Lizzy Musi and the Musi Racing team are set to make their 2021 Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) debut, and they’ll be doing so in a new car.
The Musi Racing team has partnered with Dan Green to campaign his Jerry Bickel Race Cars ‘68 Camaro during the 2021 PDRA Pro Nitrous season, starting with next week’s PDRA American Doorslammer Challenge at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.
It’s an exciting development for the Musi Racing team, as they look to have an immediate impact in the lightweight car that will be powered by an all-new Musi 959 cubic-inch nitrous engine.
“It’s really exciting to get back to racing. Dan stepped up to the plate and this whole deal is really exciting for us,” Pat Musi said. “Dean (Marinis) will be the tuner and I’ll be the motor guy making the power. We’ll also have Robert Hayes continuing to work with us, and he’s always a huge help. I’ll be concentrating on what I do, those guys can do their job and if we all work together, we’re confident nobody can outrun us.”
Green and Musi have been friends for nearly a decade, with Green running Musi’s engines in a variety of his cars. That includes the ’68 Camaro he bought from Bickel a handful of years ago, which the family campaigned in the NMCA ranks.
But the demands of their business meant Green and his two sons didn’t have the time to race, and the car has been parked for the past two seasons. With a low number of runs on it, both Musi and Green decided to partner up in 2021, giving Lizzy a top level Pro Nitrous car to drive this season.
“Pat asked what I was doing with the car, and we shook hands and decided to do a partnership. I’m really looking forward to Lizzy running it, and I’m excited to watch them run and hang out at the races,” Green said.
“Pat Musi is one of the best in the business and just a phenomenal person. The knowledge he taught my kids was incredible and they’re all just great people.”
Almost immediately, Musi saw a car with great potential and he credited Jerry Bickel for helping set up the deal between Green and Musi.
“Without Bickel’s help, this probably wouldn’t have gotten done,” Musi said. “He’s done a lot of work and he wants to see Lizzy do well. Lizzy’s super excited. The car was really super clean and it’s done more sitting than running on a racetrack. It’s in really, really good shape and we can’t wait to get it out there.”
The car will also have backing from Edelbrock, Lucas Oil, Newell INX, ACL RACE Series Bearings, SRI Performance, and more of Musi’s longtime backers as Musi Racing gets set for what will be a busy 2021 season. Along with next week’s PDRA race, the Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings schedule kicks off the following weekend, and the Musi Racing team is almost ready to move into their new race facility near Mooresville Dragway.
Up first is making a solid debut in the new Camaro and building on Musi’s years of success in PDRA. The stop in Norwalk marks the third race of the 2021 PDRA season, but Musi is confident the team can enjoy a strong weekend in the loaded Pro Nitrous ranks.
“There’s a lot of guys running well, but I feel like we’ve got something for them,” Musi said. “Our intention is to go out there and race for the win. Dean knows how to get down a track, and he’s got confidence in what we can do. He recently said ‘It’s about to get real’ and I definitely agree with that statement.”
This story was originally published on May 21, 2021. 
