Kaase-powered IronListing . com ’ 08 Mustang set up and tuned by Pluchino . He then qualified No . 2 and won the next race at Norwalk , lost in the first round at his third race , lost in the finals to Pluchino at the fourth race , then won again at his fifth race by beating points leader Chris Powers in the final . Semifinal finishes at the last two races , plus a first-round red light by Powers at the World Finals , sealed up the championship .

“ When we first started here , we were just hoping to run in the middle of the pack , go a couple rounds , and we might get lucky ,” Drinkwater says of his championship season . “ We weren ’ t sure how this motor was going to be . Kaase ’ s worked on it a couple different times . I definitely think we ’ re making more power now than we have

T MIGHT SEEM like Alan Drinkwater came out of nowhere to win the 2023 PDRA Extreme Pro Stock world championship in his rookie season , but it ’ s an accomplishment the 27-year-old Florida native has been unknowingly training for since he was a young kid .

Drinkwater was just a baby when he father , Craig , bought an old Pro Stock Oldsmobile . It was the car Alan would later drive , learning how to drive with a clutch and a 5-speed transmission . He raced it in Outlaw 632 , a class that developed at his local tracks in Florida . The Drinkwaters then met Kenny Floyd , who enlisted Alan to drive his Kaase-powered Ford Escort for a run at the 2022 PDRA Pro 632 world championship . The car was tuned by 2017 DI 30 Under 30 honoree Johnny Pluchino and set up just like the car he drove to two world championships .

Drinkwater ended up using a string of holeshot wins to win in his PDRA Pro 632 debut at the 2022 season opener . He reached the semifinals at four other races and never lost in the first round , ultimately finishing third in the points

standings . He ended the year with a win at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals at Bradenton Motorsports Park .

With its naturally aspirated engine and clutch , the Pro 632 car was the ultimate proving grounds for Drinkwater ’ s move to Mountain Motor Pro Stock this season .

“ I think the 632 car in some aspects is a little more difficult to drive than [ Mountain Motor Pro Stock ] cars ,” Drinkwater offers . “ These cars move around a little bit . You have to manhandle them . With the 632 car , you ’ ve gotta be on time with everything , every time . It ’ s just a little bit different driving . I jumped in this with really no problems and we didn ’ t have to go through that course of trying to get things smooth and a rhythm going . We could just get right to it .”

After making his debut in the inaugural $ hameless Racing Mountain Motor Pro Stock Invitational presented by Seminole Paving in March , Drinkwater ran the Pro 632 car one more time at the PDRA season opener . He made his Extreme Pro Stock debut at the second race , where he reached the semifinals in his all year . It ’ s really unbelievable , just the pieces in place . We didn ’ t know what we were buying . Everything worked out for the best .”

Along with a family-based team that includes his excitable cousin , Preston Drinkwater , Drinkwater credits John and Johnny Pluchino for working with the team to put them in championship contention . It was the fourth Extreme Pro Stock title the father-son duo has been a part of , as John won it in 2016 and Johnny won it in 2020 and 2022 .

After winning the championship in his first try , Drinkwater doesn ’ t really have any defined goals for 2024 and beyond . You can expect him to come out swinging , though , whether that ’ s in PDRA Extreme Pro Stock or the newly expanded Johnson ’ s Horsepowered Garage NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock class .

“ I think my goal is just to be the absolute best I can be ,” says Drinkwater , who ended the year with an appearance in the 250-plus-MPH Titan Motorsports “ Vecna ” Pro Import at the Haltech World Cup Finals . “ I always try to critique myself . I just try to learn as much as I can every single time I go up there to the starting line . When we come back and work on the car , I just want to learn . I like to be the best at what I do . I ’ m a long way from that . I just like to apply myself 100 % at everything that I do .” – NATE VAN WAGNEN DI

114 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated . com Issue 185