Troy Coughlin Jr. Qualifies On Top And Erica Enders Gets Runner-Up Finish At NHRA Finals In Pomona

In an exciting and dramatic series of events at the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, the Elite Motorsports Pro Stock team walked away with five Top Ten finishes in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series points standings. The event started off on a positive note as Troy Coughlin Jr. powered his JEGS.com / Elite Motorsports Camaro to the No. 1 qualifier position with a killer run of 6.508-seconds at 210.80 mph. This is the first No. 1 qualifier of the season for the talented Pro Stock legacy.

“We made a couple of nice clean runs down the 1320 in Pomona on Saturday,” said Coughlin. “There’s nothing like being here, it’s really majestic. Hats off to Elite Motorsports and everyone at the engine shop. In all of our pits and with all of our teams, we all work together so well. There’s a lot of passion there.”

It was with that dynamic passion that the Elite Motorsports Pro Stock team entered the final event of what has been a banner year for the largest professional team in the NHRA. In the first round of competition newly-crowned five-time series titleist Erica Enders defeated Mason McGaha while Coughlin took down Shane Tucker. Cristian Cuadra was slated to race Kyle Koretsky, but Koretsky’s car would not fire up on the starting line and C. Cuadra got a bye-run into the quarterfinals. Aaron Stanfield lined up against 2022 Rookie of the Year Camrie Caruso. His Janac Brothers/JC3 Energy camaro powered past Caruso with a pass of 6.552 at 209.33. In an all-Elite pairing, Bo Butner’s Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Camaro raced past his teammate Fernando Cuadra Jr. while Fernando Cuadra Sr. turned on the win light against Dallas Glenn.

It was a father-son standoff that would kick off the quarterfinal round of competition as C. Cuadra and Cuadra Sr. faced off against each other in their Cuadra/Corral Boots machines. Although C. Cuadra had the starting line advantage, the Cuadra family patriarch outpaced his son to get the win with a margin of victory of only three feet. Stanfield defeated Matt Hartford on a holeshot with a stunning reaction time of .011-seconds. While Greg Anderson defeated Butner in Round Two, Butner’s performance throughout the weekend proved to be enough to secure a Top Ten finish for the 2017 Pro Stock world champion. In the final pair of this round, Enders got the starting line advantage over Coughlin and held on to it to advance to the semifinals where she would face Stanfield.

In the next heat of competition, Cuadra Sr. dropped the hammer too soon, red-lighting and giving the round win to Anderson. Enders got a starting line advantage over Stanfield and her Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Camaro took it all the way to the stripe to advance to her thirteenth final round of the season.

In the end, it would be Anderson who emerged victorious while Enders took the runner-up finish to end the best-performing season of her career with 10 event wins and six No. 1 qualifiers.

Whilst Enders secured her top-place finish in Las Vegas, the rest of the Elite Motorsports team endeavored to finish strong in the points standings.

Ultimately, Stanfield finished third, Coughlin finished fourth, C. Cuadra finished eighth and Butner landed in ninth.

Unofficial Pro Stock Points Standings For The Countdown To The Championship

1. Erica Enders 2,823
2. Greg Anderson 2,581
3. Aaron Stanfield 2,575
4. Troy Coughlin Jr. 2,538
5. Kyle Koretsky 2,459
6. Matt Hartford 2,397
7. Dallas Glenn 2,375
8. Cristian Cuadra 2,295
9. Bo Butner 2,265
10. Deric Kramer 2,259
11. Mason McGaha 2,241
12. Camrie Caruso 2,229
13. Fernando Cuadra Jr. 2,227
14. Fernando Cuadra Sr. 2,214
15. Chris McGaha 2,164