NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Pat Minick, who gained fame as the driver of the first series of Chi-Town Hustler Funny Cars that he campaigned with partners Austin Coil and John Farkonas, and their ’69 Dodge Charger, passed away Jan. 19. He was 79.

The Chi-Town Hustler was easily one of the most popular vehicles in Funny Car history. The car was not only unique in design and performance but is also remembered for creating and popularizing the ritual of long, smoky burnouts that are done to this day. Minick retired as driver at the end of 1971, but he remained with the team through the 1990 season and was actively involved with the pair of back-to-back NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Funny Car championships that were won by then team driver Frank Hawley.

While attending Argo Community High School in the Chicago suburbs, Minick began making drag racing acquaintances with the likes of Gary Dyer, who would later gain fame as the driver of the Mr. Norm’s Grand Spaulding Dodge Funny Cars. After a brief stint in a nitro-burning dragster, Minick recognized the increasing popularity of the factory-backed Super Stockers in the early 1960s and began driving Farkonas’ ’57 Chrysler 300, which was the start of a lengthy partnership, and they next campaigned a ’62 Plymouth Super Stocker. 

Minick and Coil ran a ’64 Dodge Super Stocker for Norm Kraus in 1964 and then built an altered-wheelbase ’65 Plymouth the next year that evolved from gasoline and carburetors to nitro and fuel injection during the season. Minick took a year off from drag racing to work for a suburban police department in 1966 but returned to the team, which now included Coil, in late 1967. The trio built a ’67 Barracuda flip-top Funny Car that they campaigned with considerable success during the following season.

Their next car was the ’69 Charger, which featured radical design concepts. While most of the Funny Cars by this time had the engine and driver centered in the chassis, the ’69 Chi-Town Hustler had a homemade frame with the driver shifted over to the left and the engine located towards the right.

But what really made the car stand out were the trademark burnouts. The Chi-Town team was the first to do this on a regular basis at a time when everyone else was making short, smokeless burnouts through rosin or just dry-hops behind the starting line, and the practice caught the imagination of the fans. By the time the Chi-Town Hustler made its first West Coast appearance at the Orange County Int’l Raceway Manufacturers Championships at the end of the season, the car itself was as famous as any of the nation’s most popular drivers.

But the car also terrorized the competition on the track for the next two years, and the team was booked at more than 100 match race dates a year during this period. When the hectic road schedule became too much for Minick, he vacated the driver’s seat but stayed on doing public-relations work and helping obtain more sponsorship support. Strange Engineering later came on board as a major sponsor and helped the team win the back-to-back NHRA championships in the early 1980s. Minick left the operation in 1990 after his son, Wayne, was the team driver for five years.

Grandson Mike currently drives a Chi-Town Hustler Nostalgia Funny Car.