A Munster of a Good Time at Fuel Altered Nationals

The Munsters with their iconic cars. (submitted photo)

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The ground will shake, and your eyes will water from the nitro, but you will love every moment of it.

The annual Fuel Altered Nationals make their way back to Eddyville Raceway Park this weekend, and they have a special guest this year, Butch Patrick.

Patrick played Eddie Munster in the famous ’60s TV sitcom The Munsters, and he and the wheeled creations from the show will be at the track for fans to enjoy.

Patrick says that there will be a bit of recreation of the drag race from the “Hot Rod Herman” episode of The Munsters. “Dragula” from that episode will be there, as well. “This will be cool,” says Patrick.

The Munsters coach was designed by George Barris, who also designed the original Batmobile in the ’60s.

Oskaloosa News spoke with Patrick about his upcoming appearance this weekend, answering some readers’ questions along the way.

Patrick was a great sport about it, and filled us in about all the details.

Patrick said each episode had a one-week window while in production. Monday was a reading day, and was around two hours. Tuesday was a rehearsal day, and could be four hours.

By Wednesday, the cast was in full make-up, and filming lasted up to 10 hours a day.

Patrick was young when the Munsters came on the air, and he wasn’t that much different from many others during the ’60s and ’70s.

It’s always tough to summarize 50 years into a paragraph or two, but Patrick tackled it well.

“As anybody knows, the sixties was a wild time to be alive in general, let alone in Hollywood. It was extremely fun, to put it loosely. I had my share of parties and situations going on in the sixties, like everybody else did. Especially Hollywood. It was easy to get enabled into the party scene,” says Patrick.

“It was socially acceptable. Everyone was doing it,” added Patrick. “Literally, I was partying for quite a while.”

Patrick said that six years ago, “I got sober, and ever since then, my life has turned around wonderfully.”

Patrick now calls Macon, Missouri, home, where he lives in “my grandma’s old haunted house” that he lived in as a teenager.

Patrick is proud of his sobriety, which enabled him to acquire the Munster cars, and find his way back to Missouri. He will be getting married on September 10th.

“Life is good,” says Patrick.

You can visit with Patrick, see the cars, and grab some of the latest Munsters merchandise over the weekend at Eddyville Raceway Park.

To learn more about Patrick, you can visit him on his website at www.munsters.com.

Find out more about the Fuel Altered Nationals at http://www.worldfuelalterednats.com/