When the International Hot Rod Association reintroduced professional competition for its Nitro Outlaw Series this week at National Trail Raceway, it was more than a return to racing. For the Mountain Motor Pro Stock division, it was a homecoming to the series where this format was born in 1977.
Fourteen drivers are entered for the eight-car field, a testament to the revived series’ draw under new owner Darryl Cuttel, who purchased the IHRA in December. For drivers like John DeFlorian and Johnny Pluchino — both NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock champions — the Columbus event offers an opportunity to compete in a format that helped shape the modern Pro Stock landscape, even though neither previously raced in IHRA Pro Stock competition.
DeFlorian, who has worked for decades at chassis builder Jerry Haas Race Cars, said he is eager to see how the series unfolds.
“We’re really looking forward to it,” DeFlorian said. “We’re wondering, like everybody, how’s this going to be? Is it going to be something like the old IHRA when we ran it? Or is it going to be something completely new? Obviously, we won’t have those answers until we get there next week and find out. But pretty excited. If you think about it, Mountain Motor was born [in IHRA].” So to have an opportunity to go back and be able to run there again, looking forward to it.”
DeFlorian never raced Mountain Motor Pro Stock during IHRA’s peak years in the 1980s and ’90s, instead watching legends like Warren Johnson, Rickie Smith, and Ronnie Sox define the category.
“Oh yeah. That’d be awesome,” he said of the idea of racing those icons. “That would be really cool, because those are the guys that I watched way back then. I wasn’t participating, obviously. Not at that level. But they were the guys at the time. So yeah, to have an opportunity like that would be pretty tremendous. Although, we probably would’ve got our butts handed to us.”
DeFlorian modestly accepts his status as frontrunner amongst the Mountain Motor Pro Stock racers.
“I don’t really consider myself there yet, honestly,” he said. “We’ve been doing it a long time, been pretty fortunate, had a little success along the way. I still feel like I’m striving and working to try to get to that level, to try to be a racer of that caliber. Hopefully we’ll get there.”
The 14-car field is larger than many expected, given the fragmented history of the category.
“I really honestly am surprised,” DeFlorian said. “There are about 44 to 48 Mountain Motor Pro Stock cars out there that have participated in the last three years. Trying to get them to all come out at one time is almost impossible. So to see what looks to be 14, 16 cars at this point — it’s pretty impressive. It is only an eight-car show, so that means you’re going to have to race to get in, and you’re going to have to do it in two qualifying sessions. So there’s another big challenge.”
For Johnny Pluchino, the return of Mountain Motor Pro Stock to IHRA competition is personal.
Pluchino, who grew up watching the class, raced once in Top Sportsman with IHRA years ago but never in Pro Stock.
“That was the only time I ever ran in an IHRA race,” Pluchino said. “But Mountain Motor was IHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock — that’s what I grew up watching. My dad [John Pluchino] started running it in the late 2000s, and everything switched over to ADRL and PDRA. So it’s cool to go back and see where this IHRA deal goes and try and grab one of those IHRA trophies.”
Pluchino sees the event as a chance to write another chapter in his career while staying focused on winning.
“Anytime we go out to a race, our goal is to win it,” he said. “If we don’t win it, it doesn’t mean we can’t have little victories within that. But that’s certainly our goal — to go out there and win the race. Again, it’s really overall the same group of guys we’re racing against, just a different place in front of different people. That makes it exciting.”
Pluchino noted the historical irony of running a Mountain Motor car at an NHRA race in Norwalk one week, then racing the same car at an IHRA event in Columbus the next. Norwalk was once a dyed-in-the-wool IHRA facility while Columbus was NHRA.
“Definitely not something you’d think about a long time ago,” he said. “But those two are back-to-back for us. Definitely a strange deal.”
Winning this weekend would hold special meaning, Pluchino added.
“There’s no points, no implications for us, so it’s a little bit different,” he said. “But to be able to put an IHRA trophy up on the mantle, especially the first one on the return of the IHRA, would definitely be special. My dad doesn’t have one either, so it would be the first for our family and our team to grab one of those. The way things are, you never know if you’re going to have those opportunities again. I do know I’ll be in Columbus this week, and I want to win that new trophy. Hopefully we don’t come up short.”
Both drivers agreed the return of a strong IHRA is good for drag racing overall.
“It’s actually good for the sanctioned bodies,” DeFlorian said. “It keeps everybody honest, doing the right thing. You want a little competition, a little challenge out there. I think it makes it better.”
The IHRA Nitro Outlaw Series opens this weekend at National Trail Raceway with qualifying Friday and eliminations Saturday. The Mountain Motor Pro Stock field will battle for eight spots in eliminations, reviving a division that has deep roots in the sport.
