Pete Brozine

AS posted on IHRA. Pete passed away .Long time freind in Div.1 Saddely will be missed in our div. Best E.T. to you Pete. Kosky racing

 

I met Pete in 1985, at Carl Ruth's shop, while on a summer racing tour with Darrel Gwynn. I can only say nice things about the big man with a big warm heart, he will be missed.
Spike Gorr

 

This really sucks. Pete was a great guy. When I heard about this the other day, I could not believe it.

 

Sorry to hear the sad news. I have plenty of Pete memories, and most of them bring a smile to my face. Using the pistons as mortars at E-Town was absolutely hilarious!

 

Here’s a little Pete Brozine story:

It was 1988 or 89. Pete and I raced regularly on “Nitro” Nick Boninfante’s funny car circuit. To those who don’t know, this funny car circuit was very active in the 80s. We would race 1, 2, sometimes 3 times very weekend in the summer. Often, Nick Sr. would have Pete and I go to these “hole-in-the-wall” tracks down in NC and VA to do “best out of three” match races. Pete was a diehard drag racer…if there’s a race, he’d be there, anywhere, anytime.

One time in particular, Pete and I traveled down to the worst track I have ever raced on. It was an 1/8 mile track deep down in North Carolina, almost to the southern border. It was a real s**t hole. The track only had lights on the right lane. The shut-off portion of the track was not only short, but at a 45-degree uphill angle on the side of a mountain with a flat area at the end! You had to time your stop just right: if you stopped too short, you would be facing uphill at a 45-degree angle and have to hold the brake until your crew arrived, or else you would roll back down the hill and over your chutes. If you went too fast at the top, you risked running your car into the side of the mountain! It had short concrete barriers on the sides, with a chain link fence AGAINST the barriers next to the track. The fans were 3-4 deep against this fence the whole length of the track.

Anyway, the first two runs would be in relative daylight, and the third would be in complete darkness. Pete and I each won one round (planned) and we decided to “flip” a coin for the third run because the winner of the coin toss would get to pick the right lane (the lane with the lights).

Pete won the toss and obviously picked the right lane for our third run. When the tree came on, I left the line, but couldn’t see jack! When I literally saw the “whites” of peoples’ eyes along the fence, I figured I was headed to the wall, so I pedaled it and corrected. By then, Pete was a car length in front of me and beat me to the finish line to take the best-of-three match race.

At the other end, Pete got out of his car first and lifted the body of my car to let me out. He was happy that he had won, but asked me “what happened to you? I saw you peddle, and never saw you again.”

I responded to Pete (out of breath and adrenaline pumping) “my windshield was fogged, and it was so dark, I couldn’t see jack s**t! So when I saw you in front, I just figured I’d be safe and follow you to the finish line.”

Pete looked at me and gave me that smile of his (those who knew him know what I’m talking about) and shook his head in agreement. But, I knew that he knew I was full of s**t, that he just plain beat me. But being the gentleman he was, he let me think he believed my story.

Pete was a true gentleman, and yes, he had a very BIG heart.

RIP Pete!!

 

Pete will be truly missed. He was a great person and a hell of a nice guy.

 

in 1988 or so, Nick had a 8 car show at 75/80 Dragway in Maryland. We drove all night to get there, unloaded and did the pre warm up checks. When we reinstalled the plugs, we pulled the threads out of a hole, so I told the guys to pack it up. Pete heard we were loading and came over to see if he could help. He took a look , said I'll be right back. Get ready to run. He put in a time sert and told me never give up that quickly cause there is more help at the races than there is at home. I've taken that with me ever since. By the way, we won that race and yes I did buy him dinner that night. Pete, you were always a gentleman and made racing fun. If there is racing in heaven, save me a spot on your crew.Until we meet again my friend.Bill Naves Shooting Star AFC

 

Sorry to Hear. I remember watching Pete race his TAFC all the time at Englishtowns Specialty matchrace shows.

 

first time I met Pete was when Mert bought a new trailer from Goldrush and was trying to figure out how to get it to the west coast without sending me back to get it, Pete had heard about the problem and called Mert and said he would bring it out before pomona cause he had never been out this way, since that time Pete was and always will be a friend.