Pat O'Brien (racing driver)

Last updated
Pat O'Brien
BornPatrick O'Brien Jr.
(1965-11-16) November 16, 1965 (age 58) [1]
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Retired2016
Debut season1985
Modified racing career
Car number1,6
Championships22
Wins185
Championship titles
1988, 1990, 1992, 1995 Mr. Dirt 358 Modified Champion [2]

Patrick "Pat" O'Brien (born November 16, 1965) is a retired Canadian Dirt Modified racing driver. Credited with more than 185 wins at seven speedways in two countries, he earned four Mr. DIRT 358 series crowns. He has captured 22 track championships, including 10 titles at Can-Am Speedway in Northern New York. [3]

Contents

Racing career

Pat O'Brien began racing in 1985 in the 358 Modified division, and centered his career at the racetracks in southeastern Canada and northern New York state, including Autodrome Edelweiss QC, Autodrome Drummond QC, Autodrome Granby QC, Brighton Speedway ON, Can-Am Speedway NY, Cornwall Motor Speedway ON, Fulton Speedway NY, and Mohawk International Raceway NY. [1] [4] [5] [6]

O'Brien was inducted into the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame in 2019. [2] [3]

Personal life

O'Brien comes from a racing family, as father Pat O'Brien Sr. was a regular at the Watertown Speedway and Kingston Speedway in the 1950s, 1960's and early 1970's, and brothers Danny. and Tim eventually became regular competitors. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watertown Speedway</span> Inactive racetrack in Watertown, New York


Watertown Speedway was a 1/2 mile dirt oval raceway located at the Jefferson County fairgrounds in Watertown, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Super DIRTcar Series</span>

The Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds is a North American big block modified touring series currently promoted by World Racing Group. The series primarily races on dirt ovals in the Northeastern United States and Canada along with select dates in Florida and North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame</span> Hall of Fame in Weedsport, New York

The Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame was established in 1992 to recognize individual achievements in the sport of stock car racing. It is located at 1 Speedway Dr., Weedsport, New York.

Timothy 'Tim' Fuller is an American Dirt Modified and Late Model racing driver. Fuller has 285 feature events wins from 45 tracks in 14 states, two Canadian provinces and Australia.

Danny O’Brien is a Canadian Dirt Modified racing driver. Currently credited with 226 career wins at 11 tracks in two countries, he has captured 14 track titles at Brockville Speedway, ON.

Patrick "Pat" Ward is an American Dirt Modified racing driver, currently credited with over 145 career wins at 17 tracks in New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida.

Danny Johnson is an American Dirt Modified racing driver who has earned over 600 feature event victories at 55 different speedways in 13 states and two Canadian provinces.

Kenneth "Kenny" Tremont Jr. is an American dirt modified racing driver. He has captured 41 track titles at seven different tracks, and notched wins at 20 different tracks.

Alan Johnson is an American Dirt Modified racing driver who has earned over 560 feature event at 39 tracks in seven states and two Canadian provinces.

Stephen "Steve" Paine is an American Dirt Modified racing driver who has earned over 325 feature event at 26 tracks. He captured 32 track championships, including 9 straight at the Canandaigua Speedway NY, from 2000 to 2008.

Ovide Doiron is a retired Canadian Dirt Modified racing driver and engine builder. Credited with more than 300 wins he captured 25 track championships. Doiron became known as the "Flying Frenchman" after an incident at the Fort Covington Speedway, which occasioned Doiron's car getting airborne and backward, tearing down the flag stand as he took the checkered flag for the feature event win.

Donald "Don" June was a pioneering driver of dirt modified stock cars. He dominated the inaugural season at Edgewood Speedway in 1951, winning 11 feature events at the Alexandria Bay, New York oval and claiming the Adirondack Stock Car Club championship.

Gary Reddick was a driver of modified stock cars. Equally adept on both dirt and asphalt surfaces, he captured 7 track titles and nearly 200 feature wins in the northeastern United States and the southeastern Canada.

David "Dave" Heaslip is a retired Canadian dirt modified racing driver. Credited with more than 300 career wins he competed for 50 years against the toughest competition on either side of the St. Lawrence River.

Douglas "Doug" Carlyle was a Canadian dirt modified racing driver. He competed successfully at race venues on either side of the St. Lawrence River, including Brockville Speedway ON, Fonda Speedway NY, Grandview Speedway PA, and Rolling Wheels Raceway NY.

Robert "Bob" Zeigler was a driver and promoter of modified stock car racing. Equally adept at driving on both dirt and asphalt surfaces, he was recognized for his driving talent and respected for building a speedway during what many believe to be the golden age of stock car racing.

Marcel LaFrance was a Canadian dirt modified racing driver. His racing career spanned two countries and 38 years, winning 268 feature events and claiming five track titles.

Clifford "Cliff" Kotary was an American dirt modified racing driver who accounted for over 300 feature victories. He won an unprecedented six straight New York State Fair Labor Day Championships.

Guy "Shorty" Robinson was an American driver of modified stock cars. Equally adept on both dirt and asphalt surfaces, he was victorious at venues on either side of the St. Lawrence River, despite being limited primarily to weekend racing by his full-time job.

Robert "Bob" Gatien was a Canadian Dirt Modified racing driver. He later joined a group of investors to purchase Rebel Speedway, renamed it to Autodrome Granby QC, and became a respected promotor and an authority in track surface preparation.

References

  1. 1 2 "Pat O'Brien-Career Results by Series". The Third Turn. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Rowe, Gary (June 7, 2019). "'Flyin' O'Brien captured four series titles". The Citizen (Auburn, New York) . Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 MacAlpine, Ian (August 2, 2019). "Kingston race car driver inducted into hall of fame". The Kingston Whig-Standard . Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  4. ↑ "O'Brien Skoal winner". The Daily Gazette . July 18, 1990. p. C3. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Race For BOS Championships Heats Up". Watertown Daily Times . August 26, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  6. ↑ Gardiner, Nick (October 21, 2019). "Loud and dirty finish for speedway's golden year". Brockville Recorder & Times . Retrieved July 25, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.