John Pluchino Becomes Underdog Champ in PDRA Pro Stock

PITTSBORO, NC – After a one year hiatus, the PDRA welcomed back Extreme Pro Stock with a five race schedule. The racers and organization greeted each other with open arms, welcoming the reunion. With a small schedule, XPS racers knew each run could play a major role in the 2016 PDRA Pro Stock World Championship decision.

With wins early in the season New Yorker John Pluchino and North Carolinian Richard Penland set themselves apart as championship contenders. They each continued a strong push, with Penland going to two additional finals to take the points lead over Pluchino, who had scored a runner up finish himself. By the time the season approached the last event of the year, Pluchino and Penland had pulled away from former champions, Brian Gahm, Doug Kirk and John Montecalvo.

The year started off really well,” Pluchino said, describing his season. “We were able to scrape some money together and buy the Mustang from Scott Hintz. This was the first season with it and we really didn’t know how the car was going to perform. The car really ran good. Any adjustments we made really showed up. We qualified number one at three races. We won Michigan. We were runner up a couple of times.”

With the great season, Pluchino was sitting second in points with an outside shot at the championship leading up to the PDRA World Finals. “Going into this last race in Virginia we were 203 points behind Richard Penland,” Pluchino continued. “The only way we could win the championship was to qualify number one and go two rounds further than Richard. We were skeptical. That would be a pretty tough thing to do. Friday night when we qualified number one, I said to my son, ‘We’ve actually got a shot at this.’ But we still had to go two rounds past Richard. We won the first round and Richard won the first round. Second round we had to run Richard and we beat him. That meant we had to get to the final to win the championship.”

Fortunately for Pluchino, his number one qualifying spot earned him a bye run in the semi-finals and once he staged he was officially the 2016 Extreme Pro Stock World Champion.

“God willing somehow or other we did it,” Pluchino said humbly. “It was a pretty awesome feat for us. We got lucky this year, real lucky. Just to race against guys like John Montecalvo, Brian Gahm, Doug Kirk – they’re all champions. And to race against them and win a championship is pretty exciting for us.

While winning a world championship is a major accomplishment for anyone, for a low budget team like Pluchino’s a victory at that level is perhaps a little sweeter. Although Pluchino was able to purchase a new-to-him car this season, he still relied on his trusty old Jon Kaase Racing Engine, which, at 15 years old, is ancient in the Pro Stock world.

“We’re definitely the underdogs. My engine is one of the oldest out there. We take good care of it. Jon Kaase updates it for me all the time. It doesn’t make as much power as the top guys out there. We have to make that much better runs than they do. For us to run as good as they do we have to kill it every run. And we try and do just that. We have to work that much harder to compete with these guys. And we do. We work real hard.

“This is a very small budget team. I say that because we don’t even have a budget. Nobody gets paid. We all do it because we love it. My whole crew consists of my son Johnny – he works harder than anybody out there; a good friend of mine Bill, who owns a repair shop on Long Island and he takes off from his business to come racing with us; then I have a good friend named Brud who’s been racing with me for over 20 years now. He’s another diehard racer. This championship was a team win. I could have never done this without my son and my guys. Everybody on the team made this happen. It was a great win for us all.

“I want to thank Jon Kaase and all the guys over at Kaase Engines. Somehow or other, they find ways to make this old engine run with all the new style stuff. They do a great job for me. I want to thank Jerry Haas Race Cars, Pat from RAM Clutches, Adam from Precision Racing Suspensions. Also want to throw out a thank you to a couple of local guys here. Nicky and Chris Montana own Montana Race Cars, a local chassis shop. They’re always there for me anytime I need any help. Dominique and Anthony from Florida are two of my biggest supporters and they’re always there for me.”

Pluchino will wear the brazen number one next season as Pro Stock will make a return the PDRA series as a regular class running the full schedule. With support growing for the class throughout this return season, Pluchino says he expects a good car count next season. The 2016 season produced incredible side-by-side racing and 2017 promises more of the same. One of the best stories from this year actually came after the championship was clinched.

“We’re all good friends and always there to help each other,” Pluchino began again. “After we won the championship, I had to run Enoch Love’s car in the final. Before we got there, he was packing up to go home. He had broken his transmission. I told him, ‘You can’t go home. This is the first race you’ve been back.’ I went to my trailer and gave them all the parts they needed to fix the transmission. Then they ended up beating me in the finals. I think that was pretty funny. And you wanna know something? I would do it all over again.”

Winning a championship ranks pretty high in the logbook, but, like many racers, for Pluchino, the racer bond is what keeps him coming back.