Pat Verwys of West Chester is a dedicated husband and racer
and has won numerous stock car races, including extra distance
enduro events. He is also a former champion at Mountain Speedway
in St. Johns, PA. Pat’s family has been involved with
motorsports for many years and helped propel his need for speed.
This coming season Verwys plans to hang up full fendered racing
and try his hand at the open wheel asphalt modified ranks.
As a youngster he and his brothers, Bill, Jr. and Pete,
traveled to tracks across the tri-state area with their father,
Bill, Sr. The elder Verwys was and continues to be a threat at
area speedways, including Mountain Speedway, where he recently
visited victory lane in the four cylinder division.
Watching his father race at tracks such as Freeport Speedway,
Riverhead Raceway, Islip Speedway, Wall Township Speedway,
Mountain Speedway and White Lake Speedway gave Pat the itch to
get behind the wheel of a race car, which he finally did in
2003.
Pat recalled traveling with his father, older brother and
mother to some events in the 1980s, “I have been going to the
track for longer than I remember. “The racing experience for us
has always been a family event- whether it was winning the
Turkey Derby (Wall Township Speedway) in 1984 or running well at
White Lake Speedway, everyone was there together, rooting for
Dad”
Pat wasn’t only a young fan of his fathers- both he and his
brother Bill, Jr., helped tune on the race car. “I can even
remember Bill, who was still in high school and me in elementary
school racing home from school to pull a motor on Monday so that
we could have it re-built by Friday to stay in points (hunt).
“At the time Dad was working overtime as an electrician to pay
for it all) the sad part was that this was a more than once
experience”, he said.
Like his father, Pat has been a threat to win races before he
even got behind the wheel.
After taking a break through the 1990s, Bill Verwys, Sr.
returned to racing. However, this time he wasn’t alone, as the
family entered five drivers in an enduro event at Riverhead
Raceway. Bill, Jr., Pat and their younger brother, Pete, ran the
event, along with their father and his brother, Pete.
It was obvious that Pat always dreamt of racing and it didn’t
take long for him to visit victory lane. His first victory came
during his full racing season in 2004 when he took the checkers
during an enduro event at Riverhead Raceway on Long Island. Not
long after, Verwys won again, this time beating 106 other cars
to the finish on the ¼-mile asphalt track.
Even though he missed a race during the season, Verwys won
the four cylinder championship at Mountain Speedway and instead
of going for the repeat the following year, Pat moved into the
V8 “Thriller” stock car division at Mountain. After a lot of
success and numerous top five and top ten finishes, including a
heat race win, Verwys decided to give Wall Township Speedway a
try.
He quickly found success racing at the Jersey Shore and
notched a number of top fives and many top ten finishes.
Moving onward and upward was his goal from the get-go and
Verwys is looking forward to the opportunity of piloting a
modified.
Entering his sixth full season in stock car racing, Verwys
recently purchased a sport modified with hopes to pick up rookie
of the year honors at Mountain Speedway. The sport modified cars
are much like the NASCAR open wheel modifieds, with the
exception of a more affordable engine package and skinnier
tires.
Pat is in the process of securing sponsorship and team
members that will help guide him to consistency in the popular
division. He hopes to qualify for every event that he enters and
run a consistent, full season at Mountain Speedway, which will
give him the valuable seat time that will help him to move up in
divisions over the next few seasons.
Pat’s main goal at Mountain Speedway is to start and finish
each feature and hopefully finish in the top ten in the point
standings.
He also plans an attempt to qualify for a minimum of three
SST (Super Short Track) modifieds shows in the Southern Tier of
NY.
The young rookie also hopes to qualify for his first RoC
(Race of Champions) SST event. His main goal for that race is to
start and finish. With competition in the series, a finish to
Verwys would feel like a win during his rookie campaign.
Currently Pat seeks sponsorship to help fund his race team.
The more quality sponsors Verwys accrues, the better and more
prepared his equipment will be.
Pat’s first laps in his new race car will be run at Mountain
Speedway in late March.
Source: Geno
Ostrowski/Pat Verwys PR
Posted:
December 4, 2008
