JOLIET, IL – When the Elite Motorsports team heads to Route 66 Raceway for this weekend’s Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals, four of the drivers will be competing for more than just a race win on Sunday.

In lieu of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge that normally would take place on Saturday, eight Pro Stock teams will compete in the Gettrx Pro Stock All-Star Callout. Elite Motorsports drivers Erica Enders, Aaron Stanfield, Troy Coughlin Jr. and Cristian Cuadra make up half of the field based on qualifying points earned since last year’s Route 66 Nationals.

Enders and the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage / Melling Performance / SCAG Power Equipment Camaro have the No. 1 seed for the specialty race -within-a-race while Troy Jr. in the JEGS.com / White Castle machine are fourth, Stanfield in his JHG/ Melling / Janac Brothers car is fifth and C. Cuadra representing Corral Boots, Cuadra and Columbia Impex is seventh. Continue reading →

CONCORD, NC – Bo Butner and his Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Chevrolet Camaro picked up the JHG Mountain Motor Pro Stock season opening victory Sunday at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.

Butner, who entered eliminations as the No. 1 qualifier, handled his JHG machine to a 6.230-second pass at 225.26 mph to defeat John Pluchino and his Feather-Lite Batteries Ford’s 6.294 pass at 224.14 in the final round. Butner’s victory marks a milestone of winning a Wally in seven different NHRA categories.

“First of all, thank you to Jason Johnson for backing this class. Today was only like my 15th ever run in a Mountain Motor Pro Stock car, but I’m enjoying this, and getting to do it with Randi Lyn is just awesome. We’ve got a great team, Frank Gugliotta is our crew chief, our whole crew is just awesome, and I’m really excited about the rest of this season,” Butner said. “This was what we were hoping for, to start it out this way, and it’s so cool to get a win in my seventh different class. That’s something I’ve been trying to do for a while now, and to join Jeg Coughlin in that accomplishment feels pretty good. I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’m very fortunate to have driven a lot of great cars for a lot of great people. This is awesome.”

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CONCORD, NC – Aaron Stanfield and his Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage / Melling Performance / Janac Brothers Racing team landed a runner-up finish Sunday at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.

Stanfield would get off the starting line in .011 seconds to run a 6.551-second pass at 209.75 mph and defeat Dallas Glenn (6.561 at 208.68) and teammate Cristian Cuadra (6.549 at 210.54) but he came up short to rival Greg Anderson’s 6.502 second pass at 210.77 mph.

The final round appearance was the second of the weekend for Stanfield, just moments before running his JHG / Melling Pro Stock entry, he won in the Factory X class. Stanfield would go 7.086 seconds at 193.85 mph to defeat Jesse Alexandra’s 7.450 at 186.07, his first victory in the class in just his second race of the season.

“It was a big weekend for me driving. We had a lot of success,” Stanfield said. “We got the job done in Factory X and got as close as we could in Pro Stock, making it to the finals and finishing second.” Continue reading →

CONCORD, NC – Erica Enders and the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage / Melling Performance / SCAG Power Equipment team tallied their second Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge victory of the season Saturday during qualifying for the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.

In a quad with teammates Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Jerry Tucker as well as rival Dallas Glenn, Enders earned her win on a holeshot with a reaction time of .021 seconds to go with her 6.516-second pass at 210.73 mph. Glenn would runner-up on a holeshot with a .023 reaction time and 6.518 pass at 210.50. Coughlin Jr. and the SCAG / Outlaw Mile Hi Light Beer team would have the quickest elapsed time at 6.509 and 209.98 but a .052 reaction time. Tucker and the Outlaw Beer / SCAG team rounded out the quad with a 6.551 pass at 210.24.

Enders started the day with a 6.526-second pass at 211.20 mph in a quad with Coughlin Jr., David Cuadra and Greg Anderson. After Anderson’s run was disqualified for a tech issue, Enders would advance to the finals with Coughlin Jr. who ran 6.530 at 210.47. Continue reading →

CONCORD, NC – Racing a pair of black-and-red Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Branded Chevrolet Camaros, the Bo Butner Racing team consisting of husband-and-wife Bo and Randi Lyn Butner, will make their Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock debut at this weekend’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.

The Butners, whose entries are owned by Elite Motorsports and tuned by veteran Frank Gugliotta, are no strangers to NHRA Drag Racing. Bo is the 2017 Pro Stock world champion while Randi Lyn has a Division 3 Stock championship. Joining the well-versed team is Darrel Herron, Randy Lyn’s former Stock Eliminator crew chief who most recently tuned Bruno Massel to a pair of Comp Eliminator championships, veteran Pro Stock crew man Rodney Crabtree, as well as Gage Green, who joined the crew in 2023. Continue reading →

CONCORD, NC – For the first time this season and for the last time in their careers, the Cuadra family made up of Fernando Cuadra Sr. and his sons Fernando Jr. and twins Cristian and David, will all be competing together in the Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series Pro Stock category.

When Elite Motorsports hits zMAX Dragway for this weekend’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, it will be the last time that family patriarch Fernando Sr., will make passes down a drag strip in a Pro Stock car.

Picking this weekend to make his first appearance on the NHRA tour and his last in a professional category, is no random decision. Fernando Sr. will be celebrating his 65th birthday on Friday, April 26th while the twins will be celebrating their 25th. Even more significant, his 65th birthday weekend not only marks Fernando Sr.’s retirement from driving a Pro Stock car but from running his family conglomerate of leather-goods companies, including Corral Boots, Cuadra and Colombia Impex, brands that have become synonymous with the Cuadra Boys in the NHRA Drag Racing scene. Continue reading →

LAS VEGAS – Jeg Coughlin Jr. handled his SCAG Power Equipment / Outlaw Mile Hi Light Beer Chevy to the 66th Pro Stock victory of his career Sunday at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

With a 6.616 second pass at 207.18 mph Coughlin Jr. defeated Jerry Tucker, Brandon Foster and Erica Enders in the final quad to win his 85th overall NHRA victory, 11th at The Strip, and first in the unique four-wide format.

“This was epic. The whole weekend was great. Our car was ready right out of the trailer Friday on that first run. We had three really good quads during race day that we had to traverse our way through. Fortunately, I had a really good car and felt in a groove all seven runs, from qualifying on to today,” Coughlin Jr. said. “I was letting the clutch out well was driving well navigating down the track. I can attest after being away for three years, there’s nothing finer than seeing, in a four-wide, a blinking win light. It was fantastic. I’m really excited. It’s my first four-wide win so it feels really good to celebrate. Having our partners part of our winners circle, Randy and Maria with SCAG, having them on the starting line with their dealers, it really does fire me up. Our partnership with them is special so congrats to them as well.” Continue reading →

LAS VEGAS – It was a pair of firsts for Elite Motorsports Saturday at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Jerry Tucker and the Outlaw Mile Hi Light Beer / SCAG Power Equipment team earned their first No.1 qualifying position while Jeg Coughlin Jr. and his SCAG / Mile Hi Light Beer team won their first Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge.

Tucker stole the top spot from teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. with a 6.612-second pass at 206.61 mph in the third qualifying session. In just his sophomore season, this is the first No. 1 qualifying position of Tucker’s career.

“It’s pretty difficult to get these cars down the track. I’m just really barely past being a rookie. There’s some added pressure, I’ve got Erica Enders’ car from last year, so it’s used to winning and we’ve had some trouble getting down the track. Everything just kind of lined up and we made three good hits this weekend so far,” Tucker said. “Really, from No. 1 to 16, they’re all tough competitors. I’m not sure there’s much difference from being one or 16. We made a good run down the track right of the trailer, that took a lot of pressure off. We got some luck, made a good pass, it hooked up and went straight and I halfway did my job right, so it just makes the whole weekend just a little bit better.” Continue reading →

LAS VEGAS – In addition to handling driving duties for the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage / Melling Performance / Janac Brothers Racing machine for Elite Motorsports at this weekend’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Aaron Stanfield will also be fielding an entry in the Factory X class.

“Mentally, I start preparing for controlled chaos,” Stanfield said. “It is a busy weekend to race in two classes. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes but luckily I have really good people on both teams that allow me to be able to do it.”

While competing for his first Pro Stock win at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the unique four-wide format, Stanfield will also race in the Factory X class. Aaron’s father, Greg, helped to debut the class in 2023. Factory X will be contested at eight NHRA national events and will be competing for a world championship for the first time this season. Continue reading →

CHANDLER AZ – Jeg Coughlin Jr. with SCAG Power Equipment / Outlaw Mile Hi Light Beer and Aaron Stanfield with Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage / Melling Performance / Janac Brothers had semifinal exits to lead Elite Motorsports Sunday at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park.

Coming in as the No. 1 qualifier, Jeg Coughlin Jr. and the SCAG team worked their way past Matt Hartford with a 6.552-second pass at 210.11 mph to Hartford’s 7.538 at 157.28 in the first round. In the quarterfinals, Coughlin Jr. faced teammate Jerry Tucker in the Outlaw Mile Hi Light Beer / SCAG car. Coughlin Jr. would have a 6.619 at 209.20 while Tucker had tire shake to go only 9.417 at 101.81.

The semifinals would be a clash of titans with Coughlin Jr. racing against veteran Greg Anderson. Coughlin Jr.’s SCAG car would run into trouble coasting to a 10.928 at 103.10 while Anderson had a clean 6.612 at 208.78.

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