The best way to shake a bad memory is to create a new one.
Still stinging from last weekend’s first round loss to Matt Hartford, Aaron Stanfield scored his third Pro Stock race win of the season at the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals. Stanfield repelled the efforts of Cory Reed, who was competing in only his second race in Pro Stock.
Stanfield’s victory was necessary for the seven-race winning streak of Elite Motorsports to keep moving forward.
Stanfield left on Reed in the final round and never trailed, recording a 6.540 at 209.98 mph for the win.
“Man, it’s great,” Stanfield said about the victory. “I wish it would just continue on until the end of the season, but we got some tough competitors out right now. And shout out to Corey Reed. Second Pro Stock race and go to the final round. I feel like I got my butt kicked for the first couple of years before I got that opportunity, but congratulations to him on a good day.”
The win was an emotional one for Stanfield, as he raced with heavy hearts after losing one of his closest friends to cancer.
“This weekend, we lost our good friend, Tim, the Iceman, Kelly, and he lost his fight to cancer, and we were racing with him on our hearts today, and it feels really good to get that done today in honor of him. It was a big part of it.”
Stanfield’s road to the final round included wins over Mason McGaha, Erica Enders, and Greg Anderson in the semifinals.
“Of course, anytime you roll up against Erica, Greg, Dallas, and a lot of these top drivers, you got to be on your game,” he added.” And Dallas and I were talking this morning, and we both said, “Anybody can whip your butt at any time.” It’s getting to where you got to be on your game every single run. It definitely makes you ready to be on your game.”
Reed might have been in his second race as a Pro Stock driver, but his skill as a competitor was on display all day.
Reed eliminated Deric Kramer, Eric Latino, and Jerry Tucker to make it to the finals.
Stanfield believes the emergence of Reed and the fierceness of the veteran competitors signal a battle to the wire for the 2024 championship.
“I think right now it’s going to be a fight to win a championship, and we got a long way to go,” Stanfield said. “Until I’m told you’re better every time I step off the clutch pedal, I’ve got a long way to go. I think we need to keep doing the same thing we’re doing. I think I’m driving better this year, and I’d like to continue that. Of course, winning is way better than losing, so we’ll see how that Countdown to the Championship takes us.”
