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If and when you're headed to Stockton 99 Dirt this weekend and you think the Tribute to Gary Patterson is just another memorial race, some history about the man himself. All actual quotes (in quotes) come from the Sprint Car Hall of Fame write up:

GP was different.

Known by racefans as The Hostile Hippie, The Preacher or even just GP, Gary Patterson blazed trails, both literally and figuratively all over the US and way down under in Australia, wheeling both midgets and sprint cars with equal aplomb, breaking cars, hearts, and more than a few beer bottles along the way. If GP was here today, he’d most likely not have a Facebook or Twitter, but if he did, you’d absolutely have to give him a follow. In today’s corporate cowboy, don’t make anyone angry, keep the status quo versions of today’s typical sprint car racing programs, GP would have had none of it. If you didn’t want to hear what he had to say, then you shouldn’t have put a microphone in front of his face. Asked one night in Australia about what he thought of the track he was racing on, in typical GP fashion, GP said if you put two handles on the ends of it, you’d have the world’s biggest garbage can. Never one to stop after one insult, GP then said the same about the entire country of Australia. Legend has it that GP was whisked out of the speedway that night via armored car for his own safety. It didn’t stop there as he would also later call Aussie racers “amateurs” and their cars “museum pieces”. This is the same country which paid tribute to GP in 1983 after he passed, calling him a great showman and racer and later would name the Gary Patterson Cup in his honor. His trophy dash wins were, well, entertaining. The kiss to the trophy girl would border on assault in today’s train of legal thought as they went on for 30 seconds or more, and always ended with a smile and cheering fans in the stands. The Hostile Hippie nickname was easy to come by as just looking at the shoulder length black hair and leather hat which set on steely brown eyes which stared right through you and a near fu man chu moustache would almost cry out that nickname. The Preacher moniker came by mail order, when he applied for a Minister’s license after he had received an application in the mail…and received just that weeks later.

We’d call him a throwback now. Tough as nails. If the car was bent but would still roll, he would find a way to get it to the front, or wad it up trying. Take the night at Ascot Park:

Patterson is on top of his game in mid 70's or early 80's and the setting is Gardena’s Ascot Park. This night, he flips hard and as the story goes, breaks 6 ribs. GP is pale, like a corpse, but would not pack up his gear. His crewman use duct tape to tape his chest and upper torso. He is in so much pain his crew lift him up and slip him down through the roll cage into his sprint car. You see, he’s GP and dammit, and he’s a racer. And there was still racing to do. He then goes out finishes in the top 5 in a 40 lap main at Ascot. Such are the legendary tales, which now may be tinged with a touch of exaggeration.

In a midget in Australia, while battling engine problems, he asked to start and park during a prelim race to make sure his motor was ready for the A. When the green flag flew, GP was still coming out of 4 as the field went green. The black flag came out for GP, but he had other ideas. Running down the field quickly, he started dicing through cars and ended up splitting cars at the checkers to take the win, to a raucous ovation. The officials were miffed, but GP could have cared less. You better believe GP was different.

AJ Foyt himself said he was never scared to be in a race car, but he was scared to death when he had the fortune to ride with Patterson to a race in the mid-west, with Patterson setting track records from town to town as they flew through the Midwest night.

When GP was taken from us in Calistoga he had under his belt numerous wins, numerous attempts at the Knoxville Nationals, a win at the Super Dirt Cup at Skagit Speedway in Washington, the Gold Cup at West Capital Raceway and the Turkey Night Midget Grand Prix at Ascot Park along with so many GP stories no one could possibly remember them all. He had friends with names like Opperman and Foyt. He drove for and partnered with Clyde Lamar at Side Bite Racing, and the Clyde Lamar #3c will sit in the Stockton 99 Dirt pits this weekend. GP had a history of telling it like it was no matter the company, a love for Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band and a taste for the late night after parties. Patterson never once “raced for points” “It’s not just USAC. I don’t like any clubs. They’re all loaded with rules, politics, binding schedules and too much crap. I don’t want to be regulated or forced to run a schedule. I’ll race where, when and for whom I want.” The World of Outlaws were not immune, from the same Hall of Fame write up: “How can they use Outlaw as it’s name? How can you have true outlaws followin’ a fixed schedule and chasin’ point money?” He lived the true Outlaw schedule before it was called just that. He raced where he wanted to, when he wanted, and no one was going to tell him he couldn’t. He did it his way. The way sprint car drivers do. And he did it all with that damn peace sign on the hood. The Hall of Fame write up continued: “Racing is my whole life. I’ve lived for racing a practically nothing else. Guys like Opp and me, racing is what we know. It’s all we’ve ever been. When will I quit? Hell I don’t know. When I die….I’m only a racer. What else could I be?”

From Gary Gerould at GP’s funeral: “There is not a doubt in my mind that every one of us here today owes a debt to the spirit of Gary Patterson. He entertained us with his driving ability…his incredibly intense competitive nature…his colorful, often unpredictable antics that captivated crowds that always produced some kind of reaction. He left us a legacy of memories and we’re all the richer for it.”

GP was indeed different. And it was our pleasure to have seen a legend while he was with us.

See you in Stockton this weekend.

Wanted to write something which provided some insight to people who weren't around when GP was wheeling racecars.  I was at Calistoga that night when he was taken from us.  Hell, I still have the ticket stub from that night, along with the ticket stub from "The Final GP Classic" at Baylands.  I'm not sure if it's been lost in translation somewhere, but for those people whose heroes say something controversial and get all fuzzy feelings, you gotta know GP would have been your guy.  For every Tony Stewart, with massive sponsorship money behind him who says "Asshole", and every other person who won't say anything for fear of pissing someone off, there was GP, the absolute anti hero, with "racer" screaming through his entire body.  I can only imagine him in today's world of racing, hitting races from coast to coast and all points in between, chasing the checkers, at the top of his game.  Let's not forget GP was 46 years old when he lost his life, and the other end was in sight of the racing career, but when he was capable, he was absolutely masterful behind the wheel, and Hollywood most likely is missing a pretty damn good opportunity to showcase what this guy was all about on the track.

Amen to that! I never got to see GP race but I have always had a preference for drivers who told it like it was and while they may scare the crap out of you every now and then it beats the shit out of some candy ass who is affraid of saying something that might come back to "haunt" them. No respect for peolple like that at all.