John DeFlorian, long acknowledged as one of the most popular drivers in drag racing with decades of driving experience under his belt in a variety of race cars, is making the move to the highly competitive Extreme Pro Stock category in the American Drag Racing League.

Beginning in 2012, DeFlorian will campaign one of the first fifth-generation 2012 Chevrolet Camaro Extreme Pro Stockers in the ADRL in conjunction with the Black Diamond Motorsports operation of current ADRL Extreme Pro Stock competitor Kevin Bealko, who campaigns an already-proven 2011 Pontiac GXP.

Bealko, a coal mining entrepreneur from Bridgeport, West Virginia, has made waves  this season in the ADRL with the first Extreme Pro Stock entry equipped with an automatic transmission in a category dominated by manually-shifted race cars. DeFlorian, shop foreman at Jerry Haas Race Cars, struck a friendship with Bealko during the creation of his unique GXP.

“John has been one of the keys to making our automatic Pro Stock a viable ADRL threat”, said Bealko, “and I can’t think of anybody I’d rather have for a teammate in what is a brutally tough division. The decision to combine our resources was an easy choice. John DeFlorian is one of the most knowledgeable individuals in our sport and it’s an honor to have him racing under the banner of Black Diamond Motorsports.”

Construction of DeFlorian’s 2012 Camaro as the Jerry Haas shop is already underway, and state-of-the-art techniques will be employed in the project for what is expected to be the most technologically advanced race car to date in the Extreme Pro Stock class.

“Most people know me as a racer in the ADRL’s Pro Nitrous Eliminator”, said DeFlorian, “but my roots are actually in the Pro Stock category. The first car I ever designed for a professional class was a Ford Probe which I built for Pro Stock racing.”

DeFlorian at his hometown race track, the Gateway International Raceway in St. Louis, in 2009.

With an impressive resume of race car fabrication and driving to his credit during his three decade career, DeFlorian is excited about the challenges ahead in tackling the ultra-tough naturally-aspirated category.

“Joining forces with Kevin Bealko is huge”, admitted DeFlorian, “because we will have the ability to field two cars which are truly capable of winning the ADRL Extreme Pro Stock World Championship. Black Diamond Motorsports will spare no expense in procuring the best equipment and the talent needed to be in the thick of the competition. Just to qualify for an ADRL event is an accomplishment and to win elimination rounds takes a monumental effort. It’s not unusual for an ADRL Pro Stock field to include sixteen qualifiers separated by less than seventy thousandths of a second. Once we develop a competitive car, the pressure will be on me to perform at the top of my driving game, too.”

Both of the Black Diamond Motorsports machines will be motivated by 825 cubic inch powerplants from the legendary Sonny Leonard at Sonny’s Racing Engines in Lynchburg, Virginia. Unlike Bealko’s unique combination, DeFlorian’s Camaro will utilize a conventional clutch and four-speed manual transmission.