Hard-Fought and Well Earned: DeFlorian Secures First Career Championship
If you hang around drag racing long enough, you see a lot of guys who are fast, talented, and consistent, but just can’t seem to close the deal. For the longest time, John DeFlorian felt like he was stuck in that category. He was the guy who could build a rocket ship for someone else at Jerry Haas Race Cars, and he was the guy who could qualify well, but that big trophy, the world championship, always seemed to stay just out of reach.
He even joked that he was turning into the “Doug Kalitta of Mountain Motor Pro Stock,” a reference to the NHRA legend who spent decades chasing a title before finally getting it. But in 2025, the script finally flipped. DeFlorian didn’t just win; he overcame a disaster of a start to write a storybook ending right in his own backyard.
DeFlorian and the Season That Almost Wasn’t
To understand why this championship means so much, you have to look at how close DeFlorian came to parking the trailer for good. The 2025 season didn’t start with champagne. It began with heartbreak. After a solid third-place finish the previous year, expectations were high. Then came Charlotte and Epping.
It wasn’t just that he lost in the first round; it was how he lost. In Charlotte, a crankshaft snapped in fifth gear. For a privateer team, that’s not just a bad day at the track. That’s a financial catastrophe. That was his only engine. He scraped together enough cash just to get to the track, and suddenly, he was staring at a pile of broken parts and a season that looked dead on arrival.
But the drag racing community is a strange, wonderful family. Engine builder Jon Kaase worked some miracles to repair the bullet, and friends stepped up. Even when the clutch broke in Epping again, the only one who came through was Pat Norcia from RAM Clutches, who kept the dream alive. DeFlorian admitted he questioned everything during that stretch. But that’s the thing about this sport: you’re only beaten when you quit.
Turning the Corner at Bristol
With the mechanical gremlins finally exorcised, DeFlorian and his team headed to Bristol, and suddenly, the car woke up. It wasn’t just fast; it was untouchable. He was the only driver to dip into the 6.30s all weekend. He clocked low E.T. every single round.
That win in Thunder Valley was the spark. He followed it up with another victory in Norwalk, then kept the momentum rolling. It was a complete 180-degree turn from the despair of the early season. The car, a Chevy Camaro he knows inside and out, was finally responding to every tweak and tune-up. They went from the basement of the points standings to hunting down the leaders.
A Hollywood Ending for DeFlorian in St. Louis
You couldn’t have written a better script for the finale. The championship came down to the last race of the year at the NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals. The location? St. Louis. DeFlorian’s home turf. He’s been racing down that strip since 1977.
The pressure was heavy enough to crush a diamond. DeFlorian admitted he didn’t sleep at all that weekend. He knew the math: he had to qualify well and win rounds to keep the title away from Johnny Pluchino. When he sat in his car under the tower for the final, he couldn’t see the run, but he could see the scoreboard.
When the win light flashed in the lane opposite Pluchino, the place erupted. Friends, family, and fans who had watched DeFlorian grind for decades were pounding on the roof of his car. It was pure chaos, but the best kind. Winning a title is one thing; winning it at home, with your people watching, is something else entirely.
Wearing the Number One
Months later, DeFlorian says he still hasn’t come down from cloud nine. The trophy is sitting on his mantle, but the feeling hasn’t faded. It’s a validation of every late night in the shop, and every dollar stretched to make it to the next round.
There’s been some uncertainty about the future of the Mountain Motor Pro Stock class with the NHRA for 2026, but DeFlorian is clear on one thing: if there’s a race, he’ll be there. And for the first time in his long career, he’s going to make a change to the car.
Final Thoughts
DeFlorian always refused to run the number 1 unless he earned it. He’s sticking to his promise. When the trailer unloads for the next race, the old number 531 will be gone. John DeFlorian will be running the No. 1, and he intends to work just as hard to keep it.
