MMPS RACER MONTECALVO RELISHES IN ROLE HELPING BRING DRAG RACING BACK TO LONG ISLAND

by Bobby Bennett; Photos courtesy of Riverheadlocal.com    Sat, 2021-08-28 06:11

 

 

RELATED STORY: RACE TRACK NOT STREET BRINGS LARGE CROWD TO CALVERTON

John Montecalvo (center) is joined by Congressman Lee Zeldin, Assemblywoman Jody Giglio, and Pete Scalzo. 

Past Mountain Motor Pro Stock champion John Montecalvo has a vision, and he wasn’t going to stop pressing until it became a reality. 

Montecalvo, who resides in Center Moriches, NY, wanted to bring back drag racing to Long Island. Last Saturday, he watched the effort spearheaded by Peter Scalzo become reality. There hasn’t been legal, sanctioned racing on the island since Westhampton Drag Strip closed after the 2003 season and was replaced by a senior living complex. The event drew over 1,000 to Enterprise Park in Calverton. 

Last Saturday, while Montecalvo’s Mountain Motor Pro Stock counterparts were racing at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, he was at the historic drag race.

“You know, pulling in that gate ... obviously, I played a part in the construction and the permit process and all that, they had just done a phenomenal job,” Montecalvo said on Tuesday evening’s POWER HOUR show. “We applied the barriers with Pete, and he’s got quite a crew there with Tom and Eric working. Day by day, it was phenomenal to see the progress that was going on. So, we designed it. I helped Pete with that, and everything just flowed wonderfully. 

“But I got say, pulling in the gate last Saturday morning, it was very emotional for me. I had to just stop the car and just absorb everything that I saw. I thought that there would be a day when we had drag racing, but it just still was overwhelming just to see what was going on there. Seeing the smiling faces and the cars on [the] line. It was just a very emotional time for me.”

According to Montecalvo, the first event, staged with only muffled cars while racing eighth-mile, went off without a hitch. 

“There was a lot of people that were leery of what was going to happen, how the track was going to be prepped,” Montecalvo explained. “We had two quarter-mile tracks at one time, and they weren’t used to run an eighth-mile. So, they were a little bit concerned about that too, whether we’re going to enjoy it, or not. But I’ll tell you, overwhelmingly, it was unbelievable response that we got. The local police department, they were overjoyed. The superintendent of the town Yvette Aguiar, did a phenomenal job getting the state permit it, helping us out there. And if it weren’t for her, this never would have happened.”

As Montecalvo understands, by being a successful business owner, it isn’t easy to succeed without any government official believing in your efforts.

“She was in our corner from day one and she actually made the second run down the track,” Montecalvo said. “She was in a friend of mine’s car, and she’d be a pretty good driver.”

The historic first drivers down the track were a seven-year-old Junior Dragster driver named Billy Madden and Jason Dobrie. 

“That was a perfect [to have them as the] first to cross and go down that track because what we’re trying to do is show the politicians and show the public that was somewhat against this thing that it’s a wholesome family sport,” Montecalvo said. “We had three generations there. I had three generations there. Billy Madden had three generations there, and that’s what it’s all about. We’re looking to bring people that have even seen a drag strip.”

Drag racing finally has its place on New York’s Long Island alongside other venues. 

“On Long Island, there’s plenty of places that you could play golf, you could play tennis, you can do all that,” Montecalvo said. “There’s no place to drag race. We’re all avid fans of drag racing competitors. And to me, that was like, no stepping stone. If you wanted to be a drag racer, you had to travel four hours away. And most of these kids and their families either couldn’t afford the time or the money to do that.”

Montecalvo, for all of his efforts, didn’t make a hit on the strip with his large-displacement Camaro Pro Stocker. 

“It was on display,” Montecalvo admitted. “Looking back on it, I think I was just so involved with what was going on and just... I was blown away by it. Believe me, I wanted to go out and do a burnout, but [the event] was [permittewereonly for mufflered vehicles, and which worked out very well. There was decibel readings and it was well below what was standard, what was allowed. It was killing me, with the Camaro sitting there and not being able to do a burnout.”

Montecalvo planned to bring out his street-legal Nova, but a broken flywheel ahead of the event kept that from happening. 

“The only ride I got left to ride is probably my Ford Explorer, so I might have that out next weekend,” Montecalvo declared. 

Missing his style of Pro Stock racing competing at an NHRA event was tough to stomach, but missing history would have been even worse. 

“There’s only one first day when there’s a new track open up on Long Island; that’s not going to happen too often,” Montecalvo said. “So, to me, it was more important to be there for a lot of reasons. For one, it was history. For two, my heart was into it. I spent a lot of time putting this thing together, helping Pete out and it was just a story of a moment. I felt like that’s where I need to be and I want to be there just to make sure everything went smoothly, which it very well did.”

 

 

 
Categories: 
:::::: News ::::::