Elliott Loe knew from an early age that he had a deep interest in mechanical matters. He envisioned a career where he could use the engine building and mechanical skills he developed through a high school automotive program, Pierce County Skills Center, and later NASCAR Technical Institute (NTI) in Mooresville, North Carolina. The employment office at NTI knew he was a top talent and connected him with locally based engine builder Pat Musi, who quickly hired Loe to join Pat Musi Racing Engines and the Musi Racing team in 2019. Today, Loe is one of Musi’s most trusted employees, soaking up knowledge from Musi’s 50-plus years of experience while helping Musi take his business into the future.
[Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in DI #191, the 30 Under 30 Issue, in November / December of 2024.]
“When I started off, I just cleaned parts at the shop, then when we’d go racing, I’d wipe down the car and help load and unload the trailer,” Loe remembers. “From there I guess I proved myself enough to Pat that he was like, ‘I’m going to just dump you on everything.’ So now I’ll do anything from assemble motors to plumb the intake manifolds. That’s the thing I really pride myself on during a normal day.”
Loe also worked with chassis builder Robert Hayes in the construction of the two “Bonnie” ’69 Camaros that the late Lizzy Musi raced in Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings competition. He also handles any welding in the shop and generally will jump in to do anything that he’s capable of doing.
Along with working in the shop, Loe was one of the key crew members on the Musi Racing team before Lizzy’s passing this summer. He joined the team towards the end of their time in PDRA Pro Nitrous and was there for a handful of Street Outlaws seasons in both No Prep Kings and on the street.
“That is a crazy existence,” laughs Loe, who grew up in Washington State. “I come from an average family, so you roll in with the Musis and it’s a different lifestyle. Once we started doing No Prep Kings, it was crazy workloads, all sorts of hours, all times of the day. Nonstop street racing. It was a wild time for sure.”
Lizzy’s passing in June was obviously a devastating loss for the Musi group, including Loe. He spoke at her funeral and adopted her dogs, Jax and Abel.
Loe values the opportunity to learn from and work with a legendary engine builder like Musi, who has high expectations for his staff.
“It’s super valuable, and the nice thing about Pat is he’ll say what’s on his mind,” Loe says. “It’s not for everybody, working for Pat. I’ve seen plenty of people come through that shop, but me and him just click together pretty well, I think. Especially when it comes to getting stuff done.”
Though he stays plenty busy at the Musi shop, Loe also sharpens his skills through some hobby projects, including a turbocharged, Subaru-powered Porsche 914 Time Attack build that he hopes to take to the SEMA Show in 2025. He also built a lawnmower that he feels will become the world’s fastest lawnmower, eyeing quarter-mile passes in the low eights at 160 MPH. Finally, he’s part of a team that fields a ’68 Dodge Dart in 24 Hours of Lemons races, which are 14-plus-hour endurance races on road courses.
“I’ve got all these stupid little ideas of different projects and stuff like that that I work on all the time,” Loe says. “It’s nonstop, busy kind of stuff.”
One of Loe’s most recent projects is training with Rottler Manufacturing representatives to run the Rottler H85 CNC machine that hones blocks for Musi’s legendary 959-plus-cubic-inch nitrous engines.
“All of our 5.3 engines that come out of the shop, I’m now honing,” Loe says. “I’m actually doing a presentation with them on Thursday at the PRI Show. I can operate the machines pretty well, and if people were to have any questions, I can answer those.”
Loe plans to continue working with Musi as the company moves to a new, expanded facility. He’s also eager to further pursue his own personal racing endeavors. Wherever Loe ends up, he’ll be building on to a very impressive and stable foundation.
This story was originally published on February 10, 2025. 
