Success in drag racing is largely predicated on having a routine.

That’s why Extreme Pro Stock provisional low qualifier John Montecalvo was concerned during the first day of qualifications at the ADRL Quarter-Max Memphis Drags in Memphis, Tenn.

Montecalvo slipped out of his usual game plan of arriving on Thursday in order to get as many shots as possible during professional time trails on Friday.

“I was a bit concerned,” Montecalvo said. “We were delayed a bit at the airport. I really wanted to make a time run and we never got to make one.”

As it turned out, Montecalvo didn’t need one as he soared to the top of the qualifying with a 4.121, 175.02 opening session run.

“We ran at Maryland International Raceway last weekend, so we were pretty confident of our tune-up,” Montecalvo said. “We worked on our eighth-mile tune-up at the last race.”

Montecalvo qualified with his back-up engine and showed no signs of weakness.

“We came out and were pretty confident that we could make it down the track,” Montecalvo explained. “We weren’t expecting a number one but in watching the times ahead of us, we felt we could run that fast. We’re happy and overjoyed.” 

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