“I had to get off the throttle, then back on it,” Dakin recalled. “When I did, it just picked the front end up.”
The car continued to go up and up and finally back-flipped until its long, needle nose briefly danced along the asphalt, before the whole thing caromed sideways into the concrete guard wall, setting off a shower of flame, tires and parts.
“The first thing I thought of when I knew I was going over was how quickly can we get the backup car together?” said Dakin, a man short on words and comfort when it comes to an interview. “That’s all that was on my mind.”
But that debate ended instantly. The impact fractured his skull and left him unconscious. Both of his hands and wrists were shattered.
“I would have 10 to 12 operations and it took me a year and a half just to heal,” he said.
It would be 10 years until he returned to the cockpit. During that time he devoted himself to the family’s North Dayton business – Commercial Metal Fabricators – that he took over upon his father’s death in 1983.
“Always on my bucket list, though, was getting licensed again and finally that’s what I did in 2008,” said Dakin, who borrowed a car after the Gatornationals in Florida.
“You’re supposed to do three or four runs. I was a little apprehensive on the first one, but then it all started to come back and it gave me enough of a taste that I knew I wanted to do it again.”
Today the 66-year-old Dakin – the most celebrated Top Fuel drag racer ever from the Miami Valley – is in his fifth decade of competition. Although he does a limited schedule – this year he’ll run nine events – he’s had great success in the past.
In 1977, he finished as runner up for the season title to three-time Top Fuel champ Shirley Muldowney. He won national events in Montreal in 1971 and 1973 and reached the final round four other times.
This Saturday he’s being honored at Kil-Kare Dragway. He’s the grand marshal of the fourth annual Gathering of the Geezers, which includes old-time drag races, a car show and swap meet. Gates open at 8 a.m. Racing begins at 1:30 pm.
“For all Pat has done, he really deserves to be honored,” said Kil-Kare special events promoter Ed Crowder. “He’s a good guy.”
Dakin saw his first drag race at 14, began competing a few years later with his brother Mike, then partnered for two decades with Gary Rupp and later teamed with Tom Kattelman.
“It’s all just about the thrill of the ride,” he said. “That’s what it’s always been.”
Although he claimed the past two seasons haven’t yielded much, you get a different story from racing folks in the Miami Valley.
They point to the annual Dayton Auto Racing Fans (DARF) auction. Proceeds go to injured drivers and Dakin is known to spend thousands on items and then give them right back for re-auction.
“I just know what I went through and if there’s another injured driver out there who needs help, this is just a small thing I can do,” he said quietly.
Crowder was right.
Pat Dakin deserves to be honored.
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