The Mountain Motor Pro Stock contingent is full of optimism following their two-day exhibition i front of a packed house at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.Eight big-inch Pro Stock competitors, including John Montecalvo, Trevor Eman, Dwayne Rice, John Konigshofer, Dillon Voss, John DeFlorian, Brad Waddle, and Elijah Morton, participated in the class’ first-ever appearance at an NHRA Mello Yello Series national event, as part of what the NHRA has publicly disclosed as an exploratory initiative for potential integration into the traditional 500 cubic-inch Pro Stock program. The eight racers put down a series of 6.3- and 6.4-second laps at upwards of 220 mph on Saturday and Sunday at the sport’s most prestigious drag race, and the group says the response from the fans has been overwhelmingly positive.The meeting was a general discussion about our concerns and some of their concerns. We would like to do this, they would like to do this, and I believe the 500-inch guys would like to do it, it’s just a matter of figuring out how. – John Montecalvo On Sunday morning, the teams met with NHRA officials, who they say presented a number of potential scenarios to successfully integrate them into the Pro Stock category, and while a final decision and the technical details surrounding it are still forthcoming, the drivers, team owners, and their crews all walked away from the meeting hopeful for what 2019 has in store. While they say this development came about relatively quickly, a number of teams indicated to Dragzine that they have already begun seeking additional sponsorship that would allow them to compete with the NHRA next season.John Montecalvo, one of the veteran members of the Mountain Motor fraternity and a former International Hot Rod Association Pro Stock champion, believes the NHRA and its Pro Stock teams are open to negotiating and developing a constructive plan to combine the two engine combinations and create a viable eliminator with greater options for all involved.

“The meeting was a general discussion about our concerns and some of their concerns. We would like to do this, they would like to do this, and I believe the 500-inch guys would like to do it, it’s just a matter of figuring out how. I don’t know their direction — I think everyone needs to sit back after this, as it came together rather quickly, and evaluate how the weekend went and take it from there. This isn’t something that is going to happen overnight, but I would say it has a good possibility of happening,” he explains.Montecalvo continues, “We were very well received here by the fans, and well received by everyone from the NHRA. We were their guests, they opened the door for us and invited us in, and we’re very happy with how things went this weekend. It’s been a very open situation between us and them, and I expect that we’ll hear something from them in the next week or so and have more dialogue. Everybody would like to see it happen.”