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Rockingham John Montecalvo Review

Montecalvo Scores Second Consecutive Final Round Appearance ROCKINGHAM, NC.-- John Montecalvo proved himself to be no "flash-in-the-pan" at the CARQUEST Autumn Nationals in Rockingham, NC. For the second race in a row, the Billy Wagner/Pete ...

Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM

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Montecalvo Scores Second Consecutive Final Round Appearance

ROCKINGHAM, NC.-- John Montecalvo proved himself to be no "flash-in-the-pan" at the CARQUEST Autumn Nationals in Rockingham, NC. For the second race in a row, the Billy Wagner/Pete Jepson-wrenched, Citgo-sponsored, Monte Carlo Pro Stock was in the final round. He was one round short of being in the finals back in April. He made up for that shortcoming this weekend.

Fresh off of his win at Epping, Montecalvo came out during the first session with every intention of continuing his hot laps. He wasn't the quickest of the first session with a 6.748/205.29, good enough for the fourth spot. The North American Nationals champion made up for it during the second session with a 6.695/208.09. He ended the day as the quickest qualifier.

Montecalvo continued his dominance of the Pro Stock field by posting the quickest lap of the third session with a 6.713/201.70. He went into the final as the quickest entry on the qualifying list However, during the final session, Montecalvo appeared to be on a tremendous pass, but drifted out of the groove and aborted the run. He ended up as the second qualifier and had to face Doug Kirk in the first round.

Kirk never stood a chance as Montecalvo quickly overcame a starting line deficit and posted a first round victory with the quickest lap of the first round with a 6.700/207.46.

He then matched up against son of famous fisherman Orlando Wilson, Gene Wilson. Montecalvo took out another one of the Ford drivers with a 6.729/207.42, which also stood as the quickest lap of the quarters.

Montecalvo was dead set on reaching the finals and as a result, he drilled Dwayne Rice on the starting line. In an all-GM final round, Montecalvo never looked back with a 6.776/206.65 winning lap that easily outdistanced Rice's 6.83.

The final round matched the quickest Chevy versus the quickest Ford. After a brief staging battle, Montecalvo and Holbrook both launched hard off of the starting line. The Probe had to labor hard to fend off the furious charge of the Monte Carlo, who posted a runner-up lap of 6.728/207.86.

The next event for the Citgo team will be the IHRA EXPRESS Auto Parts.Com President's Cup Nationals in Budds Creek, Md., on Oct. 1-3. Montecalvo, along with the rest of the Pro Stock contingent, will take assault on the Maryland International Raceway racing surface for the tenth professional race on the IHRA/Snap-On Tools Championship Series. Each contestant will be afforded two qualifying attempts on Friday and another two on Saturday. Final eliminations are slated to begin on Sunday.

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