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ELITE MOTORSPORTS IS LOOKING FOR A WEST COAST WINTERNATIONALS WIN IN POMONA

POMONA, Calif. (March 30, 2023) – The largest professional team in NHRA drag racing is geared up for a standout performance at this week’s 63rd annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at the historic In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. The Elite Motorsports fleet of eight Pro Stock machines will take to the track ready to turn up the heat as they enter the third event of the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. 
The talented team made history in Phoenix last week when Cristian Cuadra became the first Mexican-born NHRA driver to qualify No. 1 in a pro category, an achievement that received international recognition including an encouraging message from Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Five-time Pro Stock world champion Erica Enders earned her first Winternationals title in Pomona last year, a victory that marked the 900th race in category history. This win kicked off the best-performing season of her illustrious career, thus far. After two early exits in eliminations this season, Enders is ready to turn things around this weekend. And this powerful competitor has proven multiple times that her determination knows no bounds.
Troy Coughlin Jr. has a lot of momentum coming into the third race of the season. He emerged victorious at the Gatornationals earlier this month and won the first Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge in Phoenix last week. He’s not the only guy in yellow vying for a Winternationals win. His teammate C. Cuadra landed his first No. 1 qualifier in Phoenix and the talented young driver is eager for a victory. He and his brother, Fernando Cuadra Jr., will take to the track in their yellow Corral Boots Mustang along with their father, Fernando Cuadra Sr. in his black Corral Boots Mustang. The two younger Cuadras both scored first round wins in Phoenix and they look forward to turning on more win lights this weekend.
2017 Pro Stock world champion Bo Butner gave a stellar performance last week in Phoenix, racing to a runner-up finish in only the second final round of the season. He will participate in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge at the Winternationals for a rematch of the Arizona Nationals semifinals against Kyle Koretsky. This race-within-a-race format will take place during qualifying on Saturday. 
Aaron Stanfield is looking for his first win of the season in his Janac Brothers / JC3 Energy Camaro and his teammate, rookie Pro Stock driver Jerry Tucker, is seeking the first win of his Pro Stock career in his sleek gray Elite Motorsports Camaro.
Pro Stock action at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals begins with qualifying on Friday, March 31 at 3:00 pm PDT. 
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Driver Quotes
Erica Enders”When you dream about how you want your season to go, you never imagine starting out the way we have this year. But I’ve learned that each season writes its own story and I’m excited to change the momentum in an aggressive way at Pomona. Last year we won this event for the first time ever and our team loves to get those repeat wins.”
Aaron Stanfield”We didn’t get the result we wanted in Phoenix, but our team is working hard to get us back in the spot to win. We are ready to try again this weekend in Pomona.”
Troy Coughlin Jr.”I have always loved the history of drag racing and Pomona is where it all began. It’s an honor just to get to compete there and I’ve had a lifelong goal to win there as well. Team Yellow is still hungry and focused and our minds are all set on making great laps. My Uncle Mike is racing in Top Alcohol Dragster this weekend and is the defending event champion from last year, so I’m excited to get to cheer him on as well!”
Bo Butner”We are going to a track that has been a great track to our race team, in multiple classes. So this team is looking forward to it!”
Fernando Cuadra Sr.”The Cuadra Boys are getting better and stronger at each event. I’m so proud of my sons as we continue to all learn together.”
Fernando Cuadra Jr.”After the Phoenix race, we left feeling confident that we have a great race car and it’s continuing to improve. I’m really excited because even though I know that winning may be a big target, I’m confident that we can win some rounds in Pomona.”
Cristian Cuadra”After Phoenix (where C. Cuadra was the No. 1 qualifier), I feel really motivated. I have a good race car and a team that is helping me every single round to reach my goals. Pomona is a new opportunity to show who we are as a team and all of the Elite-Cuadra cars are ready to turn on win lights on Sunday.”
Jerry Tucker”I learned a lot last weekend in Phoenix and I think going into another race without any downtime in between is going to help me apply what I’ve learned and get more successful passes under my belt.”
Photos
The Elite Motorsports Pro Stock fleet is excited to take to the track at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip. (Photo credit: Auto Imagery)
Pre-Race Notes
Elite Motorsports: Pre-race notesLucas Oil NHRA WinternationalsIn-N-Out Burger Pomona DragstripPomona, Calif. (March 30- April 2)
 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 Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif. The Elite Pro Stock team features eight drivers including reigning and five-time world champion 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 439-242 for a .645 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 In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. She won last year’s Winternationals title by beating teammate Aaron Stanfield in the final and also won the season-ending Auto Club Finals in Pomona in 2014, beating Jason Line in the final to clinch her first world title. 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.
After suffering uncharacteristic early losses at the first two events in Gainesville and Pomona, Enders comes into the Pomota event as the No. 13 ranked driver in the Pro Stock class bust she is just 80 points out of first place, the equivalent of four rounds of competition. 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 Pomona as the championship leader after a dominating win at the season-opening Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals. He currently has a seven point lead over Camrie Caruso. At last weekend’s NHRA Arizona Nationals near Phoenix, Coughlin became the first winner of the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, a special event open to the four semifinal finishers from the previous event. Coughlin 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 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 has also returned 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. In 2021, Stanfield won the Pomona event beating Anderson in the final round. Last year, he was the runner-up to his teammate Enders. 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 is coming off a quarterfinal finish at last week’s NHRA Arizona Nationals in Phoenix. He is currently ranked No. 10 in the points standings, 62 points out of first place. 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’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 Butner did earn a pair of victories in the Super Gas class in Indy and Reading.
Last weekend in Phoenix, Butner drove to a runner-up finish in Pro Stock, reaching the final round 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 is now ranked No. 7 in the Pro Stock standings, just 28 points outside of first place.
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 has five career wins in Pomona, including Pro Stock titles in 2017, 2018 and 2019, the latter two coming from the Winternationals events. He also won the Super Stock title at the 1999 finals and the Stock title at the 2013 finals. 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.
Last weekend 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’s achievement was recognized internationally including an encouraging message from Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.  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 also performed well in Phoenix, qualifying No. 13 with a 6.595. He is currently ranked No. 12 in the points 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.