JOHN DEFLORIAN
paid well. In many cases, DeFlorian was driving cars which he and the JHRC team constructed including a variety of Warren Johnson’ s Oldsmobiles and Chevrolets. This period was an entirely new envisioning of his“ real life” but it taught DeFlorian more about driving, track assessment, chassis and engine tuning and just plain racing etiquette than forty years of racing on the National Event trail.
John was still putting in a fifty-hour week at JHRC and, while well-paid, he was anything but wealthy. Still, he managed to buy a decent trailer and dually pickup and eventually returned to local racing in everything from his Probe to dragsters and altereds for David Koch. St. Louis International Raceway was vaporized to make way for a new superspeedway and dragstrip known as Gateway International Raceway,( now named World Wide Technology Raceway and site of an NHRA National Event). One night, while racing Koch’ s Chevy-powered’ 23 T, John met the girl who operated the timing computer in the tower. She would soon become his new racing partner and wife, Liann.
In 2000, John was convinced to team again with Hodges on several 1963 Corvette Stingray Pro Modifieds which were constructed by“ O. T.” in his own garage. The 707-inch nitrous oxide-injected“ clutch cars” were now“ old hat” for De- Florian and the team did well in the Midwest. In 2005, while John contemplated building a car of his own after Hodges’ son took over driving, St. Louisan Dennis Price approached John about putting his new 737-inch nitrous racer in a new car. That helped DeFlorian make the decision to build himself a new 2006 Corvette Z06 Pro Modified which took seven months after hours at JHRC. The project used every spare minute of DeFlorian’ s nights and weekends, This was no“ house car”; De-Florian built the entire machine and paid for it while never once working on it during“ company time”. He got a few breaks from suppliers but it was still his biggest expense ever other than his house. On top of that, he added the cost of a used motorhome to save on travel expenses.
The new Corvette was popular and successful. It was one of the only late-model Corvettes in the nitrous ranks and it became one of the earliest nonsupercharged cars in the three-second zone in eighth-mile racing. Competing mostly in American Drag Racing League events, De- Florian attended other big meets and even won United Drag Racers Association Pro Modified Eliminator at the prestigious World Series of Drag Racing title at Cordova( IL) Dragway, the sport’ s oldest event.
The Corvette did well but was still, like the vast majority of all drag cars, a money-losing proposition. With no major sponsors, it was always a struggle to keep the machine prepared for the ever-intensifying level of competition without being able to buy every trick piece offered each week. John briefly teamed with Thomas Myers and, later, the Mississippi-based Bankston Boys team in other engine / chassis partnerships but it was still tough to stay the course. John’ s“ real life” at the shop was all which kept things financially afloat.
DeFlorian always provided for his family first even if that made racing vastly more difficult. It’ s also important to remember, along with his work schedule, his traveling and his racing, De- Florian was always an active representative and technician who tended to JHRC customers in all classes at each event even while competing in the same race with his own car. John’ s own crew of volunteers usually included only Liann and longtime St. Louis friends David Koch and fellow JHRC employee Dan Hellmer.
In 2009, John met Kevin Bealko, a West Virginia racer who, along with his brothers, Ben, Robbie and Larry, were considering upgrading a JHRC Top Sportsman Chevy Cobalt to compete in the ADRL’ s Extreme( Mountain Motor) Pro Stock Eliminator. The team had plenty of money from their massive coal mining business and secondary sponsorships. They also owned a semi tractor with a fully-stocked trailer but knew little about the job of running a Pro Stock operation. Meanwhile, John continued to his nitrous Corvette when he could. However, a massive explosion at the Topeka ADRL race destroyed Mike Bankston’ s engine and, effectively, ended DeFlorian’ s ability to drive his own race car when Bankston decided to discontinue fielding a multi-car team. In 2010, the novice Bealko brothers offered to pay John to tutor and tune
DEFLORIAN’ S PRO STOCK DREAMS STARTED TO TAKE SHAPE WHEN
HE MADE HIS DEBUT IN GENE LYNCH’ S‘ 89 FORD PROBE.
their Pro Stock operation. John accepted the offer with the prospect of, at least, going to the races in 2011 and showing a profit. The following year, the Bealkos ordered a new Pontiac JHRC Grand Prix GXP with the intent of mating a Sonny Leonard 815-inch Chevrolet with a threespeed TurboHydro automatic transmission. They petitioned the ADRL to allow the unique combination and the organization accepted it. For the next season, the team ran extremely well with the first automatic-equipped Pro Stocker seen in almost forty years.
For John, it was an odd and uncomfortable experience to not have his own race car and people took notice. At the 2010 ADRL event at West Palm Beach, Florida, Kevin casually asked John what it would take to get him back in the seat. John replied he really wanted to pursue Pro Nitrous racing since he still had his own chassis. Bealko countered with an offer to order another of Leonard’ s 815 engines and full drivetrain if John would build a second car for himself. They would even transport the two-car team. John would tune both cars while driving and owning the newer second car. Bealko even gave DeFlorian the option of building another Pro Stocker or a new Pro Nitrous car. John said he’ d need to think about it but, later, it was Liann who grabbed John in private and shook him, asking,“ Are you crazy? Here’ s your chance to sell the Corvette, take the Bealkos up on their offer and get back in the seat!”. John agreed.
This story will continue in DI # 198, the Photo Annual, in January. DI
156 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated. com Issue 197