There are dominating efforts, and then there is what Elite Motorsports did on Saturday.

Elite Motorsports held the top three positions in qualifying and six of the top eight slots on the ladder as youthful stalwart Aaron Stanfield paced them all.

Stanfield led an impressive one, two, three in qualifying for his Elite team, just edging his closest rival and Pro Stock points leader Erica Enders to the top spot Saturday in his debut performance on Thunder Mountain at the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.

“It was really cool for all of us at Elite Motorsports. It just shows how hard they are working and it is paying off with the one, two, three qualifiers,” Stanfield said. “At this level that is extremely hard to do, especially when the fields are so tight.”

Stanfield drove to his fourth No. 1 qualifier of the season, and the fifth of his career, in dominating fashion, recording the fastest time in three of the four sessions over the first two days of the weekend. When it mattered most, Stanfield drove his Janac Brothers Chevrolet Camaro right to the front, recording a 6.934-second pass at 196.82 mph in his fourth and final pass to rocket past Enders who briefly held the top position. Her 6.938 at 197.02 mph pass placed her second on the ladder.

“She has been kicking my butt plain and simple, but I think if I can find my spot behind the wheel and fix the starting line a little bit I think we are going to be hard to beat,” Stanfield said. “I have had a racecar I can win in at just about every race I’ve been to this year thanks to the hard work by my guys. I’ve just got to do a little better job behind the wheel to get the job done.”

Cristian Cuadra completed the Elite trio atop the field in third with a 6.940 at 195.59 mph. Chris McGaha (6.947) and Troy Coughlin Jr. (6.950) rounded out the top five.

Stanfield also held the top spot at the end of the day on Friday and believed that the positions would hold on Saturday until a rain shower passed over the track, drastically changing the conditions and setting up the late showdown between himself and Enders.

“Everyone thought that the qualifying field was pretty much set and then that rain came in and really changed things up,” Stanfield said. “Waiting a little later in the day with everything cooling off a little bit, the track conditions come into our favor. I think it definitely sets us up well for race day.”

After his run, Stanfield reflected on his first shots at the notoriously difficult Denver track where the high altitude and shifts in weather create a unique challenge for all of the classes, including Pro Stock.

“It is something different behind the wheel as far as driving goes, but I have enjoyed it so far,” Stanfield said. “Q1 was my first run up here and it wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t perfect by any means. I felt like I did a much better job driving today.”

With only 15 cars on the property this weekend, Stanfield will receive a bye in round one. He will have a challenging matchup in round two, facing the winner between Bo Butner and Greg Anderson as he looks for his sixth final round visit of the season and third win.