Pro Stock racer Robert Patrick was hard at work in the pits at Bristol Dragway.

The longtime Ford racer wasn’t speaking a word to anyone. His focus was on the small metal pieces he was pulling out of a wooden box and then inserting into the carburetor of his new Mustang Pro Stocker.

After some time, Patrick finally acknowledged the presence of those around him.

Pro Stock racer Robert Patrick was hard at work in the pits at Bristol Dragway.

The longtime Ford racer wasn’t speaking a word to anyone. His focus was on the small metal pieces he was pulling out of a wooden box and then inserting into the carburetor of his new Mustang Pro Stocker.

After some time, Patrick finally acknowledged the presence of those around him.

“Just trying to get the fuel curve right in this engine,” said Patrick, whose participation in the recently completed NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals represented only his second race in 500-inch Pro Stock since 2003.

“The engine has been real rich when I drop the clutch on the starting line,” said Patrick, explaining why working on the carburetor was so important. “It has been flooding out at the hit, and we haven’t been able to get any sixty-foot numbers worth talking about. I’ve been trying to lean it up.”

Patrick expected these kinds of challenges as he reacquainted himself to Pro Stock racing with an engine displacing 300 less cubic inches. His  last six years have been spent racing Pro Stock with mountain motors, a style of racing where he first cut his teeth in 1991.

“We only have eight runs in competition with these Ford engines,” admitted Patrick. “We are a couple of months behind in our development. We are struggling to make up for that lost time.”

Patrick estimates he should be up to speed by Labor Day weekend, the traditional date for the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.

Right now Patrick is making his test runs during the NHRA Full Throttle Championship Series events.

“This is the testing we should have been doing at the start of the season but Ford did their best to get me my parts in January,” Patrick explained. “We had some setbacks in the development of the motor on the dyno, it just put us behind. That’s just part of racing. I’m not upset, just glad to be back out there racing.”

Patrick plans to test on the Monday after the Bristol event since a number of cars plan to stay over.

“It’s gotten so hot now that you hardly can’t go out and test as a single team at this point in the season,” Patrick conveyed. “We’re trying stuff every run. We have a long way to go.”

The positive point for Patrick is his experimentation and initial runs haven’t hurt parts out of the ordinary.

“Bob Ingles has this engine mechanically sound,” Patrick said. “We had some initial bearing issues but traced that back until we found what was causing it. It has been an uphill battle.”

A lot has changed about NHRA Pro Stock but for Patrick, one thing remains the same.

“The competition,” Patrick pointed out. “There are some things about this class which will never change. It’s still just as tough to win but my team is made up of fighters and we will fight our way into the thick of it. It’s just going to take time and patience.”