DEFLORIAN’ S JHG NHRA MOUNTAIN MOTOR PRO STOCK WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE IS COVERED THOROUGHLY IN THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF THIS FEATURE.
ing the sport’ s classes, drivers and nuances. As time would prove, John possessed tremendous technical aptitude. His ability to design and create things with his hands became his income. He went straight from Rankin Technical College to a local Tool & Die shop. In only two short years, John spent four hundred hard-earned dollars on the purchase of an aging 1963 Plymouth Valiant Gasser and restored it to compete in local bracket races. He became increasing adept in both the mechanical and driving techniques of the sport. John was becoming deeply immersed in the quarter-mile sport but he still had a“ real life”.
In 1983, that changed. Realizing he could expand on his hobby, John applied for and was hired to a job in the shop of Gene Lynch, a legendary figure in St. Louis motorsports, who operated a chassis company which built cars for many of the best-known drag racers in the area. Lynch also advertised his product by campaigning a series of house-built Pro Stock Eliminator race cars driven by a variety of top wheelmen including another St. Louis star, Jerry Haas. Overnight, DeFlorian was working in a shop which built nationally-competitive race cars and John was soaking in all the information he could. He was applying it well; within a few seasons, John became a certified welder who helped construct those beasts. He was now almost consumed with drag racing.
November / December 2025
He continued to bracket race every week at local St. Louis tracks and developed an enviable race record. In 1986, local veteran racer Mike“ O. T.” Hodges bought a chassis from Lynch and Gene put his own 468-cubic inch Chevrolet bigblock engine and a two-speed PowerGlide automatic transmission in the new IROC Camaro. Knowing DeFlorian’ s desire to go fast, Gene“ volunteered” John for the seat and, on a Wednesday test night at SLIR, DeFlorian graduated from twelve-second quarter-miles to a stunning 8.65 at 154 mph which only made him want to go faster. By 1988, DeFlorian graduated to a new Lynch shop project, an‘ 85 Trans Am with a 572 Chevy and a LenCo clutchless transmission. In an instant, he jumped to a 7.80 / 170 performance, this time while sidestepping the clutch and pulling levers in a serious race car.
Only a few months later, DeFlorian made a decision to accept one of the many offers he received from Jerry Haas who quickly became the area’ s king of Pro Stock chassis builders. Lynch produced cars for drivers up to and including Bob Glidden. While DeFlorian owed everything in his budding career to Lynch, the offer was too financially appealing to pass up. With Lynch’ s blessing, John took the position as a fabricator at Jerry Haas Race Cars which, at the time, constructed the race cars for the majority of the biggest names in passenger car drag racing from the sportsman ranks through the professionals. The staff at JHRC included the most skilled and celebrated in the industry; Haas won a dozen Car Craft Magazine All-Star Chassis Builder Awards, the most prestigious title obtainable for the constructors, in thirteen years. DeFlorian accepted the job with the understanding only the best toiled in the spacious Haas shop. It was yet another redefinition of John’ s“ real life”.
No longer struggling to stay alive while holding a job in the industry, his driving career took an interesting turn. Lynch and Haas may have been rivals in the race car business but they were old friends, as well. In fact, Haas drove Lynch’ s Pro Stock Pinto to several major titles in the 1970s before Haas, too, broke out on his own to begin building his own chassis. With the permission and assistance of Haas, John helped build a new 1989 Ford Probe Pro Stocker in Lynch’ s shop after his daily shift at JHRC. He also got his first chance to delve extensively into engine building. John welded the chassis and the cylinder heads of the house-designed 500-inch Ford Shotgun engine. John was scheduled to drive the car at the upcoming NHRA Heartland Nationals at the brand-new facility in nearby Topeka, Kansas. By the time the car made its first runs, DeFlorian had been a part of every aspect of its construc-tion and knew the car inside out. In his debut at Topeka, the team didn’ t qualify but that
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