MOUNTAIN MOTOR PRO STOCK

John DeFlorian  (Jim Kelso photo)

Nine Mountain Motor Pro Stock teams made the long trip Southwest to Tucson. After the first qualifying session it was a bit of a surprise as Brad Waddle in his Kansas-based Mustang was on the provisional pole at 6.41/216.58. Second was former NHRA Pro Stock racer J.R. Carr in his Camaro with a 6.42/216.58. In the third hole was Arnold, Missouri’s John DeFlorian Jr. at 6.45/216.31.

The 2014 Champ, Cary Goforth, was sixth at 6.47/216.46. On the bump was Long Island Pro Stock racer John Montecalvo with a 9.88 at 104.11 mph. This race was the first IHRA race for Montecalvo since IHRA re-instated the class last year.

The second qualifying session on Friday night delivered a warm, sticky track and cool desert air, and the big dogs came out. Goforth proved why he has the big number one on the door of the orange Camaro as he shot to the top of the qualifying list with a nice 6.385 at 218.48. Carr stepped up his game and moved into the second slot with a 6.387/218.09 effort, and Waddle slid into the third slot at 6.40/216.31. Ontario, Canada’s John Konigshofer in a Ford was on the bump spot at 7.79/121.33.

A final qualifying session Saturday morning saw West Virginia’s Kevin Bealko improve to the third spot between Carr and Waddle running a 6.40/219.15. The 219 speed held up as top speed of qualifying.

In the first round of eliminations on Saturday, there must have been a disturbance in the force someplace ‘cause it was, well, weird. Goforth took the win with a 6.42/218.41 over a very close 6.44/216.42 for Konigshofer. What made it even closer is that the Canadian had seven-hundredths in the bank at the launch but trailed at the finish line by .011!

John Montecalvo  (Jim Kelso photo)

Holeshot wins and loses were rampant. DeFlorian (with a .075 RT) took out Carr with a respectable 6.46/215.00 to Carr’s much quicker 6.40/218.90 effort. Unfortunately for Carr, he had a .135 RT.  Montecalvo took care of Bealko 6.46/217.56 to 6.45/218.12.

In the final race of round one Scott Hintz from Texas got a bye into the semis when Waddle couldn’t make the call. 

In round two DeFlorian took care of Montecalvo with a 6.44/216.62 effort that easily covered the New Yorker’s 6.55/182.92. The other semifinal was the best race in Pro Stock eliminations and it was between defending IHRA Pro Stock champ and Oklahoman Goforth and Texan Hintz. At the green Goforth left on Hintz by .005 and held that slight advantage to the stripe running a 6.38/219.15 to the Texan’s 6.38 at 218.94.

The final pitted the number one and two teams in the 2014 Mountain Motor Pro Stock standings. This was another close race. At the green it was the Missourian DeFlorian who showed Goforth how to cut a light had a .013 RT to Goforth’s .068 RT. Nevertheless, the champ was able to run down DeFlorian at the finish line with a serious 219+ top end charge and get to the winners line just four thousandths of a second before DeFlorian, winning the race with a 6.34/219.72 top speed and low ET of the meet for Pro Stock to nip DeFlorian’s 6.40/217.98.