Johnny
Pluchino 2017
PHOTOS : TARA BOWKER
Johnny Pluchino ’ s ultimate goal when he made it on the 2017 30 Under 30 list was to get the opportunity to drive his father ’ s Mountain Motor Pro Stock Ford Mustang . He was a season away from earning his first PDRA Pro Outlaw 632 world championship , a feat he repeated in 2019 .
2019 was a big season for Pluchino , who was unexpectedly asked by his father , John , to drive the Extreme Pro Stock entry at the PDRA ’ s Maryland race the morning of pre-race testing . The second-generation driver drove the car for the rest of the season , in addition to a couple quarter-mile NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock races , all while fighting for the Pro Outlaw 632 championship .
It was all training for Pluchino ’ s breakout season this year . He won his first Extreme Pro Stock trophy at the PDRA season opener at GALOT , followed by his first NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock win at Indy . The New York native added three consecutive PDRA victories at the first two Virginia races and the second GALOT race , giving him enough points to clinch the 2020 PDRA Extreme Pro Stock world championship before going into the World Finals .
“ We did two 632 championships as a stepping stone to get to this ,” Pluchino said after clinching the championship . “ This was where I wanted to be . I dreamt about this for a long time . Pro Stock ’ s my goal . Mountain Motor Pro Stock is pretty badass . These things are a ton of fun to drive . I have a lot of respect for these competitors out here . I say we ’ re badass and we ’ re the ones to beat – and we are – but they ’ re some really good competitors out here , guys who ’ ve been doing this for a long time . I have a lot of respect for them . But we told them we were coming this year and we did .”
Read more about Pluchino ’ s journey in the 2020 Champions Issue coming out in January . – NATE VAN WAGNEN DI
Jeff
Pierce 2016
Jeff Pierce started to say it has been a great year . Then ,
as he started to rattle off the accomplishments , he realized something . It hasn ’ t been a great year . It ’ s been an absolute dream year .
The standout tuner , who was a selection on the 2016 30 Under 30 list , had a year that ’ s almost hard to put into words . Tuning his dad ’ s nitrous-assisted Camaro driven by Ron Muenks , the team won five of the six races it competed – racking up a staggering 23 round wins in 24 overall rounds .
He ’ s tuned rising star Joey Oksas to three final rounds in his first year of Pro Mod racing , while Pierce has also helped Outlaw 632 Chris Holdorf to an impressive season and a number of wins . Add in Jerico Balduf reaching the final round in Orlando with Pierce making the calls for the first time , and Pierce is still pinching himself .
“ It ’ s just been one of those years you dream about ,” Pierce says . “ It ’ s just been great and it ’ s a surreal feeling , for sure . We ’ ve had success before , but not on this level with the competition we were facing .”
Pierce has truly come into his own as a tuner , developing an impressive knack to get a car to run consistently and make improvements no matter the power adder or class . The diversity was truly on display in 2020 and it ’ s made Pierce a rising star in the tuning world .
His first taste of major success as a tuner came when Scott Oksas won the $ 100,000 Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod in 2018 , and Pierce has only built on that . What ’ s made the difference , he said , is becoming as versatile as possible .
“ Billy Stocklin gave me great advice when I first started getting into the tuning game ,” Pierce starts . “ He told me to tune as many different cars as you can because each one will teach you something different . You can apply things you learn from one car to another .
“ I really enjoy that , too . It keeps it interesting to me . I ’ ve gone from a nitrous car to a turbo car to a blower car to a 632 car , all in consecutive weekends . That just builds experience .”
It ’ s been a thrilling learning curve for Pierce , who has applied it all together almost perfectly in 2020 .
The most impressive story is the work he ’ s done on his father ’ s purple Camaro , which became a dominant car this year . Muenks won the Mid- West Drag Racing Series championship in Pro Mod , while they also claimed a massive victory at the star-studded Shakedown Nationals in Virginia . That was a surreal weekend that put the finishing touches on what has been Pierce ’ s breakout season as a tuner .
“ Me and my dad have been racing together since 2000 or 2001 and this was by far the best season we ’ ve ever had ,” Pierce says . “ We ’ ve got a great foundation and every time we take the car out , it gets a little better . Being able to build on each performance , that helps tremendously .”
– JOSH HACHAT DI
November 2020 DragIllustrated . com | Drag Illustrated | 97