Name: Richard Perry Patino
Year / Make / Model Car: 1985 Monte Carlo Street Stock and Pro Late Model
Number: 51
Class: Street Stock and Pro Late Model
Years Racing: 3
Job: Student/Race Car Driver
1. How did you get into racing?
PP: I’ve always loved going to the race track and watching my Dad race his street stock, and the first time I ever saw him race I knew I was going to do it too.
2. What would you be doing if you were not driving a race car?
PP: I would be on a NASCAR team.
3. People who have inspired you the most while you have raced?
PP: Formula One driver, Ayrton Senna has been the most inspiring person for my driving career because of his determination to win a race.
4. What is the biggest obstacle you are facing in your quest to succeed in racing?
PP: My biggest obstacle is having the patience and confidence to succeed. Success does not happen overnight, so I need to learn to take it one experience at a time and not get discouraged when something goes wrong.
5. What driver are you a fan of?
PP: Kyle Busch.
6. Out of all the race cars you have driven, which one was your favorite and why?
PP: The Late Model becuase of the speed and how you have to be on edge every second you are in that car.
7. Pick one : CD player, I pod, 8-Track or Record player, and who do you listen to?
PP: IPOD- AC/DC
8. What have you been doing during the off season?
PP: Playing baseball, working out at the gym, swimming, kickboxing, and driving in my I-racing simulator in my room.
9. Is there any other type of race car that you’d like to drive that you haven’t yet?
PP: Probably a modified. I have always wanted to drive that type of car.
10. Your best and worst moment in racing?
PP: My best moment in racing is when I won the 2 street stock races in a row my first year racing in that class. Worst moment was not making the Derby.
11. Any local legends that you admired while coming up in Short Track Racing?
PP: I’ve always wanted to be better than my Dad, who I admire, because he is such a good driver and well-known in the street stock series. Also, Augie Grill is one of my most admired local legends.
12. What motivates you to be the best in your racing division?
PP: I know that performing well and being the best in my division will elevate me to a higher level, and hopefully pave the way to a NASCAR career. Having other people drive better than me motivates me to try harder.
13. Favorite smell at the track : race gas or burning rubber?
PP: Burning Rubber.
14. What’s the funniest thing you have ever seen on the race track?
PP: My mom’s face when I crashed into the water barrels.
15. What local driver do you have the most respect for and why?
PP: Joe Bethea because he has always been nice to me since the first day I started racing, but that doesn’t stop him from racing me hard no matter what.
16. Do you have another sport you enjoy to watch or participate in?
PP: Baseball.
17. What’s more important … racing for points or racing for the win?
PP: It depends on what position you are in the points, but going for the win is always more fun to me.
18. Your favorite track and why?
PP: Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola because of the competition and the character that the track has developed over the years.
19. Which describes you best : calculating driver or kamikaze driver?
PP: It depends on if my Dad is spotting or not…… Probably 50/50.
20. Last Lap, you’re in a side by side dash for the win… who would you want to beat and why?
PP: Chase Elliot because he has been driving for a long time and he is such a good and hard racer. It’s always an achievement when you can beat Chase in a side by side battle. I remember the Snowball derby finish a few years back when Chase and DJ Vanderlay where going for the win, What a battle!!!
https://www.facebook.com/perry.patino
Thanks Perry, for providing us with this information, and if anyone else would like to be featured here please contact me at ShortTrackTalk@gmail.com
