After a record-setting performance in Darlington earlier this month, Lizzy Musi and the Musi Racing team will look to end the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) season with a victory at this weekend’s PDRA World Finals at Virginia Motorsports Park.
The finale to the 2019 PDRA season comes at a particularly busy – and successful – time for the Musi Racing team. After going 3.615-seconds at 208.62 mph to make the quickest pass in Pro Nitrous history at the PDRA Fall Nationals and advancing to the semifinals, Musi raced her Edelbrock-equipped “Aftershock” at the Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings event at Palm Beach International Racing last weekend, with Musi-powered star Kye Kelley picking up the event win.
That makes the PDRA World Finals the third straight race weekend for Musi Racing, but the team is locked in and ready to put together another strong outing in the Frank Brandao-owned Edelbrock/Lucas Oil “King Kong 7” 2018 Dodge Dart.
“It’s been a really busy month, but the team has done a great job and Lizzy has been great driving both cars as well,” Pat Musi said. “We’d really like to close out this stretch with a victory, and I feel pretty good about our chances. We’ve been close a few times this year in the PDRA, and Lizzy has already had a lot of success on the No Prep Kings side. We just need to put it all together this weekend. I’m confident we can do that.”
A win would be an ideal capper to a standout season that already includes the record performance and one finals appearance in Pro Nitrous, as well as three wins on the No Prep Kings scene. The hectic schedule still includes the finale in that series next weekend at the Texas Motorplex, but a Pro Nitrous victory to close out the PDRA season in Virginia is the main objective this weekend.
It would assure a top-five finish in the loaded class and give the team plenty of momentum heading into another busy off-season. The good news is Musi has always performed well at the track – setting the speed record of 209.23 mph there and also winning in 2013, 2015 and 2017 – and she also looked impressive at a recent test session at the top-notch facility. With weather conditions likely favoring quick runs, the Musi team will be gunning to improve their record marks.
“If the conditions are there, we’re definitely not going to hold anything back,” Pat Musi said. “It’s a big deal holding both ends of the Pro Nitrous records, especially in a class this competitive, so we want to continue to set the bar. Virginia has been good to us and we have made a lot of good runs there, so that gives us more confidence. But it’s also important to end the PDRA season on a good note. You always like that feeling ending the season with a win and that’s what we’re going after.”
Racers will start the weekend at the PDRA World Finals with a full day of open testing on Thursday from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. Pro qualifying will start with sessions at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Friday, with two additional sessions at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. Pro eliminations will kick off at 11 a.m. Sunday, and the final rounds are scheduled to run at 5 p.m.
