Pat Austin Story (1 Viewer)

[Ian]

Just thought some of you may be interested:

For Tacoma native, drag racing is in rearview mirror - Sports - The Olympian - Olympia, Washington

Ian

 

[farmje]

Ian,

Thanks for sending it along. I have been wondering about Pat recently.

 

[jeff]

Is bucky still racing?

 

[Angus]

Bucky is racing a nostalgia funny car. Did real well at Mission B.C. last week I heard.

 

[mick]

when you hear comments like.......
"i can't believe G. Scelzi is leaving"
"i can't believe Miller Lite pulled it's sponsorship"
"i can't believe there will be no more 'Winston Drag Racing'"
guess what. things have a way of working out.

I know Pat's having the time of his life coaching his kids;
family first as they say.

......i still wish Bruce Allen was racing though.

 

[BaldyLochs]

Yes, that was a nice surprise update. Thanks for posting.

 

[tomcat]

Pat was a great racer in the day. I still remember how sad it was when he banged the blower in the burnout at Indy after he bought Ormsby's operation. Still, to pull the doubles he did in TF and A/FC was impressive. Glad to hear he's doing OK.

 

[elvis]

Great story! I personallly think it sucks that Pat is happy with retirement. (He was without a doubt great to watch beat on everyone.) Hopefully he will wake up one morning and realize that family life is overated and come back. (Well I can dream can't I?!?) Seriously, it is great to hear about him and know that he is happy. It appears that he has no regrets about leaving. Maybe in 30 years we will see him again at Cacklefest...

 

[kingcobrafan]

Just thought some of you may be interested:

For Tacoma native, drag racing is in rearview mirror - Sports - The Olympian - Olympia, Washington

Ian

Very interested, Ian. Thanks for posting.

 

[none]

Still trying to catch up on threads from when I was in Seattle and I found this one. Thanks for the link Ian! It`s a shame NHRA didn`t allow Pat and Walt to run the Ford motor, but it`s no surprise. Unfortunately, we get screwed on seeing the return of the greatest TAFC racer of alltime imo.

 

[willy]

Nice article..

The Austins were always top-notch.

 

[TAFC 5 81]

Does anyone remember why a BOSS 429 type engine would be rejected by NHRA in the alcohol ranks?

 

[Raconteur]

Is bucky still racing?

Bucky is driving a Plymouth Arrow Nitro Nostalgia Funny Car owned by Steve Plueger. He just ran against Mike Savage in the first side-by-side 5-second N/FC Passes at Mission BC.

 

[mach9]

Yes. I would like to personally thank the nhra for seeing to it that we never get to see one of the greatest driviers of all time on the track again. Nice going guys.............as usual.

 

[Miss Kitty]

Ian, thank you so much for posting that link. It was really nice to read up on a local, and one of my favorite racers. If you enlarge the pictures, there is a gorgeous orange custom hot rod....we've seen it at many shows, and it's obvious he's not totally away from cars.

 

[dragstats]

thanks for the post...i like the austins and think walt is/was one of the best tuners around...

 

[Rich]

Bucky is racing a nostalgia funny car. Did real well at Mission B.C. last week I heard.

I went to the race at Mission. I love that nostalgia funny car he's driving this year.

 

[kingcobrafan]

thanks for the post...i like the austins and think walt is/was one of the best tuners around...

Couldn't agree more. While TA/FC certainly has more than it's share of heavy hitters, the class is a notch less stout without the Austins in it.

 

[NHRAMike]

Does anyone remember why a BOSS 429 type engine would be rejected by NHRA in the alcohol ranks?

Don't quote me on this, but I think it had something to do with the bore spacing between the cylinders. I'm sure someone else will remember.

 

[ginger]

Don't quote me on this, but I think it had something to do with the bore spacing between the cylinders. I'm sure someone else will remember.

That is correct.