Scaling a fence at Summit Motorsports Park on Friday night might have been the second-most exciting thing to happen to Alan Drinkwater during Night Under Fire. But that’s another story for another time.
Forget fences. On Saturday, Drinkwater scaled a mountain, charging from the No. 11 qualifying position and winning races with performance on both ends of the track.
Drinkwater, driving his 830-cubic-inch, Jon Kaase-powered Ford Mustang, won the Ross Environmental Services Mountain Motor Pro Stock Shootout title at the 49th annual Night Under Fire at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.
Drinkwater stopped John DeFlorian in the final round, beating the former world champion on a holeshot. Out of the gate, Drinkwater made up the performance deficit by cutting nearly .08 off the starting line and held off DeFlorian for a 4.135-second pass to DeFlorian’s quicker but losing 4.121.
Drinkwater, a two-time PDRA champion, showcased the skills that have made him one of the toughest draws in Mountain Motor Pro Stock.
“It’s incredible,” Drinkwater said after collecting the $50,000 winner’s prize. “I can’t thank Ross Environmental enough, the Ross family. You guys have been great for the class. Keith Kellen for putting this on. It’s just been great all weekend. The place is packed. The energy is great. I can’t thank everybody enough here that’s standing here for everything they poured into this class.”
Maybe the soft-spoken Drinkwater had something for the social media critics who had suggested the driver was washed up, as referenced during FloSports’ post-race interview.
“We washed our way to the winner’s circle, so we’ll start with that,” Drinkwater said.
He might have washed, but he also mopped up the floor, scoring decisive wins along the way.
Drinkwater’s road to the final started from the No. 11 qualifying position and the day never afforded him a matchup against a lower-qualified opponent. He opened eliminations with a victory over Jeremy Huffman before defeating No. 3 qualifier Brad Waddle. In the semifinals, he eliminated multi-time Mountain Motor Pro Stock champion Johnny Pluchino.
DeFlorian appeared to have a clear path to the $50,000 winner’s purse from the No. 4 qualifying position. He defeated Jesse Alexander in the opening round, Cory Voss in the quarterfinals and John Montecalvo in the semifinals.
Drinkwater had plenty of motivation entering Saturday night’s final, with or without the outside criticism.
“It’s been surreal. We’ve been struggling all year because everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. For us to come out here, travel and win this big event, it’s the greatest thing ever. I have to thank my team — David Rowe, Mike McAllister and Jay Stanley for hopping in.
“I can’t thank Kenny Floyd enough for giving me the opportunity for all this. Billy Wagner, Tony Gillig, Preston’s at home. I know you’re screaming and probably woke the babies up. My wife’s watching.
“It’s my mom’s birthday. It’s the greatest, greatest day ever.”
