Aaron Stanfield Earns No. 1 Qualifying Position and Spot in Semifinals at Texas Motorplex
ENNIS, TX – Aaron Stanfield and his Stanfield Racing Engines Chevrolet COPO Camaro captured the final No. 1 qualifying position of the 
2022 Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown season Saturday at the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals and picked up two round victories to reach the semifinals at Texas Motorplex.
Stanfield earned the No. 1 spot with his 7.705-second pass at 171.94 mph setting him up to run against David Davies and the DH Davies Racing Dodge Drag Pak in the first round. Stanfield would win his first round race on the starting line with Davies going .019-second red. Stanfield would have a clean 7.772-second pass at 178.37 mph.
“We just want to end the season on a high note,” said Stanfield, who is also No. 2 qualifier in Pro Stock. “The Texas Motorplex was nice enough to let us test on Wednesday. I knew after that we had a couple good and fast hot rods. We have been working hard. We ran well in Indy and then we fell off with ET in Reading. We got back to where we were in Indy here at the Texas Fall Nationals, I am just happy as a group with how we are running this weekend. That is what is important to me.”
In the quarterfinals against Warren Walcher in the WW Speed & Customs Dodge Drag Pak, Stanfield would once again take the win on the starting line with Walcher leaving .191 seconds early for a redlight start. Stanfield would have the quickest run of the session at 7.767-seconds and 178.41 mph.
“I am pumped up because we have three of our cars in the semifinals,” said Stanfield. “I am racing my good friend, Conner, who I am with just about every day at the shop in the next round. We have worked really hard together and we get to run each other tomorrow. We have Stephen Bell over on the other side of the ladder. We are at least going to have one Stanfield car in the final and hopefully we can have two. That is our goal.”
Qualified fourth, newly crowned Factory Stock Showdown champion David Barton and the Saw Mill Auto COPO Camaro had an upset loss in the first round. Lenny Lottig would have a solid run of 7.803-seconds and 175.79 mph while Barton would have an issue at the 1,000-ft. mark. Through the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown Bounty Program Lottig picked up the $2,000 bounty for beating Barton who had carried the target for two consecutive races with back-to-back wins.
Lottig would end his eliminations in the second round against Conner Statler. Statler and his Janac Brothers Racing Dodge Drag Pak would go 7.795-seconds at 176.53 mph to defeat Lottig’s 7.819 at 170.64.
Solidly No. 2 in the Factory Stock points, Bill Skillman and the Ray Skillman Auto Ford Cobra Jet qualified No. 3 and earned their first-round win with a 7.837-second pass at 177.87 mph after Don Belles had a red-light start in his Ray Barton Racing Engines COPO. Skillman would get the second round bye with Lee Hartman and the Carrier Service Group Dodge unable to make the call.
The final two rounds of the Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown will begin following the 11 a.m. start of the Camping World Drag Racing Series from the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex.
photo by Gary Nastase/Auto Imagery
