DRAG-RACING royalty Pat Musi is in the news after the tragic passing of daughter Lizzy.
Lizzy, a racer herself, sadly lost her battle with breast cancer, with Pat announcing the death to heartbroken fans on social media.
Pat started street racing in Queen’s, New York in a “souped-up ’55 Chevy”, according to musiracing.com.
He soon transitioned to “more legal forms of drag racing” and powered to prominence in Pro Stock and Pro Street World Championships.
Pat is an eight-time pro-street world champion with a one-eighth mile career best time of 3.615 seconds, when he reached 209.23 mph.
He is described as having been one of the “fiercest competitors” in racing.
The famed drag racer then turned his attention to building engines – and found similar levels of success.
Pat managed to turn his engine-building prowess into a proper profession.
He heads up Pat Musi Racing Engines, which promises the expertise and performance from “50 years of power”.
Pat has provided engines for both track and street since the 1970s.
His shop is based in Mooresville, North Carolina.
Drag racers can browse the available engines on the website and call up the shop to place an order.
Pat had two daughters, Lizzy and Tricia.
Lizzy followed Pat’s path into drag racing and found fame with her own jaw-dropping one-eight mile effort, where she became the first female to break the 200mph barrier.
Pat’s other daughter Tricia hasn’t found herself in the limelight quite as much, but is said to be equally passionate about the sport.
Tricia also races and builds engines.
She told enginebuildermag.com in 2022: “I always looked up to my dad and always wanted to be an engine builder like him someday.”
Pat posted to Facebook to confirm his daughter’s tragic passing.
He wrote: “Surrounded by her family, in the comfort of her own home, Lizzy was called to heaven at 11:25pm tonight.
“Thank you for all the prayers and support throughout her battle
Pat Musi
“At this time, the family would like to have time to process, grieve and make arrangements in peace.
“We will give an update as soon as we have information to share.”
Responding to Pat’s post, many people commented with their condolences.
There were 3,500 comments and 22,000 shares just six hours after the post, showing the huge connection Lizzy had with the racing community.
