CONCORD, N.C. (September 20, 2023) – The Elite Motorsports team is looking forward to the second race of the Countdown to the Championships, the betway NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway, just outside of Charlotte. Not only will the eight Elite Motorsports Pro Stock entries be taking to the track in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series, but two Mountain Motor Pro Stock machines piloted by Erica Enders and Richard Freeman will compete as well. Not to mention, David Cuadra in Top Sportsman.  After securing the top three qualifying positions last weekend in Reading, Pa., Elite Motorsports, the largest professional team in drag racing, aims to continue making big moves in the Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s version of the playoffs. Reigning five-time Pro Stock world champion Enders had a phenomenal performance in qualifying, She was the low qualifier of all but one qualifying round, gaining her valuable bonus points. Troy Coughlin Jr. also had a solid qualifying performance and was the low qualifier of the one round that Enders did not get. Both talented drivers moved up a position in points. Enders was the No. 1 qualifier at this event last year and she’s won the event two times. After a few setbacks earlier in the season, the fan-favorite driver is more motivated than ever to land her Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage / Melling Performance / SCAG Power Equipment Camaro in the winners circle again.  The Pro Stock field is packed with heavy hitters and the competition is ferocious. Aaron Stanfield won the fall race at zMAX last year and he’s looking for his first win of the season. He’s gaining consistency and valuable momentum coming into this event. As is his Elite Motorsports teammate Bo Butner.  Having made the fastest pass of his career during qualifying last week in Reading, Jerry Tucker is turning up the heat at the right time. The Pro Stock rookie laid down a stout run of 6.535 seconds at 210.14 mph and he’s eager to ride that momentum into this week’s event in Charlotte. While this may be his first season in Pro Stock, his performance in his Outlaw Mile Hi Light Beer Camaro keeps getting better, not unlike his teammates, The Cuadra Boys.  Fernando Cuadra Sr. made consistently smooth runs throughout qualifying in Reading, each pass faster than the last. His sons, Fernando Jr. and Cristian, are also finding more speed and consistency. In the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, David Cuadra is coming off of a No. 1 qualifier and looks to amp things up this weekend.  NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature one round at 6:00 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 22, and the final two rounds of qualifying on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 24. Television coverage includes qualifying action on FS1 at 9:30 a.m. ET on Saturday and 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, and then eliminations on FS1 at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday.***

Driver Quotes

Erica Enders“Our goal is to come into the Countdown with as much momentum as possible. After qualifying No. 1 and having the car to beat, the semifinals in Reading showed cards we couldn’t have seen coming. But the end goal is still intact. We’ve moved from 15th to second in the championship points and that’s nothing to hang our heads about. That said, we know we left something on the table there and we are ready to redeem that in Charlotte. My guys have been working so hard to give us the best and I will do nothing less than the same for them. Charlotte is a big race for us and our sponsors. We would love nothing more than to show them what Elite Motorsports is all about – getting it done when it matters. As I always say, my money is on us.”

Aaron Stanfield“We made some decent runs last week in Reading and ended up qualifying third, so we know that we are headed in the right direction. Those bonus points add up and we will certainly take all we can get. I won this event last year and we will do everything we can to get this Janac Bros. / Melling Engine Parts / J3 Energy Camaro back in the winners circle this weekend. I’m glad that we are moving on to another race without a week off because we won’t have time to overthink things or lose any momentum. This category is so competitive right now, I can’t wait to see what happens next!”

Troy Coughlin Jr.“My goal as a driver is to stay focused on the process it takes to make the best runs I can and get up on the wheel every single run regardless of what round or session. We want to get all we can out there!”

Bo Butner“We made some moves in the right direction in Reading, and our JHG Chevy has shown a little bit of what we hope it’s capable of. For this team, seeing a win light on Sunday feels like winning the race, but we really want the trophy in Pro Stock. We like racing in Charlotte, and we haven’t won there yet in any class. I think we can change that this weekend. To win during the Countdown would be awesome. We aren’t really in the championship chase this time around, but we think we have a car that can win at least one race if everything goes in our direction. I’d like to cross this one off the bucket list.”

Fernando Cuadra Sr.“Every pass we made last weekend in qualifying was an improvement on the run before. That’s very encouraging! We have a consistent car that’s getting faster. And this is the time we need to boost our performance so we are excited to visit zMAX this weekend!”

Fernando Cuadra Jr.“We’ve learned a lot about this Camaro over the past few weeks and I think we have found a good combination. My goal is to have solid passes in all rounds of qualifying so we can utlize that data for our performance in eliminations. As a driver, I’ve got to do my best to be consistent as well, nailing the tree and my shift points to maximize all of the hard work that this team puts into creating a fast hot rod.”

Cristian Cuadra“The competition in Pro Stock right now is so crazy, I don’t think I know the right words to describe it! It’s really exciting to see, but I have some big goals for this season and that includes finishing better than where we finished last year. I believe we have the right team and the right car to get there. We are determined, persistent and we are becoming more consistent. This is going to be a great weekend!”

Jerry Tucker“We’ve started to gain some momentum and it feels good! I made the quickest two passes of my career last weekend at Maple Grove. The only problem is, everyone else is picking up the pace at the same time. The competition is really intense right now. So I’m just going to focus on my performance behind the wheel of this hot rod I’m lucky enough to get to drive. The Outlaw Mile Hi Light Beer team has been working so hard to get to this place and I want to do my best to make them proud out there.”

Photos

The Elite Motorsports fleet will be competing in multiple categories at zMAX this weekend. (Photo credit: Auto Imagery)

Erica Enders pilots the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage / Melling Performance / SCAG Power Equipment Camaro and the Elite Motorsports Mountain Motor Pro Stock machine. (Photo credit: Auto Imagery)

Troy Coughlin Jr. drives the JEGS / White Castle Camaro. (Photo credit: Auto Imagery)

Aaron Stanfield pilots the Janac Bros. / Melling Engine Parts / JC3 Energy Camaro. (Photo credit: Auto Imagery)

Cristian Cuadra pilots the Corral Boots Mustang. (Photo credit: Auto Imagery)

Bo Butner drives the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Camaro. (Photo credit: Auto Imagery)

Fernando Cuadra Jr. drives the Corral Boots Camaro. (Photo credit: Auto Imagery)

Jerry Tucker drives the Outlaw Mile Hi Light Beer Camaro. (Photo credit: Auto Imagery)

Fernando Cuadra Sr. pilots the Corral Boots Mustang. (Photo credit: Auto Imagery)

David Cuadra drives the Corral Boots Top Sportsman machine. (Photo credit: Auto Imagery)

Richard Freeman pilots the Elite Motorsports Mountain Motor Pro Stock entry. (Photo credit: Auto Imagery)

Pre-Race Notes

Elite Motorsports: Pre-race notesbetway NHRA Carolina NationalszMAX DragwayConcord, N.C. (Sept. 22-24) The Elite Motorsports team, the largest team in professional drag racing, has expanded for 2023 and will field a total of 11 entries for this weekend’s betway NHRA Carolina Nationals in Concord, N.C., just outside of Charlotte. At this event, the Elite Pro Stock team will feature eight Pro Stock drivers including reigning and five-time world champion Erica Enders, Aaron Stanfield, Troy Coughlin Jr., Bo Butner, Fernando Cuadra Sr. and his sons, Fernando Jr. and Cristian, as well as newcomer Jerry Tucker. The event will also feature the Mountain Motor Pro Stock class where Enders will pull double duty alongside Elite team boss Richard Freeman. David Cuadra will compete in Top Sportsman. In the 19 Pro Stock events contested last season, Team Elite won 15 times and appeared in 26 out of 38 possible rounds. In addition to Enders’ 10 wins, Stanfield collected three victories while Coughlin earned his first two professional victories. In 2022, Enders had the most dominant season of her career with ten wins in 13 final round appearances and an astounding 55-9 record in elimination rounds. This season, Enders’ impressive roster of supporters includes Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage, Melling Performance, SCAG Power Equipment, PeopleLease and Mark Stockseth. During her professional career, Enders has accumulated 45 wins in 76 final rounds and has a round-win record of 457-251 for a .645 win percentage. Enders also has a win in Super Gas (2004 Houston) bringing her career total to 46 national event victories. Enders won two events this season in Bristol and Topeka. She defeated Deric Kramer in the Bristol final and more recently, topped Greg Anderson in Topeka. She currently has an 18-11 record in elimination rounds this season. Enders reached the semifinals of last week’s event in Reading, Pa., and as a result, she’s moved up in the points standings to second, only 30 points behind the leader, Matt Hartford. Enders has won at least one Pro Stock event at 17 different NHRA venues including zMAX Dragway. She’s won the fall Charlotte event twice – once in 2012 and again in 2015, both times defeating Vincent Nobile in the final round. Enders also won the spring four-wide event at zMAX in 2018, once again defeating Nobile in the finals. She was a runner-up at zMAX Dragway in 2012 and 2013. Enders currently holds both the elapsed time and speed records for the NHRA Pro Stock class with bests of 6.450-seconds and 215.55 mph. The elapsed time record was set at the 2022 Gatornationals. If Enders wins one more event this season, she will surpass three-time Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Angelle Sampey as the sport’s winningest female driver. Sampey currently has 46 wins while Enders has 45 professional wins and one sportsman win, tying her with Sampey. Following an impressive fourth-place finish in 2022, Troy Coughlin Jr. is in his fourth full season behind the wheel of the familiar yellow and black JEGS / White Castle Camaro. Coughlin enjoyed a breakout season last year with back-to-back victories in Seattle and Topeka. He also went to final rounds in Phoenix, Reading and Las Vegas. Coughlin heads to Charlotte as the No. 3 ranked driver in the championship points standings after posting wins at the season-opening Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals and the Dodge Power Brokers Mile-High Nationals in Denver to go with a runner-up at the Four-Wide event in Las Vegas. Coughlin, a semifinalist in Reading, has an 18-11 record in elimination rounds this season. He is just 45 points out of first place. Earlier this season at the NHRA Arizona Nationals near Phoenix, Coughlin became the first winner of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge. He defeated Greg Anderson in the final with an elapsed time of 6.57, compared to Anderson’s 6.60, to capture the inaugural event victory. In addition to his four career Pro Stock victories, the multi-faceted Coughlin has additional wins in Top Alcohol Dragster, Super Comp and Super Gas. Coughlin’s father, Troy Sr., is a 15-time national event winner in Pro Stock, Pro Mod and Super Gas. Including his uncles, John, Mike, and Jeg Jr., the Coughlin family has combined to win 133 national event titles. Coughlin’s career bests in Pro Stock are 6.515-seconds and 212.29 mph, set earlier this year at the season opener in Gainesville. Aaron Stanfield has also returned to the Elite team for another season behind the wheel of the Janac Bros / Melling Engine Parts / JC3 Energy Camaro. Stanfield, the son of five-time Super Stock world champ Greg Stanfield, is coming off a season where he was the third-ranked driver in Pro Stock. Last season, Stanfield collected victories in Phoenix, Bristol, and this fall event in Charlotte to go with four runner-up finishes in Pomona, Epping, Norwalk and Denver. Stanfield finished the season with a 38-16 record in elimination rounds. So far this season, Stanfield has four semifinal and seven quarterfinal finishes to his credit and he’s the No. 6 ranked driver in the class, 86 points out of the lead. Stanfield has also qualified a season-best of No. 2 at the race in Bristol. Stanfield was recently named the overall season Pro Stock winner of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty challenge, a specialty event that featured a rematch between the semifinalists from the previous event. Stanfield won back-to-back titles in the FlexJet Factory Stock Showdown class in 2020 and 2021, and he is the current championship leader in that class, following his most recent win at Maple Grove Raceway. All told Stanfield has 23 career wins in Pro Stock, Factory Stock, Super Stock, and Top Dragster. Stanfield’s career bests in Pro Stock are 6.457-seconds and 213.47 mph, both set in Gainesville 2022. Bo Butner is a two-time NHRA world champion in Pro Stock (2017) and Comp Eliminator (2006). He joined the Elite team last season as the driver of the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Camaro. Last season, Butner drove to a ninth-place finish in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series standings. He enters this race as the No. 11 ranked driver. Earlier this season in Phoenix, Butner drove to a runner-up finish in Pro Stock, reaching the final for the first time since the 2019 Richmond event. Butner defeated Erica Enders, Fernando Cuadra Jr. and Kyle Koretsky to reach his 26th career Pro Stock final. Butner recently won his 30th national event title when he claimed the Super Gas victory at the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals. Butner also won the Super Gas title at Indy in 2022. Butner has 30 career national event victories including 11 in Pro Stock. He also has wins in Comp, Super Stock, Stock, Super Gas, and Super Street. Additionally, Butner has enjoyed success as a big-money bracket racer with a victory at the K&N Spring Fling Million in Las Vegas in 2021. Butner has won at least one national event title at 14 different venues but has yet to win in Concord. He had runner-up finishes at this facility in 2013, 2016 and 2019. Butner’s career bests in Pro Stock are 6.475-seconds and 214.28 mph, set in Dallas (2015) and Gainesville (2017), respectively. The Cuadra family includes Fernando Sr., and his sons Fernando Jr. and Cristian. The Cuadra family is backed by Corral Handcrafted Boots. Fernando Sr. and Cristian will continue to race Ford Mustangs under the Elite banner while Fernando Jr. recently made the switch to a Chevy Camaro. Fernando Jr. is driving an Elite entry previously raced by five-time world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. Fernando Sr. is a two-time national event runner-up with final-round appearances at the 2019 races in Reading and Pomona. Fernando Jr. raced to the final round of the prestigious U.S. Nationals last month. Cuadra Jr. is the sport’s No. 12 ranked Pro Stock driver. Cristian Cuadra was also the runner-up to Enders at the 2022 four-wide event in Las Vegas and he was a semifinalist earlier this year at the Bristol race. He comes into this weekend as the No. 10 ranked driver in Pro Stock. Earlier this season in Phoenix, Cristian Cuadra became the first Mexican-born NHRA racer to qualify No. 1 in a pro category when he drove his Elite-powered Corral Handcrafted Boots Mustang to a 6.552 pass. C. Cuadra is one of just 11 non-U.S.-born drivers to qualify No. 1 in a professional NHRA class and the only one to accomplish the feat in Pro Stock. The third Cuadra brother, David, will be racing in the Right Trailers Top Sportsman class this weekend in his new Mustang. David has raced in both Pro Stock and Top Sportsman this season. He made his Pro Stock debut in Charlotte and also competed in Chicago, Bristol, Topeka, and Brainerd. The Cuadra family has career-best elapsed times of 6.515 (Fernando Jr.), 6.524 (Fernando Sr.), 6.527 (Cristian) and 6.578 (David). Their career-best speeds are 212.13 (Fernando Sr.), 211.43 (Cristian), 210.73 (Fernando Jr.) and 209.39 (David). New to the Elite Pro Stock team this year is Jerry Tucker, who enjoyed a memorable debut in Gainesville. Tucker qualified his Outlaw Mile Hi Light Beer / Elite Motorsports Camaro in the No. 15 spot with a 6.573 and won the first round after teammate Enders encountered a mechanical issue. Tucker has a semifinal finish from Chicago and is No. 12 in the standings. Last week in Reading, Tucker made the quickest pass of his career when he went 6.535 at 210.14. Tucker, of Lindsay, Okla., has spent the last 30 years racing everything from Sprint cars to Midgets and has also enjoyed success in drag racing. Tucker previously raced in the Top Sportsman class. Tucker is one of the leading contenders for the NHRA Rookie of the Year award. The Mountain Motor Pro Stock category will make an appearance at the betway NHRA Carolina Nationals with 11 drivers set to take part including Erica Enders and Richard Freeman. The Mountain Motor Pro Stock cars feature large displacement engines and use either carburetors or fuel injection. Typically, they are quicker and faster than the traditional 500-inch Pro Stock cars with elapsed times in the 6.2 second range and speeds of well over 225 mph. Earlier this season, Freeman won the Mountain Motor Pro Stock event in Chicago. Recently, the class introduced Elite Supporter Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage as the title rights sponsor of a six-race series beginning in 2024. Collectively, the eight current team Elite drivers have combined to win 109 NHRA national event titles across all classes including 67 in the Pro Stock class.