Greg Stanfield returned to the NHRA Pro Stock winner’s circle Sunday for the first time since 2011, defeating his son Aaron in the final round of the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals. Stanfield drove his Janac Brothers/Rod Shop Chevrolet to a 6.552-second pass at 211 mph for his sixth career professional victory.
The all-Stanfield, all-Elite Motorsports matchup marked the first time the two had met in Pro Stock eliminations. “Well, I think we’re both still in shock right now, what just happened, so we’re trying to soak it in,” Greg Stanfield said. “But definitely, we both, obviously, dreamed about this, so to be able to do it’s incredible, very incredible. Just honored to, and blessed to be able to have this opportunity to race with him is… I can’t describe it.”
Aaron Stanfield said there was no holding back in the final. “Yeah, they asked me if I cut him any slack and I said, ‘Heck no.’ He’s not going to cut me any slack, and I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Aaron said. “I grew up around this sport and I grew up watching my dad race Pro Stock, so he’s always been my hero. And to have a race like we just had, it’s just… how long has it been since you’ve won? Since 2011?”
“2011, yeah. 14 years ago,” Greg Stanfield replied.
Aaron joked that he was responsible for bringing his father back to Pro Stock. “I kind of sucked him back into the Pro Stock thing and I’ll be saying, ‘Whose idea was this?’” he said.
Greg Stanfield said the outcome mattered less than the experience. “Our deal was more of like, who left first, was kind of our race,” he said. “So, he actually won. Win light came on my side, but he actually won, just in our minds. So, just a fun day. How we ended up here, I haven’t figured that out yet, but I have to go back and study that. But what a fun day. You can only dream of these opportunities, for me and him to be able to race together and to be able to race a final run together is even, it’s crazy.”
Stanfield admitted he never expected to return to Pro Stock, let alone win again. “Never. Never,” he said. “I mean, me being here is not supposed to be happening, but he said, ‘Look, if Greg Anderson could drive at his age, I know you still have some gas left in the tank.’ So, he believes in me, which is huge. So, I’m in shock right now. Very.”
As for racing his son in the final, Stanfield said the mindset stayed the same. “I think as a driver, both of us, when we put the helmet on, it doesn’t matter who’s in the other lane, our job’s to try to do the best we can on the start line, driving the car,” he said. “So, he was just another competitor to me. But deep down I’m like, ‘Ah, it’s Aaron, he’s better than me. So for me to win, I’m going to have to do something extra.’”
Greg credited Elite Motorsports for its effort in breaking KB Titan Racing’s season-long dominance. “Obviously, we all know KB’s been really strong this year and Elite’s been working double overtime to try to get their cars faster, and we’re showing that in qualifying,” he said. “We just got to be a little better on race day and I’m ecstatic right now. I don’t know how I’m sitting here holding this trophy, but I’m here. They picked me to win this.”
Aaron revealed that the two barely spoke before the final round. “We didn’t talk to each other,” he said. “He was asking me how to drive it if it shook.” Greg added, “That is true. I said, ‘Aaron, now what do I do if it shakes?’”
Greg’s path to the win included a pedal‑fest victory over Greg Anderson. “When I left the start line against him, it left really nice. So, it sets you in the seat really hard and then all of a sudden the seat, it just lifts up, and the motor just freezes up,” he said. “Well, when the motor freezes up and you shake like that, it kicks out of gear, right? So you have to really hold a gear, and in the back of my mind, Aaron’s like, ‘Lift, shift, mad it.’ So I did what he said and it worked.”
Greg acknowledged Aaron tunes his engines. “Aaron tunes my engines, just so everybody knows in here. I was winning either way, which is pretty cool, but I was hoping he wouldn’t hold me back for the final, and he didn’t,” Greg said.
The Rod Shop sponsorship added to the moment’s significance. “Gil Kurt and Rick Kurt, special people, been in the sport for years, and to have them on the door with me, I was actually the last driver that they brought on their team back in the eighties,” Greg said. “To be able to finish everybody’s career out and everything, that is cool, y’all.”
Aaron credited his father for his own success. “I’d say, I mean, here’s what I would say. I learned it from somewhere,” Aaron said. “He’s taught me everything I know in the seat of a race car. He’s kept me very versatile in a race car, and he’s taught me so much about this sport. So, I credit any of my accomplishments to him.”
Aaron also thanked Elite Motorsports and noted he has been racing with a heavy heart. “These guys have been working really, really hard to get us back in a competitive position,” he said. “I’ve been racing with something very heavy on my heart, and that would be Jake Harrison. He’s been fighting cancer and I don’t know if anybody can tell, but I’ve been driving really well for the past two races, and I’ve been driving with him on my mind.”
Greg Stanfield’s victory was his first since winning the 2011 NHRA World Finals. The father-son final marked a milestone for both drivers and a long-awaited breakthrough for Elite Motorsports.
