#10 ALL TIME MOUNTAIN MOTOR PRO STOCK DRIVER – BRIAN GAHM
SPARTANBURG, SC – Brian Gahm had decided he needed a break from drag racing after many years of pursuing championships in the volatile IHRA Pro Modified division; so he hung up his driver’s suit and went about enjoying life away from a racetrack.
When his phone rang with suggestion to pull the suit out of the closet, Gahm decided to get back behind the wheel. At the suggestion of longtime friend Doug Kirk, a two-time IHRA Pro Stock champion, Gahm decided that he'd put his Pro Modified life behind him and go Pro Stock racing.
“I had gotten out of drag racing but I didn’t stay away too long,” Gahm said. “Doug Kirk talked me into giving the class a try, so in 2000 I made my comeback.”
To this day, there are more than a few drivers who wish Doug Kirk had not been so convincing.
“We adapted to Pro Stock pretty well, and were fortunate enough to win a couple of IHRA championships,” Gahm said. “It was quite a change for us to go from the nitrous Pro Mod to the naturally aspirated mountain motor Pro Stock, but it was a good change. The Pro Stock cars have a short wheelbase, so you don’t drive them around like you do a Pro Mod. Once you get a Pro Stock car in gear you pretty well know what it’s going to do. They’re not all that easy to drive because of the short wheelbase, but they don’t compare to Pro Mod cars, which were always a handful.”
Gahm is credited with winning back-to-back world championships in 2002 and 2003 and becoming the first driver to officially run a 6.4, 6.3 and 6.2 elapsed time. He also finished
runner-up for the championship in When he reflects on a career that has rendered 11 national event wins in seven years, he can’t help but smile.
“Mountain Motor Pro Stock has been awful good to me,” Gahm said. “We have been fortunate to be the team that knocked down the Pro Stock performance barriers – and considering just how good the competition is in IHRA Pro Stock, that’s something we’re real proud of.”
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Torco Racing Fuel's Competition Plus.com - Drag Racing's Internet Magazine - Torco's CP.com Pro Stock
The Top 20 IHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock drivers of-all-time is an ongoing feature sponsored by Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com in observance of the 30th year of Mountain Motor Pro Stock racing. In the weeks leading up to the $20,000-to-win Torco’s CompetitionPlus Pro Stock Showdown, September 29 in Budds Creek, Md., each inclusion will be announced. The #1 driver will be announced prior to the final round of the prestigious event.
These articles are complimentary for the various media outlets that cover drag racing.
The Top 20 IHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock Drivers of-all-time panel of judges included Torco's CompetitionPlus.com publisher Bobby Bennett, veteran drag racing journalist Jon Asher, former Drag Review editor David McGee, former IHRA Vice President Ted Jones, Current IHRA President Aaron Polburn and engine builder and former mountain motor Pro Stock racer Sonny Leonard.
