I want to go rounds . I want to be qualifying up front and I want to go rounds . That ’ s just how I am . I had some success immediately in 632 when I was in 632 . You go over to Pro Stock and you ’ re like , “ OK , this is where I want to be . OK , this isn ’ t that easy .”
You also went to the final round at the NHRA New England Nationals in July , one of the NHRA MMPS exhibition races . How did that change your mindset ?
I had an opportunity at that NHRA race to just drive that car . That I think was a huge point for me where I was able to take some steps as a driver . We were able to focus more on just that car and make better decisions . Then I think that translated into success when we went back to PDRA . We had a little bit of luck on our side at the PDRA race where we went to the final as well . That made me take a little bit of a breath and say , “ OK , we can go some rounds . We can be competitive . I can do this thing .” That definitely helped going into 2020 .
Going into 2020 , your first full season and your first season focusing on just the MMPS car , was the championship your main goal ?
Yeah . Going into every year , to me , everyone might have their own goals and what they feel is the mecca , but to be a champion in the class is superior to anything else , in my opinion . I ’ d rather wear the number one at the end of the year and not win any races than win three races and not wear the number one . You were the best car of the whole season . I ’ d rather be the best car of the whole season than the best car of one race or two races . It ’ s a different way of looking at things . That ’ ll always be what I strive for .
You were the best car at the first race of the season , winning the East Coast Nationals at GALOT . Did that win right out of the gate make the championship goal seem a little more realistic ?
Oh , yeah . Then I was on top of the world . After the first race , that was it . We were winning the championship . That was it . It was over . I was like , “ We won the first race . We ’ re good . We got this . Let ’ s just keep it up . We got really good horsepower . I won the last two years in 632 , we ’ re good .” That ’ s what I thought after that race . It ’ s all coming together now , right ?
Then we went to Darlington and JR Carr was so fast that I thought we were done . I went from the first race saying , “ We ’ re good ,’ to that . I left Darlington and said , “ We ’ re done .”
After Darlington , you went on an absolute tear . You won three in a row in PDRA and you won the NHRA Indy race . What changed between Darlington and that next race ?
A couple things . One , JR Carr and them kicked all our butts at Darlington . They made us all look
ALL HANDS ON DECK PLUCHINO CONTINUES TO USE THE MECHANICAL SKILLS HE PICKED UP THROUGH THE YEARS AS A CREW MEMBER WHEN HIS FATHER WAS DRIVING .
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