Extreme was the word for the weekend at the ADRL Texas Drags: Extreme racing, extreme conditions, and, for John Montecalvo and team, extremely good outcomes. Montecalvo went two for two in the Texas double-header, and after winning the last completed ADRL event in Martin, Mich. Montecalvo is on a three race winning streak. Such success has now given him the points lead in Extreme Pro Stock.

In the first race of the weekend, Monte qualified third with a 4.074 at 178.50. From there he consistently stole his way through the rounds. Richard Penland was a no-show in round one. Then Monte took out Cale Aronson and heavy hitter Brian Gahm to line up against Elijah Morton for the final. Elijah took a stab at the tree and turned on the red light, giving Montecalvo the easy win, although Monte’s .008 light and 4.132 (low ET of eliminations) made him nearly unstoppable anyway.

Extreme was the word for the weekend at the ADRL Texas Drags: Extreme racing, extreme conditions, and, for John Montecalvo and team, extremely good outcomes. Montecalvo went two for two in the Texas double-header, and after winning the last completed ADRL event in Martin, Mich. Montecalvo is on a three race winning streak. Such success has now given him the points lead in Extreme Pro Stock.

In the first race of the weekend, Monte qualified third with a 4.074 at 178.50. From there he consistently stole his way through the rounds. Richard Penland was a no-show in round one. Then Montecalvo took out Cale Aronson and heavy hitter Brian Gahm to line up against Elijah Morton for the final. Elijah took a stab at the tree and turned on the red light, giving Montecalvo the easy win, although Montecalvo’s .008 light and 4.132 (low ET of eliminations) made him nearly unstoppable anyway.

That round also counted as qualifying for Houston’s second race, and with his 4.132, Montecalvo took the number one spot. With a win under his belt and a number one spot on the ladder, Monte marched into race number two, meeting up with his competitors from the semi and final rounds again, not making it easy to get his second win. In round one he took out Lester Cooper and then Elijah Morton in round two, when Elijah again went red. Again Monte put down an impressive number (4.160, 168.43), even though his car slowed at the finish. This earned him a bye into the final round. There he met up with Brian Gahm, not only his nemesis on the track but also in the points battle. The pair left the line together, but Monte pulled away to a 4.11 as Gahm slowed.  One weekend. Two races. Two wins. One extremely pleased Montecalvo.

“This is the first time I’ve ever won two races in one weekend,” he relayed. “Man, does it feel great. We’re very excited about getting three in a row now and taking over the points lead. We’re also very excited to do that with Maxam on board. They’re a great company and every time we have their decals on the door we win!

“My crew did an excellent job as always, but this weekend they really had to work hard with the extreme heat and tough track conditions. At one point the track temperature was 156 [degrees]! So I really want to thank Herb, William, Bobby, Pat and Doug for all their effort. These two wins are as much theirs as mine. And Sonny keeps providing us with great power. We put down some quick and fast numbers on this eighth mile, no matter what the conditions were. Rick Jones was also here helping out this weekend and we appreciate his support. This RJ built Cobalt doesn’t let us down.

“I would also like to thank Kenny Nowling for what he’s doing. He put on a first rate show and is always striving to further this organization. Lois Anne couldn’t come this weekend due to a previous engagement and Tommy is still recovering from his winter accident, but they were both able to view the livestream on the internet. It made them feel more like part of the wins, even though they couldn’t be here. The livestream is a great feature that the ADRL provides and I know everyone enjoys being able to keep up with the action.

“On a more solemn note, Jeff Dobbin’s mother is ill and we would like to let him and his family know that our thoughts and prayers are with them.”

The next event is another two-in-one weekend as the Topeka event will be completed in conjunction with the Gateway Drags August 6-7. “St. Louis should be another hot one, “Monte added, “and although I don’t always enjoy racing in hot weather, it sure worked out well for us this weekend. If the next double header turns out anything like this one, we won’t complain a bit.”