CRISTIAN CUADRA MAKES SEMIFINAL QUAD AS ELITE MOTORSPORTS WRAPS LAS VEGAS FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS

LAS VEGAS – Driving the Corral Tequila / Corral Boots / Cuadra Pro Stock machine, Cristian Cuadra led Elite Motorsports with a semifinal quad appearance Sunday at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Cristian started his day from the No. 8 qualifying position after a 6.654 second pass at 204.08 mph to land in a first-round quad that included six-time reigning Pro Stock world champion Greg Anderson, five-time Pro Stock world champion and teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. and rival Eric Latino.

Cristian would come in second in the quad with a .012 second reaction time and 6.664-second pass at 205.35 mph. On a holeshot he defeated Jeg Jr. who had a 0.19 reaction time with a 6.660 pass at 205.04 mph and took down Latino’s 6.670 at 203.16. Anderson would also advance on a 6.612 at 206.01.

In the semifinal quad, Cristian would face Anderson, Matt Hartford and Cory Reed. The Corral Tequila machine would have tire shake immediately and coast to a 24.484 second run at just 29.32 mph. Reed would red-light while Hartford (6.638 at 205.56) and Anderson (6.635 at 206.16) advanced to the final quad. Cristian and the Corral Tequila team earned quarterfinal points for their efforts.

“It was a good weekend for me. The Corral Tequila car was consistent, not the quickest, but it was consistent today. Getting past that first round, I knew I had to be ready on the tree, luckily, I was,” Cristian said. “I know everybody knows that the team is struggling a little bit, but everybody is working hard, I mean, there are no days off. I’m really proud of them and thankful that they helped get me to the semifinal. We had a little bit of a malfunction there on that last race, I could hear it. Disappointing but we’re ready to keep moving forward.”

The Elite Motorsports team head to Charlotte next for the American Rebel Light NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway, April 25-27, the fifth event on the Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series season schedule.

ERICA ENDERS, Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance/SCAG Power Equipment

Qualifying: No. 17

6.696 seconds at 205.60 mph

AARON STANFIELD, Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage/Melling Performance/Janac Brothers Racing

Qualifying: No. 04

6.671 seconds at 204.17 mph

JEG COUGHLIN JR., SCAG Power Equipment / Outlaw Light Beer

Qualifying: No. 09

6.669 seconds at 205.13 mph

TROY COUGHLIN JR., JEGS.com

Qualifying: No. 20

6.701 seconds at 204.91 mph

GREG STANFIELD, Janac Brothers Racing

Qualifying: No. 18

6.698 seconds at 205.66 mph

STEPHEN BELL, 1320 LLC

Qualifying: No. 19

6.700 seconds at 203.77 mph

FERNANDO CUADRA JR. Corral Tequila / Corral Belts / Cuadra

Qualifying: No. 13

6.683 seconds at 203.58 mph

CRISTIAN CUADRA, Corral Tequila / Corral Belts / Cuadra

Qualifying: No. 08

6.654 seconds at 204.08 mph

DAVID CUADRA Corral Tequila / Corral Belts / Cuadra

Qualifying: No. 14

6.685 seconds at 203.98 mph