Drag Illustrated Issue 127, November 2017 | Page 36

Dirt NORTHERN Exposure Nick and Chris Montana represent Long Island in NEOPM series W hen one thinks of Long Island, New York, one doesn’t immediately conjure up images of a Saturday night drag racing hotbed tucked away in these densely-populated boroughs, affluent with contrasting culture, celebrities, political movers and shakers, as well as other- worldly cuisine and vineyards. The reason is because, sadly, no such hotbed of racing exists here anymore, but it certainly did at one time. In fact, Long Island had a total of three drag strips in operation not terribly long ago. Nick and Chris Montana remember it well, as these native New York brothers grew up experiencing Long Island’s racing scene firsthand and miss it badly. “Lots of people don’t understand we have a history in racing. We’ve got tons and tons of world champions from here and we don’t even currently have a drag strip,” Nick shrugs. If you happen to be Long Islanders who have an interest in racing as the Montanas do, you’ll have to endure gridlock traffic, maddening delays and enormous tolls just to leave the island. There is, however, a concentrated effort to reopen a drag strip, and the push seems to be gaining steam of late. Geographically speaking, it’s very much 36 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com obtainable on the island, and there are certain parcels of land, such as former air strips, but convincing the town and commissioners to allow it is what represents the real resistance. The Montana brothers assuredly have fond memories of banging gears and enjoying the rich sights and sounds of drag racing at places like West Hampton Dragway, National Speedway and Islip Speedway – all of which have been shut down and replaced with either urban housing developments or industrial parks. Remarkably, though, the Montanas continue to carve out a living by building race cars at their shop, Pro Chassis Design, located in the Port Jefferson Station region of Long Island, roughly 49 miles east of Queens. They launched the business in 2000 and it continues to bustle with work, even without the presence of a local track on which to race, promote their services and grow their customer base. Out-of-state clientele make up a huge portion of their business, while others live just around the corner. For certain, this brimming populous is considered a challenging place to live if you’re a drag racer or even have a fleeting interest in the sport, yet Nick and Chris continue to make it work by churning out everything from hot rods to Pro Mods. Consequently, the brothers have a presence in the Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod series, which was formed in New York in 1992 and schedules races at legendary facilities such as Englishtown and Atco in New Jersey, as well as Pennsylvania’s Maple Grove Raceway, and Maryland International Raceway and Capital Raceway in Maryland. Issue 127 By Van Abernethy