Interview with
Patt Buell

(Another of Patt's Self Portraits)
by Patt Buell
Published February 21, 2004

My "history website" teammates thought I should interview myself so people would know who I am. Heck, I don't even know who I am.

Okay, here goes. Back to the beginning - In 1968 I had a 1967, 327 Corvette Convertible, 3 speed and very stock. I was approached by several Camaro drivers and one Corvette driver and asked if I'd like to help start an Omaha Camaro Club. We also got one Opel GT driver to join (Ellen Wilson) and then there were nine of us. The OCC was started and it took off. I became editor and then treasurer. This was my beginning.

I ran every event I could - at this time there were about 6 or 7 different car clubs in Omaha - and they all had rallys and solos.

In 1969 I met a lady in the NRSCCA. Actually, she yelled at me. (I didn't know I'd parked on the solo course at the drag strip. Oops!) This was Patsy Woolery (now Patc Henry) and we became good friends, and still are today.

In late 1969, I went to a race at Continental Divide Raceway (CDR) with friends and loved it. I wanted to race.

I joined the NRSCCA in October of 1970. Someone had commented to me that I couldn't drive a race car because I was a girl and they weren't allowed to race. (This was not an SCCA member.) My friend Patc said "Yes she can, and I know where there's a Formula Vee for sale in Council Bluffs."

Yes, I bought the Vee on February 13, 1971, with help from my friends ( my investors). We dubbed the Vee, the "Stone" - it was slow. We formed a group, not a team, called the Pat-C-K Race Crew. We were a rag-tag bunch of friends, "ignorance is bliss" and we had fun.

I went to driver's school in March,1971. I ran three driver's schools (not the normal two - I blew several engines). Then two Regional races - all run in the rain. Cal Riechart, Denny Skaanning, Jerry Kilgore and Jerry Doctor also went to Drivers School in the one of the group's Vees.

For my year as a Regional driver I ran in the rain. My first race as a National driver, I ran in the rain. I was pretty good at driving in the wet and by now (late 1973) I had a new Vee (actually it was a year old).

The sun came out for my 2nd National race. It was a dry track and I had new slicks. Hmmmm! This was different and I didn't do as well as I had in the rain. I had to learn to drive on a dry track. But I got better.

I kept the Vee until the early 1980's but in 1974 I bought a Showroom Stock Honda to race, too. It was a blast to drive, I hardly every had to use the brakes. Pat diNatale, who was a corner worker at this time, has pictures of me going through corners with two wheels off the ground. The car had heart but not horsepower.

The only race I won in my little SSC car was Ponca City. A short track. A fun track. I won the Cherokee Strip Enduro. (I did not have a co-driver.) With LeMans starts, pit stops, hopping out and running around the car and back in, it was different. I hear they want to bring back a version of these races.

By 1974 we formed PEAK Racing Team - we had a sponsor (Peak Anti-freeze). The team was Garry Goracke, Billie Erxleben and me. In following years we added Molly Riley (now Anderson), Steve Fenske, Beth and Barry Bean and Bob Hubbard.

Next I bought a VW Scirocco, an SSB car, in 1975. It only lasted a year as a friend of mine rented the car and cartwheeled it off corner one at Hallet. It was totaled. I was at Elkhart Lake at the time for the June Sprints and heard about it when I got home. The car looked very bad.

Next I co-bought a 1976 Datsun 280Z, an SSA car, with teammate Billie Erxleben. (She was racing a 1975 TR7 at the time.) We still took turns racing the Vee. (later selling the FV to Beth Bean). I sold the Z to a friend and bought Billie's TR7 but did not race it. (I later sold the TR7 to Beth and Barry Bean - they still own it.)

In 1980 I bought Steven Fenske's 1979 Mazda RX7, raced it and later sold it to Jim Wood. I then bought a 1982 Mazda RX7 (and sold it last year to Ellen and Dave Z.)

In between race weekends I still ran rallys and solos. I ran most of the local club events and also raced about 15 to 18 races a year. I raced for 15 years. What a blast! I don't regret any of the money I spent racing - of course, I never added up the bills so I don't know how much I actually spent.

I quit racing in 1986 after my employer, Northern Natural Gas, was sold to Enron and I was severed and became a contract employee with no benefits. An unstable time to be racing. And you all know about Enron. I still work for Northern Natural Gas but we are now owned by MidAmerica Energy.

Throughout the years in NRSCCA, I have been Editor (12 years), Assistant R.E. (twice) and a BoG member on and off several times. When I was Editor I won two first place National awards for the newsletter and many second places. I have won several of the year-end trophies in Nebraska Region. I have been an NRSCCA member for 34 years.

I still come out to local events and the races at MAM (MidAmerica Motoerplex). I take lots of photos. I am part of the "History Team" and I am the club historian. I write for the Exhaust Notes. I still, very much, belong to NRSCCA.

Footnote: In my lifetime I have owned 43 cars, some five at a time. At this time I only have three; a 1995 Geo Tracker, a 2000 Olds Bravada and a 2001 Mazda Miata.

Update: Patt is retired and working harder than ever. She is currently serving as the Editor of the Exhaust Notes and as a judge for SCCA newsletter competition nationally. She also continues as the Region's Historian, as an Editor for this website, and has a National Scrutineer's Licence.