ELITE MOTORSPORTS COMING OUT IN FULL FORCE FOR FINAL PHOENIX RACE

CHANDLER, Ariz. (March 23, 2023) – Troy Coughlin Jr. is coming into the NHRA Arizona Nationals with the Pro Stock points lead thanks to a stupendous showing in Gainesville. After picking up a win and a No. 1 qualifier in the season opener, his JEGS.com Camaro is in a prime position to lead the pack this weekend at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. He will compete alongside his seven Elite Motorsports teammates as they battle it out in the ultra-competitive NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Pro Stock category. This will be the last NHRA event held at this iconic southwest stop on the tour, so every driver wants to get the final prize.
Coughlin will also get to compete in the first Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge wherein competitors who met each other in the semifinals at the last event on the tour will race for redemption in a rematch to take place during Saturday qualifying. The winners will not only receive a bonus purse, but they will also receive extra bonus points, meaning there’s a lot more than pride on the line in these rematches. Coughlin will face Dallas Glenn in this race-within-a-race.
Pro Stock standout Aaron Stanfield won the NHRA Arizona Nationals in 2022 against Coughlin. He’s looking for a repeat performance this weekend in his Janac Brothers / JC3 Energy Camaro. 
Elite Motorsports Pro Stock rookie Jerry Tucker is looking forward to his second Pro Stock event after giving an impressive performance in Gainesville. Not only did he qualify for the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals in a saturated field, but he also took out the reigning Pro Stock world champion, his teammate Erica Enders, in the first round of eliminations. He’s eager to turn on more win lights this week in Arizona.
Five-time world champion Enders is ready for redemption after a mechanical issue resulted in an uncharacteristically early exit for her in Gainesville. She has two wins to her name at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park and she is focused on getting a third this weekend in her JHG / Melling Performance Camaro. The driver of the other Camaro sponsored by Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage, Bo Butner, has yet to get a Pro Stock win in Phoenix. He knows that this will be his last chance to score a victory at this facility and the stakes are high.
The Cuadra Boys – Fernando Cuadra Sr., Fernando Cuadra Jr. and Cristian Cuadra – are each hungry for a first Pro Stock victory. C. Cuadra achieved a new personal best elapsed time in Gainesville a couple of weeks ago, demonstrating how focused he is on improving his performance behind the wheel. 
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Driver Quotes
Erica Enders”I’m really looking forward to Phoenix, it’s like a second home track for me. I’m extra motivated and I know exactly what my team is capable of. In the past, that has proved to be a deadly combo.”
Aaron Stanfield”We are ready to redeem ourselves at Phoenix after an early exit at the first race. Phoenix was good to us last year and we are looking to go back to back!”
Troy Coughlin Jr.”I’m most excited about having two races in one weekend since we are competing in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge. We have our work cut out for us with Dallas as he can drive really well. Team yellow and the group at Elite have a great mindset right now and they’ve been working hard to give me a great car. If I do my job and stay focused on the process going in, we should have a nice weekend.”
Bo Butner”We’ve always enjoyed racing in Phoenix and it’s going to be tough to say goodbye to this track. But we want to put on a great performance for these fans this weekend and our JHG Camaro is ready for action!”
Fernando Cuadra Sr.”We are excited to compete in Phoenix this weekend. Our Corral Boots Mustang is performing well and I continue to learn new things as a driver. This team is great and we are ready to put on a wonderful show for our fans!”
Fernando Cuadra Jr.”For Phoenix, my expectations are really high – especially after not qualifying in Gainesville. We found a lot of issues in the car and the engine that all the guys at the shop figured out. So we are ready to get better results this weekend.”
Cristian Cuadra”I achieved a new personal best elapsed time in Gainesville so we feel good about things as we head to Phoenix.”
Jerry Tucker”It was incredible to qualify and turn on a win light in Gainesville, so we’re going to take that momentum into Phoenix. I feel like the season is off to a great start. I’m getting more comfortable behind the wheel thanks to everyone in the Elite Motorsports camp.”
Photos
The Elite Motorsports team is ready to tackle the competition in Phoenix. (Photo credit: Auto Imagery)
Pre-Race Notes
Elite Motorsports: Pre-race notesNHRA Arizona NationalsChandler, Ariz. (March 24-26) The Elite Motorsports team, the largest team in professional drag racing, has expanded for 2023 and will field a total of eight entries for this weekend’s NHRA Arizona Nationals near Phoenix. The Elite Pro Stock team features eight drivers including reigning and five-time world champ Erica Enders, Aaron Stanfield, Troy Coughlin Jr., Bo Butner, Fernando Cuadra Sr. and his two sons, Fernando Jr. and Cristian, as well as newcomer Jerry Tucker. In the 19 Pro Stock events contested last season, Team Elite won 15 times and appeared in 26 of 38 possible final rounds. In addition to Enders’ 10 wins, Aaron Stanfield collected three victories while Troy Coughlin Jr. earned his first two professional victories. Enders is coming off the most dominant season of her career that produced 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 Mowers, PeopleLease and Mark Stockseth. During her professional career, Enders has accumulated 43 wins in 74 final rounds and has a round-win record of 439-241 for a .646 win percentage. Enders also has a win in Super Gas (2004 Houston) bringing her career total to 44 national event victories. Enders has won at least one event at 17 different venues including Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. Enders won the Phoenix event in 2013 and 2020 beating Mike Edwards and then-teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. Enders currently holds both the elapsed time and speed record 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 last March. If Enders wins four events 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 44. Following an impressive fourth-place finish in 2022, Troy Coughlin Jr. will begin his fourth full season behind the wheel of the familiar yellow and black JEGS.com Camaro. Coughlin enjoyed a breakout season last year with back-to-back victories in Seattle and Topeka. Coughlin also went to final rounds in Phoenix, Reading and Las Vegas.
Coughlin heads to Phoenix as the championship leader after a dominating win at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals two weeks ago. Coughlin qualified his JEGS.com / Elite Motorsports Chevy in the No. 1 spot and defeated Mason McGaha in the final round. He currently has a 24-point lead over McGaha. In addition to his three career Pro Stock victories, the multi-faceted Coughlin has won 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 131 national event titles. Coughlin’s career bests in Pro Stock are 6.515-seconds and 212.29 mph, set earlier this month at the season opener in Gainesville. Aaron Stanfield will also return to the Elite team for another season behind the wheel of the Janac Bros/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 year, Stanfield earned Pro Stock wins in Phoenix, Bristol and the Fall Charlotte race 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.
Stanfield qualified solidly in the No. 4 spot in Gainesville but suffered a rare round-one loss against Matt Hartford. He enters the Phoenix event as the No. 11 ranked driver in the class. Stanfield won back-to-back titles in the FlexJet Factory Stock Showdown class in 2020-21. He will continue to drive his Janac Bros.-owned COPO Camaro in that class and will also continue to race in the Wright Trailers Top Dragster class. All told Stanfield has 21 career wins in Pro Stock, Factory Stock, Super Stock, and Top Dragster. Stanfield won the Arizona Nationals in 2022 when he faced his teammate Troy Coughlin Jr. in the final round. Stanfield’s career bests in Pro Stock are 6.457-seconds and 213.47 mph, both set last year in Gainesville. 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 Pro Stock standings. While he did not win a Pro Stock event last year, the multi-talented driver did earn a pair of victories in the Super Gas class in Indy and Reading. Butner has 29 career national event victories including 11 in Pro Stock. He also has wins in Comp, Super Stock, Stock, Super Gas, and Super Street. Butner has also enjoyed success as a big-money bracket racer with a victory at the K&N Spring Fling Million in Las Vegas in 2021. Butner won the Super Stock title in Phoenix in 2002, defeating Mark Faul in the final round. 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 including Fernando Sr., and his sons Fernando Jr. and Cristian, have returned to Elite Motorsports again this season with their three-car Corral Handcrafted Boots team. The Cuadra family will race Ford Mustangs under the Elite banner. Fernando Sr. is a two-time national event runner-up with final-round appearances at the 2019 races in Reading and Pomona. Cristian Cuadra was also the runner-up to Enders at the 2022 Four-Wide event in Las Vegas. The Cuadra family has career-best elapsed times of 6.515 (Fernando Jr.), 6.524 (Fernando Sr.) and 6.527 (Cristian) – all of them recorded in Gainesville. Their career-best speeds are 212.13 (Fernando Sr.), 211.43 (Cristian), and 210.73 (Fernando Jr.). Cristian Cuadra went to the final round of the Four-Wide event in Las Vegas last season where he finished second to teammate Enders. He finished the season as the sport’s No. 8 ranked driver in Pro Stock. Collectively, Elite drivers have combined to win 103 NHRA national event titles across all classes including 63 in the Pro Stock class. New to the Elite Pro Stock team this year is Jerry Tucker, who enjoyed a memorable debut in Gainesville. Tucker qualified his Elite Camaro in the No. 15 spot with a 6.573 and won the first round after teammate Enders encountered a mechanical issue. Tucker heads to Phoenix tied with Matt Hartford for No. 8 in the standings. 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 expected to be one of the leading contenders for the NHRA Rookie of the Year award. Collectively, the eight current team Elite drivers have combined to win 104 NHRA national event titles across all classes including 64 in the Pro Stock class.