I gave them one .
“ It ’ s a little different now , though ,” Musi adds . “ I think ( the NHRA Pro Mod teams ) realize that PDRA ain ’ t no joke . They didn ’ t know what to think of us coming over to their side of the world . But I ’ ve had a lot of crew chiefs who I think highly of that have congratulated me on the job we ’ re doing . That was pretty nice to hear .”
To understand how Musi ended up in this position – the tuner of the third-ranked cars in NHRA Pro Mod and PDRA Pro Nitrous and the engine builder for the other two nitrous cars in the Pro Mod Top 10 – one must take a look back at the day when the former Pro Stock star kicked his carburetors to the curb in favor of electronic fuel injection . Nearly 20 years ago , Musi was offered a then-unproven EFI setup , setting into motion a chain of events that would revolutionize nitrous racing in the 21st century .
“ Mike Thermos at NOS had an EFI system that they were developing with Graham Western . He asked if I ’ d be willing to try this and run it ,” Musi remembers . “ Well , I ’ m the kind of guy who will try about anything if I think there ’ s something there . It was probably one of the better decisions I ever made because it gave me that leg up on the competition .”
It ’ s easy to look back on that moment as a turning point in his career , but Musi called his shot well before the EFI system had proven itself on the track . Musi ’ s EFI-equipped Camaro was still in championship form in NMCA Pro Street , where he clinched the 2002 season championship . Never one to mince words , Musi expressed the potential of the EFI combination when others were laughing if off as a temporary test piece .
“ I feel that when it ’ s all said and done , that it ’ ll be better than carburetors , but we ’ re going to have to have some time at the lighter weight ,” Musi said in a 2002 Drag Racing Online interview with Ian Tocher . “ We ’ ve made some good runs – I recently ran some 6.40s at over 220 in my Camaro , which is pretty much a shoebox – and we were at 2,600 pounds , which is 225 pounds heavier than a Pro Mod . So , we ’ ve seen some real respectable numbers . But I ’ m not saying it ’ ll happen overnight . I ’ m not that stupid ; I know it ’ s going to take some runs to get competitive .”
Musi still remembers the early days of EFI ,
“ I THINK THE NHRA PRO MOD TEAMS REALIZE THAT PDRA AIN ’ T NO JOKE . THEY DIDN ’ T KNOW WHAT TO THINK OF US COMING OVER TO THEIR SIDE OF THE WORLD .”
the trying times when things just weren ’ t going his way . The new technology would fight him at first , but there wasn ’ t necessarily anything wrong with the EFI system itself . Like any new piece of equipment , it took some time to work EFI into the time-tested and proven race program Musi had developed over decades in Pro Stock and Pro Street .
“ At our first race with EFI – this was back when the 16-volt batteries just started coming around – we had 12-volt batteries . Well , the EFI wouldn ’ t run under just around 11.5 . It didn ’ t seem to affect the carburetor stuff , but the EFI system just would not cooperate ,” says Musi . “ That was right about the time I said , ‘ Maybe this ( EFI ) ain ’ t a good idea .’ We put the 16-volt batteries in the car and from that day on , every carburetor I had was used for a wheel chock . I just saw what we had and worked on it , stayed with it and kept developing it .”
Western , who had worked on the development of the first EFI system Musi ever tried ,
PHOTO : TARA BOWKER
NEW CAR SMELL : Driven by Lizzy Musi , “ King Kong 7 ” is the latest Frank Brandao-owned hot rod to race out of the Musi Racing Engines stable in PDRA Pro Nitrous . The Bickel-built ‘ 18 Dodge Dart made its debut during testing at the PDRA Firecracker Nationals in Virginia .
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