This week, longtime Ford racer Robert Patrick unveiled his brand spanking new Ford Mustang that he’ll pilot in Pro Nitrous competition in his return to racing following a harrowing incident in September of last year that left him on the sidelines with a leg injury, unable to complete what, to that point had been a exceptional season in the eight-mile racing wars for the veteran NHRA and IHRA Pro Stock racer.

Photos credit: Paint by Jeff Hoskins on Facebook

While competing at the ADRL’s Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags in Norwalk, Patrick’s blue and white Purvis Ford Drag Team machine darted across the centerline near the finish stripe, taking a virtually head-on hit with the concrete guardrail. The car shot back across the track and struck the opposing wall before coming to a stop. He was transported to a local hospital, where it was determined that he had sustained a broken bone in his foot in the impact, along with some injuries to his knees and ribs.

Naturally, Patrick hated to have his season end that way, but from there, it was time to begin preparing for the 2013 season with a new race car from the Jerry Bickel shop in Missouri. This week, we got our first look at the new Purvis Ford machine, which features the familiar red and white-stiped scheme that Patrick had utilized on previous Ford Mustangs out of his racing stable. Paint-slinger Jeff Hoskins, who has been behind many of today’s hottest-looking race cars, applied the candy red paint. Hoskins and the team at Jerry Bickel gave the car a unique touch in its construction, with the fabrication of a modified, one-off Super Snake hood and front end that mimics the production GT500 Super Snake.

Look for the Fredericksburg, Va. Ford dealer back on the ADRL and X-DRL trail in the near future.