Eight championships across four organizations over the past seven seasons adds up to one incredibly dominant run in Mountain Motor Pro Stock for Cary Goforth.

That kind of success doesn’t come easy. It took long hours, regularly testing in 100-plus degree temperatures at Tulsa Raceway Park, plenty of work and some fortuitous bounces.

It also took Goforth being so locked in he wasn’t exactly a treat to be around during race weekends. He has treated racing as his business with an approach that requires a specific mindset, one that doesn’t allow for fun and games on the racetrack.

“I don’t do good at treating anything casual,” said Goforth, whose latest championship came this season in the PDRA’s Extreme Pro Stock class. “I’m so focused and intense, and it’s because of that fear of failure. That’s the only way I know how to approach it, putting a lot of pressure on myself to perform. It may take 5-10 years off my life, but that’s how I approach it.”

Whether it’s a ninth Mountain Motor Pro Stock championship a year from now remains to be seen, as Goforth won’t know his plans for 2018 until January. But ask anyone who has been as successful as Goforth in their craft, and the response is likely very similar when it comes to that unrelenting desire to succeed.

By the time things started to go his way, Goforth didn’t want to it to end, establishing a hunger and a feverish desire to keep the wins and championships coming. The first title came in 2010 in the now-defunct Mountain Motor Pro Stock Association, continued in Extreme Pro Stock in the ADRL in 2011, and Goforth hasn’t let up, both in approach and with his mindset.

He has followed with a second ADRL title (2012), three IHRA championships (2014-2016) and two PDRA championships (2014, 2017), putting himself in rarified air when it comes to success in the Mountain Motor Pro Stock class.

“I don’t know how to back off it,” Goforth said. “I’m intense when I’m driving and I put pressure on myself. I do understand the pressure that comes with it, but that’s the only way I know how to do this.” But that approach is part of what Goforth refers to doing things the right way. His father, Mountain Motor Pro Stock veteran Dean Goforth, is the team owner and the most pivotal part of that mindset, something Cary considers invaluable when looking back at all of the success.

“We’ll never look back on this and say we wish we would have done it this way or that way,” Goforth said. “We ran this as professionally as we could, and we’ve done everything we could to try and be quicker and better. “We spent 2-3 years running around 20 races a year, and we tried to approach it like an NHRA Pro Stock driver. We’ve spent as much time at Tulsa as anyone and we made countless number of laps working on things. To me, the right way is approaching it with a professional mindset.”

That has never been a problem for Goforth, who has reveled in that type of thinking. But he has heard some of the hurtful accusations, something he chalks up to being the man at the top for so long. Goforth shrugs that off, knowing the type of work he and his team have put in.

It’s all worked together remarkably well, even when transitions and new team members have come along.

It started with crew chief Chris Bell and continued with Brian “Lump” Self, and then moved to Jeff Dobbins and most recently came with Chuck Samuels, the crew chief on this season’s championship team. But there have been very little dips in performance, things continuing to work nearly flawlessly with the ebbs and flows.

“I think we found the right people, there’s no doubt about that,” Goforth said.

“To me, it’s more of the fact people have come to us at the right time.” In the topsy-turvy, nomadic world of Mountain Motor Pro Stock, it’s not the only transition Goforth has had to deal with over the years.

Like its NHRA counterpart, the class has struggled to find its footing or place in recent years, as racing leagues have gone by the wayside or abruptly changed course.

The MMPSA is no more and the ADRL, where the class thrived for a number of years, suffered its own brief demise after 2013. The class returned to IHRA, where the class first started, in 2014, only to see it go away for a second time after the 2016 season. It seems to have found a solid landing in the PDRA, but Goforth has never wavered in his desire to race Mountain Motor Pro Stock. It’s the only type of racing for him, no matter how much drama or adversity or unknown comes with it.

“I’m not a Pro Mod guy and I’ve never been a nitrous guy,” Goforth said. “Not to say we haven’t had opportunities, but ever since I was a young boy, all I ever wanted to do was drive Mountain Motor Pro Stock. There’s nothing like it. There’s nothing else to me. These cars are just unbelievably cool. It’s just amazing that they do what they do. You still have to drive one of these cars.”

Goforth hopes that will continue in 2018, though he said there’s probably just as good of a chance he won’t race next year as he will.

The talented driver certainly hopes to compete for a third PDRA world championship to add to a legacy that grows by the year, but Goforth is at peace with whatever happens. He is proud of what his team has accomplished through the uncertainties of the class, reflecting on a journey that has been worth it every step of the way.

“It was a hell of a lot of fun to do it the way we did,” Goforth said. “There’s a learning curve with all of it. You don’t just snap your fingers and become competitive. It takes time. We earned it, paid some dues and did it the right way. I have absolutely no regrets.”