Story By: SARA SLAUGHTER / ELITE MOTORSPORTS – KENT, WA – Erica Enders and the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage / Melling Performance / SCAG Power Equipment Pro Stock team earned their fifth No. 1 qualifying position of the season while Aaron Stanfield and the JHG / Melling / Janac Brothers Racing machine picked up their first Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge Saturday at the NHRA Northwest Nationals and Pacific Raceways.
Enders’ made a stout 6.500 second pass at 209.98 mph on Friday night under the lights that would hold for her 39th career No. 1 and first at Pacific Raceways. She finished qualifying with a 6.571 pass at 209.75 and a 6.561 run at 209.46 to set her up for race day.
“We backed ourselves up against a wall a little bit after that first run on Friday, but my team continues to prove over and over that really doesn’t matter. When their backs are against the wall, when the pressure is on them, they always seem to do really great, so I’m very proud of them. They have given me a good race car all weekend and really all year long,” said Enders who will race against Val Smeland in the first round of eliminations. “We’ve had some really great success here in the past, so I’m hopeful that trend continues, and we can finally get that 50th win off our back. It’s a huge milestone for me and for women but I just want to get back in the winner’s circle. That’s my main goal.”
Coming off back-to-back national event victories, Aaron Stanfield continues his winning ways picking up the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge victory over Mason McGaha. McGaha would redlight and watch Stanfield run to 6.557 seconds at 208.10 mph. Stanfield first had to rematch against his semifinal opponent from Ohio, Deric Kramer. Stanfield would get the win with a 6.562 second run at 208.84 mph to Kramer’s 6.591 at 209.49.
“We struggled first two sessions yesterday, but this car has been fast today. I have to thank my guys they put their heads down and just really go to work,” said Stanfield who qualifying No. 12 to race Matt Hartford in the first round. “Thank you to Mission Foods for putting on this cool event for us to have a little extra competition during qualifying. It’s fun for the racers and fun for fans. Thank you to JHG / Melling and all the guys at Elite Motorsports and all our great partners. Let’s build on this and go into race day.”
Eliminations at the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways will begin Sunday at 10:30 a.m. with Pro Stock first round at 11:30 a.m. Television coverage of the event will continue with a second qualifying show on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET. The eliminations will air on FOX Broadcasting Network (FOX) Sunday at 4:00 p.m. ET.