The NHRA's decision not to integrate Mountain Motor Pro Stock into its 500-inch format was a very disappointing one for large displacement icon John Montecalvo.

Montecalvo was one of eight Pro Stock racers who showed up for the NHRA U.S. Nationals to provide an exhibition of this style of drag racing, which originated in the 1970s under the IHRA sanction.

NHRA Director of Competition Ned Walliser confirmed with CompetitionPlus.com that integrating the mountain motors into the show would have been costly for both combinations.

"I’m very disappointed because they [NHRA] were so good to us; the way we were treated at Indy and the way the fans appreciated us that I guess we got a little bit spoiled," Montecalvo said. "We miss that organization where you get into the lanes, and man, within five minutes you run. There’s full tech there. It was like the glory days of IHRA when we ran Indy."

NHRA brought in Mountain Motor Pro Stock racer Brad Waddle during the FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex to make some test runs with 200 additional pounds to see if there was a baseline for common ground.

"He had the 200 pounds, he had the tire, he had the fuel, and he went a .53 at 217," Montecalvo explained. "From what I understand, it wasn’t a good run. There was probably a lot more left in it. To speed their cars up, [NHRA teams] just had spent a fortune converting to fuel injection a few years back. So I can understand their point. It could have been accomplished if they gave them their carburetors back or more injectors, took some weight off of them, gave them a little bit more RPM. I’m sure we could have gotten closer.

"The mountain motor cars are hard to slow down. It’s probably a conversation that there’s no sense having because for those guys to go out and spend more money again, they just spent a fortune trying to convert over to fuel injection, so I don’t blame them that they don’t want to spend any more money. I don’t know ultimately if we could have gotten that close anyway."

Montecalvo isn't giving up on hope that the Mountain Motor Pro Stock cars can be part of the NHRA show one day.

"Maybe cut the 500-inch cars back to 16 races, run us at 8," Montecalvo said, hinting at the current relationship between Pro Stock bike and Top Fuel Harley-Davidson. "Personally I think that the NHRA Pro Stock class would be a lot healthier with 16 events because you’d get some of the guys like Kenny Delco and Alan Prusiensky and whoever else that would be able to run 16 events and run for a championship, or at least inspire them to try to place in the top 10."

As Montecalvo sees it, Mountain Motor Pro Stockers can provide an entertaining show on their own.

"We’ve got wheels up out there at 300 feet," Montecalvo said. "Just the sound of our motors and the hood scoops and all that stuff. I think to slow a Mountain Motor car down was kind of counterproductive anyway."