.935 at 241.58 mph, a new personal quickest and fastest pass. The team left Englishtown excited, including car owner Frank Brandao who has decided to leave his Jerry Bickel-built chassis in New Jersey so Musi can compete at other events. “We plan on hitting more GSA Pro Mod races and many other events before we have to return the car in October,” said Musi. To say he is grateful for Brandao’s decision to keep the Stratus in the U.S. is an understatement.
About Pat Musi
Owner of Pat Musi Performance and Pro Street/Pro Modified racer with eight championship titles credited to his name in the competitive Pro Street ranks. This year marks the 40th anniversary of Pat Musi Performance. He certainly hasn’t slowed down after all these years. Two years ago Pat Musi Performance moved into a brand-new 10,000 square foot facility. The shop builds everything from stock engines for restoration projects to street performance and bracket racing engines, and of course Pro Modified/Pro Street bullets in excess of 900ci. Musi contributes to the R&D of many products for several companies, most notable Edelbrock where his name is worn on a line of cylinder heads and crate engines. He also works with the engineers at that company on nitrous oxide system development and EFI technologies. His customer, Joe Dunne, currently holds the NMCA Pro Street record with a 6.19 using a Musi 865 engine and Edelbrock EFI and Edelbrock Nitrous.
About Frank Brandao
A longtime customer of Pat Musi Performance and native Curacao resident, he first built King Kong 1 back in 1980. The Jerry Bickel-built King Kong 5 is a no-holds-barred Pro Modified effort with a double frame rail chassis and the latest nitrous-inhaling monster engine from Musi. The body is a carbon fiber replica of a Dodge Stratus. King Kong 5 continues to have a strong fan following in Curacao, where Musi drove it to the island’s quickest door-slammer pass of all-time—6.33 at 228 mph. Brandao shipped the car back the United States so Musi can enter the NHRA Pro Modified ranks at the Englishtown event. The car will remain in the U.S. for the duration of the 2010 season and Brandao will run King Kong 4 on the island of Curacao.
Copy and image pulled from www.patmusiperformance.com
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