Aaron Stanfield has already established himself as one of the more versatile drivers in the NHRA pits. Now the Elite Motorsports standout has the credentials to climb into a Top Fuel dragster and compete, although exactly when that opportunity might come remains unanswered.
Stanfield completed his Top Fuel licensing requirements Monday at Texas Motorplex, one day after the Texas NHRA FallNationals, with a 3.760-second pass at 281.83 mph in Leah Pruett’s Tony Stewart Racing dragster.
The run was the final piece of a licensing process that began in August at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. It also provided another indication of how seriously Stanfield and Elite Motorsports are approaching a possible move into nitro racing.
For now, Stanfield has a license, but no announced Top Fuel competition schedule.
Monday’s outing came through the working relationship between Elite Motorsports and Tony Stewart Racing, with Pruett, Stewart and crew chiefs Neal Strausbaugh and Mike Domagala overseeing the effort.
Stanfield needed one more required full run to complete his license, and the TSR crew had testing work of its own to accomplish.
“Coming off the first Indy session I needed to make one more run to get my license,” Stanfield said. “Coming here to Dallas, I was really only expecting to get seat time while Leah’s team tested some parts and pieces. We had zero expectations, and I was really just hoping we could get my license done in the process. Main goal was not to tear anything up and we definitely accomplished that.
“I’m starting to feel a lot more comfortable in the car, starting to understand the little nuances about it. So right out of the box, we made a killer lap. Neal and Mike asked me to shut off between 7 and 800 feet, and I clicked it around 750 feet, and we went 3.76-seconds. Just like that, we met the last piece of the requirements.”
Stanfield’s first Top Fuel experience came Aug. 18 at Indianapolis, where he worked with crew chiefs Mike Green and Joe Barlam in Elite Motorsports’ R+L Carriers dragster.
He opened with a 4.043-second pass at 230.41 mph before stepping up to a 3.794 at 318.92 later that afternoon. Those runs put him within one successful pass of earning his license, a requirement he finally checked off in Dallas.
“I got to feel a couple new things today,” Stanfield said. “I smoked the tires pretty early at the Indy test on the fourth run but today I got to get out a little bit further on the racetrack and it smoked the tires. Then on the last run we made, we put a hole out around half track.
“As a driver, it’s really important to know and feel those things. A lot of different sensations, new feelings but I’m happy I got to feel that.”
For a driver accustomed to the regimented approach in Pro Stock, the transition to an 11,000-plus-horsepower nitro dragster presents an entirely different set of demands.
The arrangement with TSR has given him access to established nitro personnel and equipment while allowing Elite Motorsports to continue exploring its Top Fuel ambitions. There has been no announcement of when Stanfield might make his professional debut in the category, and he isn’t getting ahead of himself.
Still, the license removes one obstacle between the accomplished Pro Stock racer and a possible future in Top Fuel. What happens next will depend on how those plans develop.
“I’m just looking forward to learning some more,” Stanfield said. “Just the possibility of having an opportunity to compete in the Top Fuel car is pretty special, and we’ll just see where it goes.
“But a big thank you to Tony and Leah, they are very much responsible for my preparation. It’s a huge ask for someone to put a rookie driver in their racing operation especially when there are still races left to win this season. So a big thank you for them allowing that to happen. And a big thank you to Richard, all these R+L guys. They made this process pretty special for me.”
