In His New Line of Work, Dan Pastorini Can Now Count on Having the Horses

After finding ways to overcome broken ribs and other such injuries as an NFL quarterback, Dan Pastorini has found a new line of work: drag racing.

Where he used to be surrounded by 280-pound linemen trying to knock his head off, Pastorini now sits in a car powered by a 2,500-horsepower engine that runs on nitro methane and covers a quarter mile in less than six seconds.

Pastorini, who led the Houston Oilers to two AFC championship games, retired in 1984. During the playoffs, he once played with a flak jacket to protect broken ribs and rarely did an injury sideline him.

He was beaten up for 13 years as a quarterback. But a nice, safe job apparently is not what Pastorini sought in his new career.

Now in his second year on the National Hot Rod Assn. circuit, Pastorini, 37, drives a top-fuel dragster that reaches speeds in excess of 270 m.p.h. He first began racing at age 8 in California when his father built him a go-kart. He continued racing until he was the third player selected in the 1971 draft out of Santa Clara University.

He raced unlimited jet drag boats in 1973 and 1974, but the Houston Oilers vetoed any ideas Pastorini had of driving drag cars. Pastorini also played with the Los Angeles Rams, Oakland Raiders, and Philadelphia Eagles.

“I’ve always played with cars all my life and they’ve always fascinated me,” he said recently at Miami-Hollywood Motorsports Park, where he competed in the Citrus Nationals. “It’s one of the biggest interests I’ve ever had in my life. A lot of other guys play tennis and golf and I like to play that too, but this is just something I wanted to do for a long time but was never able to do because of football.”

When he retired, a friend lent Pastorini a dragster.

“The first time I rode in it, it scared the hell out of me,” he said. “I almost thought ‘Gee, have I bitten off more than I can chew here?’ But it was something I wanted to do. I felt no differently than when I played football. I used to play football half-scared all the time too.

“I don’t know if I was courageous or stupid. When you look at it realistically, I was more concerned about job security than being courageous. You didn’t want to give someone behind you the chance to take your job away.”

As a drag racer, Pastorini is doing well for someone who started as a 36-year-old rookie in a profession where most drivers begin while in their teens. He finished seventh in the money standings last season and won the Southern Nationals at Atlanta in April.

Pastorini, who wants to race long enough to win the championship, sees similarities between football and drag racing.

“It’s a team sport, contrary to what a lot of people think,” he said. “It’s not just a driver in a car. There’s a lot of preparation. When I’m in the car watching the lights count down (to begin a drag race), it’s like waiting for the kickoff of a game. In this business, there’s just no substitute for experience.

“It’s just like repetitions in plays in football. The more you do it, the more it becomes second nature to you so everything becomes reactionary.”

Pastorini said he doesn’t miss football.

“I’m fortunate that I have another career that occupies my mind,” he said. “I love the game and I’ll follow it. The new defenses are really interesting and challenging. What they’re doing now is quite complex. I’m glad I’m not out there.”