Pat Musi Talks About How He Got Started, His Engine-Building Secrets and How He Became Associated with Vic Edelbrock
“There’s nothing like on-site training,” said Pat Musi, 8-time Pro Street World Champion and now master engine builder at Musi Racing Engines. That was his response when we asked him about how to develop the mechanical skills needed to build race-winning powerplants.
Musi made his bones on the streets of Queens, New York, with a souped up ’55 Chevy but it wasn’t long before he wisely transitioned from street racing into more legal forms of drag racing. After brief stints in bracket and Modified class racing, Pat Musi rose to prominence among the Pro Stock ranks back when successful racers like Warren Johnson and Bob Glidden did more than just drive the car. They did everything from building the engine to tuning the chassis to driving the car, and Pat Musi was one of the most competitive.
Today, Pat brings that experience of driving a race car down the track into the engine-building room where he personally assembles and tunes the Musi Racing Pro Mod nitrous engines as well as engines for the new Edelbrock-Musi Crate Engine Program that was created specifically for drag racers looking for big horsepower with the unmatched durability that Musi-built engines are known for. Musi is also responsible for helping to develop the Edelbrock 555 Crate Engine, a street-oriented and ready-to-run engine that makes an incredible 676 horsepower and 649 ft-lbs of torque on 91-octane pump gas.
In our latest Shop Talk interview above and on the Edelbrock YouTube channel, Pat Musi talks about how he builds his mega-horsepower engines and makes them so rock-solid reliable. He also talks candidly about the nitrous-versus-turbocharger controversy in NHRA competition and what his goals are for the 2019 season of drag racing.
