{"id":90682,"date":"2023-12-18T20:18:22","date_gmt":"2023-12-18T20:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/di-30-under-30-2023-matt-plotkin\/"},"modified":"2024-01-20T23:50:49","modified_gmt":"2024-01-20T23:50:49","slug":"di-30-under-30-2023-matt-plotkin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/drag-racing\/uncategorized\/di-30-under-30-2023-matt-plotkin\/","title":{"rendered":"DI 30 Under 30 2023: Matt Plotkin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Few individuals in the sport of drag racing today wear as many hats as Matt Plotkin. The 29-year-old is deeply involved in everything from grassroots no-prep racing to NHRA national events. But his immersion in the sport is nothing new \u2013 it\u2019s simply part of the family tradition.<\/span><\/p>\n

[Editor\u2019s Note: This story originally appeared in DI #185, the 30 Under 30 Issue, in Nov\/Dec of 2023.]<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been involved in drag racing my whole life,\u201d says Plotkin. \u201cI have my dad to thank for that \u2013 he\u2019s been drag racing since the \u201870s. I grew up 10 minutes from Englishtown, New Jersey, and we always found ourselves at the track. That\u2019s what really garnered my attention toward NHRA and drag racing as a whole. Then I moved to Texas and got involved in the grudge and no-prep side of the sport.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Robert Grice photo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In 2015, Plotkin formed Project X Promotions with Jason Flores, and the following year they hosted their very first event. Since then, they have held multiple no-prep events every year, including the highly popular Bounty Hunters and Winter Meltdown races.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were one of the pioneers of the no-prep movement almost 10 years ago,\u201d Plotkin says. \u201cWe\u2019ve prided ourselves on consistency and giving the customer the best product and experience possible. Though we\u2019ve moved to different tracks, our racers and fans have followed us wherever we\u2019ve gone. It\u2019s about having fun, and I think the no-prep atmosphere that our races provide is more enjoyable than anything else.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to being a promoter, Plotkin branched out in 2021, working full-time with the NHRA. He now juggles a multitude of roles, including being both the Regional Tech Director and Division Services Coordinator for Division 4, and Chairman of the Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle Committee.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He was also heavily involved in forming the brand-new NHRA Factory X class, an accomplishment he\u2019s especially proud of. Plotkin still recalls sitting with a few others in a Bowling Green, Kentucky, IHOP two years ago, drawing up ideas on a napkin.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s taken a little while, but now we\u2019re in a position to have a really strong category,\u201d says Plotkin. \u201cIt takes a lot of those grassroots elements from a no-prep or grudge race, and brings that relatability to the forefront of a professional category. Factory X does a great job of having cars that look like cars, and it\u2019s really going to take off.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Plotkin takes a lot of pride in being firmly planted on both spectrums of the drag racing world, and believes bridging that gap will benefit everyone in the long run. He emphasizes that both sides can learn a lot from each other.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s been somewhat of a divide between your core racers that visit local tracks, and professional teams that almost forget the other stuff exists,\u201d Plotkin says. \u201cAnd really, it goes both ways. It\u2019s not just showing NHRA that grassroots stuff works too, but taking some of the things that make NHRA work \u2013 like safety and event efficiency \u2013 to help make other programs better. It all goes hand in hand.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When he\u2019s not hosting one of his own events or traveling across the country for national and divisional races, Plotkin lives in Denton, Texas, with his wife Mady \u2013 the NHRA Division 4 Director and a 2018 <\/span>Drag Illustrated<\/span> 30 Under 30 honoree. Plotkin jokes that after five years, it\u2019s nice to finally be on a level playing field with her.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI can finally go a year that she\u2019s not holding it over my head,\u201d laughs Plotkin. \u201cIt was definitely a motivator for me. A lot of people don\u2019t realize that our relationship started when she got her 30 Under 30 award at PRI. We\u2019ve been side by side ever since.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Where Plotkin goes from here is yet to be determined. But regardless of what role he takes on or which type of drag racing he\u2019s involved with, rest assured he will dive in headfirst.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe future doesn\u2019t have any names on it,\u201d says Plotkin. \u201cI look forward to growing the sport in whatever capacity I feel is best, and making sure I have a positive role in that growth. No matter what, I\u2019m going to do whatever I can to make sure the sport is strong and healthy.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The post DI 30 Under 30 2023: Matt Plotkin<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated | Drag Racing News, Opinion, Interviews, Photos, Videos and More<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Few individuals in the sport of drag racing today wear as many hats as Matt Plotkin. The 29-year-old is deeply involved in everything from grassroots no-prep racing to NHRA national events. But his immersion in the sport is nothing new \u2013 it\u2019s simply part of the family tradition. [Editor\u2019s Note: This story originally appeared in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,78117,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-drag-racing","category-race-pages","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90682"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91142,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90682\/revisions\/91142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}