Goforth claims first MMPSA win in Rockingham

The newly-formed Mountain Motor Pro Stock Association held it’s inaugural event this weekend at Rockingham Dragway, as the featured portion of the show during the annual Patriot Performance Outlaw Civil Wars.  And by all accounts, the maiden voyage was a rousing success for both the racers and fans.

Last fall, the IHRA announced its intentions to alter its race weekend format, and in doing so, cut its ties with the mainstay Pro Stock class despite its effort to reach an agreement to remain in the fold.  Thus, the MMPSA, a group of racers, track owners, and manufacturers that vowed to keep quarter-mile, mountain motor racing alive, was formed.

While the American Drag Racing League (ADRL) had already given the racers comprising this unique class of racing a place to compete beginning with the 2009 season, the group chose, in addition, to carry on the tradition of quarter mile racing with five independent events of its own, which would not coincide with the ADRL’s race schedule and fragment the group.

Fifteen Pro Stock teams made the call in Rockingham, with Holdenville, OK’s Cary Goforth grabbing the top qualifying position with an astounding 6.258 at 220.84 miles per hour, just missing Frank Gugliotta’s national record of 6.251 by a mere .008 of a second.  Mark Martino, Pete Berner, John Montecalvo, and John Pluchino rounded out the top five.

When eliminations rolled around, Goforth was looking to run the table, and proceeded to march through the field, first defeating J.R. Carr in round two after receiving a first round bye run with a 6.32 second lap.  In round three, Cary faced 2009 IHRA World Champion John Montecalvo, who he sat down with another 6.32, before meeting Bob Bertsch in the final round where both were looking to make history as the first MMPSA winner.  Bertsch, knowing Goforth had the slight performance edge, grabbed a sizeable .026 to .056 holeshot advantage, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the Dean’s Casing Service GTO, with a 6.313, 220.80 MPH to 6.361, 219.79 MPH count.
Said Goforth, “this is just awesome.  We are very proud to be the first team to do this. This has been a great event and we have had a lot of fun here.  I am very proud of what we as an association have accomplished. We all now have a great place to race.”
Many of the MMPSA teams will head to South Georgia Motorsports Park for the ADRL Hardee’s Georgia Drags VI, before continuing to the next event on the MMPSA schedule at US131 Motorsports Park on May 7-8.