2014 Hall of Fame


 

Eli Patrick
Legendary MIR Racer & Sponsor

Eli Patrick has really ramped up his involvement with MIR since Royce Miller assumed the helm in 1990, but he has been coming here for years. Eli was instrumental in establishing the successful and popular Fun Ford racing events. Royce reached out to Eli 18 years ago with an idea for a special Ford only event and Eli used his vast network of contacts and influence at Ford to make it happen. The events started as one day deals and now have turned into three day blue oval extravaganzas! Eli was largely responsible for the growth of these popular weekends for Ford fans. In addition, Eli has been very generous to MIR in offering the continual use of many trucks at MIR. These work horses take care of just about any job needed at the track. Eli makes sure that he rotates-in fresh trucks consistently so that MIR always has the latest and greatest trucks for use at the track.

Eli has set a high standard in Ford Pro Stock racing as well, with many wins and headlines coming right here at MIR. Eli’s team won the world famous Mountain Motor Nationals three times and they won 17 International Hot Rod Association national events. With son Robert at the wheel, Eli’s team won the $20,000 TORCO Pro Stock showdown right here at MIR in 2006. They followed that up with the 2007 IHRA Pro Stock World Championship. Eli was instrumental in putting together the deal to run the first ADRL Pro Stock Race at MIR. Of course, the Patrick family then won it!

Eli Patrick has competed in the highly competitive Pro Stock class in both IHRA and NHRA for more than two decades. His team held the IHRA Pro Stock speed and elapsed time record four different times. Today, the team continues its competitive racing efforts with a Pro Modified car that runs 10 to 12 PDRA events a year and they also returned to Pro Stock at NHRA Gainesville in 2014! The team also runs the Fun Ford series, and son Robert just won the 2014 Richmond event.

Eli and his team started racing IHRA Pro Stock full time in 1993. The Purvis Ford team represented Ford in the IHRA while Bob Glidden represented Ford in the NHRA. The team scored their first national event win at Norwalk 1993, and then won at Epping, and then won at Bristol! Overall, the team won IHRA Norwalk three times. Eli had the IHRA Motorcraft deal in 1993 and then the IHRA Ford Quality Care deal from 1994 to 1996, while Bob Glidden ran the same sponsorships in the NHRA series.

When Ford pulled their sponsorship of Pro Stock at the end of 1996, Eli traveled to Indiana and bought out Bob Glidden’s complete inventory! He then raced NHRA exclusively from 1997 to 2003. Running the Ford in the NHRA, the team had a few semifinal finishes but really didn't have enough money to compete on the NHRA tour. The only time the team didn't run a Ford was when Robert filled in for Billy Huff at the NHRA Chief Auto Parts Nationals race at Ennis, Texas. There, they beat Warren Johnson in the semifinals but lost to Kurt Johnson in the finals. After the 2003 season, Eli headed back to his roots with IHRA and huge Ford Mountain Motors!

Eli is 72 years old and he's worked at a car dealership for his entire career. He began work on a grease rack at a West Virginia car dealership at 16 years old. In 1972, he began as the used car manager at Purvis Ford in Fredericksburg, Virginia. In 1976, he was brought in as an operating partner of George Purvis. In 1993, George Purvis passed away and Eli has owned the business ever since. Robert's twin sister Emily Joyce Patrick works every day with Eli at the dealership. And Bonnie Patrick, the matriarch of the family, keeps everyone in check. She has been to every drag race the family has ever attended! The Patricks are moving Purvis Ford into the future with a complete renovation of the dealership that is about halfway complete. They have 135 employees and each one of them is treated like family, with many employees on staff for decades. We at MIR have been proud to have Eli Patrick as part of our family for decades as well!

Eli Patrick, MIR Legend!