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After 30 years in racing and 22 track championships, Kris Patterson is embarking on a new challenge.
Patterson, 56, of St. John’s is piloting his No. 0 in the NeSmith Ultimate Champion Late Model Series presented by GM. While in its first year of racing at the Saturday night I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, the series uses $5,000, 400-horsepower crate motors from General Motors and is aimed at more driver ability than horsepower.
Through July 18, Patterson was fourth in the series point standings and his famous No. 0 made an appearance at the July 25 Mt. Pleasant Speedway NeSmith UCLMS $1,000 Special with substitute driver Dona Marcoullier behind the wheel.
“I’m running a limited schedule this year,” Patterson said in the pits at the Mt. Pleasant Speedway prior to the July 25 special. “Dona (Marcoullier) has been running my other open car a few nights when he can and I called him today (Friday) and he said he wanted to drive the car tonight.”
Although Patterson was not behind the wheel himself, he did take some time to discuss his three-decade career.
The Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Famers career can be traced back to his father’s racing roots.
“My dad used to race super modifieds in the early 1960s and I used to go with him and sell Marc Times Racing News in the grandstands,” Patterson said. “I’ve been around racing my whole life and I guess I got the bug then.”
The first time Patterson found himself in a racecar was 1977 as he drove a sprint car owned by Paul Becker.
“I was racing snowmobiles in the winter with him and he came into the shop one day and said he bought me a sprint car,” Patterson said of the beginning of his racing career.
After a couple years driving the sprint car, Patterson moved on to a sportsman car.
“I took it out to Dixie (Motor Speedway) on a Sunday night and we won with it the first time we took it out and that started everything from there,” Patterson said.
From there Patterson’s career took off and now includes 5 ALMS, 7 MSPA and 5 Eldora Speedway championships, and and as of Aug. 8 a membership in the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame, located at Florence Speedway in Kentucky.
“That’s quite an honor to be in the national hall of fame,” Patterson said of his upcoming induction. “There are a lot of good names to hold a bat to and it feels pretty good.”
With 30 years of racing behind him and having accomplished almost everything possible, Patterson was somewhat content to retire after last season. But then came the call from I-96 Speedway’s Mike Mouch and Andy Stebbins.
“I had more or less retired last year and then Mike and Andy came over this winter and decided to get me promoting this crate Late Model series and it’s been a lot of fun this year and now I’ve got my boy interested and he’s also running one,” Patterson said.
For Patterson the chance to get in this new series and learn what it was all about was too good to pass up.
“Because my boy is interested in it and I kind of want to run and get a feel of these motors and the cars before I stepped out and to give me an idea what he’s going through out there so I can help him out,” Patterson said of why he decided to run this season.
Running in the new NeSmith UCLMS has been enjoyable for the veteran Patterson and even included a feature win on July 11.
“It’s been really fun. I think this is a great series and it’s really nice they invited us up to Mt. Pleasant,” Patterson said. “I think people will be surprised tonight (July 25) when they see these cars run. They’re not much off the pace of a regular Late Model. They’re the same thing except for a $5,000 motor in them, which makes it more economical for anybody to race them. Instead of spending $10,000 to $20,000, anybody can start with a $5,000 motor which they have that in some of these modifieds.”
While Patterson the racer may be slowing down, Patterson the father is as proud as ever of his son, 19-year-old Kris Patterson Jr.
“I get more excited watching him race,” the elder Patterson said of his son. “I know there will be bumps and bruises along the way, but so far he’s been doing a pretty darn good job.”
During this season’s first NeSmith UCLMS race at I-96 Speedway on May 16, Patterson finished second in the feature, but admitted to not paying much attention to his own car.
“It was my son’s first night in his car and I was more excited to watch him go,” Patterson said. “I’m pretty proud of him and it’s good to see him going.”
A career that has included so many highs, Patterson said the highlight has just been able to go racing each and every weekend.
“Being able to race each night is the highlight,” Patterson said. “I won some good races and lost some good races. I’ve done this all my life and I wouldn’t know much different to do.”
With so many people helping Patterson along the way, he wanted to pay special thanks to a few including Steve Rudoni of Kentucky Fried Chicken in Mt. Pleasant, Tom Benson Remax, KB Carburetors, Alma Pontiac, Fleece Performance and everyone else who has supported him through the years.
“We’ve just always liked to race,” Patterson said.